Recently AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal had announced that he perceived communalism to be a bigger threat than corruption, and to that end, the party has managed to recruit the president of the Aligarh Muslim University Old Boys Association (AMUOBA), Irshad Khan, and is planning to give at least 20 tickets in Uttar Pradesh to members of the minority community.
This evolution comes even as the AMU faculty and workforce gave the brush-off to allow Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Mulayam Singh Yadav to address students at the University last week.
The campus of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) is one of the most politicised and is a good barometer for testing political waters in Uttar Pradesh.
“I, along with the Maharshtra, Patna and Kolkata unit of AMUOBA have joined AAP recently, while I don’t intend to contest, we will be putting up at least 20 candidates from minority communities in the state,” Irshad Khan confirmed.
“I feel that AAP is the only party which seeks to address two of the biggest problems facing India, communalism and corruption,” he said. Khan, who was earlier a national secretary in the JD (U) says he is “disappointed” by traditional parties like SP, JD (U) and Congress which “may speak against Hindu fundamentalism but align with Islamic fundamentalists in the name of secularism”.
He baptizes it as dangerous as the BJP’s brand of politics. His fellow alumnus from AMU, UP minister Azam Khan, on the other hand, termed the move as “aiding fascist forces like the RSS”. “I have always held the view that those who end up dividing the Muslim votes do the greatest disservice to the community,” he told.