With the prime objective of increasing the political awareness in the community and to facilitate the understanding of Muslim issues by the political parties ahead of the 16th Lok Sabha Elections; “Karnataka Muslims,” the fortnightly newspaper in association with a Gulbarga based NGO, ‘Sahara’ organized an interactive session among community intellectuals and political parties.
The programme organized in Bangalore on March 29 was a hit with huge attendance of the community while all major political parties used the opportunity to sell their agenda through their most vocal representatives. They included Karnataka Pradesh Congress Minorities Department Chairman, Mr. Naseer Ahmed, MLC ; Janata Dal Secular, spokesperson, Mr. Tanveer Ahmad and Karnataka State Convenor of Aam Aadmi Party, Mr. Prithvi Reddy. Mr. Sufi Chisti, Chairman of Gujarat Haj Committee, came all the way from Ahmedabad to represent BJP. The programme was presided over by Mr. Masood Abdul Khader, Convenor of Karnataka Muslim Muttahida Mahaz.
Mr. Naseer Ahmed expressed anguish over the ineffectiveness of the Muslim leadership. Mr. Sufi Chisti successfully articulated brand Modi with his effective speaking skills. Mr. Tanveer Ahmad (JDS) effectively presented a few issues concerning Muslims.
Mr. Prithvi Reddy, (AAP) spoke in general without touching any Muslim issues. However, he was sad that the community is unorganized and also lagging behind in education.
The following views were expressed by the political representatives:
Naseer Ahmed: He appreciated the move of Karnataka Muslims and suggested them to organize such programmes after the elections too so that a process of accountability can be initiated. He said, “Muslim leadership has lost its status and weightage in the political parties.” He could not say much about the understanding of his party on the Muslim issues. He left the meeting evading “Question Answer Session” citing the reason of ill-health. His place could not be occupied by any other Congress leader though Mr. Masood Foujdar and Mr. Aga Sultan were present among the audience.
Congress is not serious? The general opinion among the audience was that the Congress was not serious towards the minorities’ issues and the Muslim leaders in Congress have taken the entire community a hostage. “Presenting the perception of threat from the communal forces, the Congress would like to garner the support of Muslims,” a member from the audience viewed. A few participants showed their displeasure openly over the attitude of Congress saying: “The Congress spokesperson had left the programme midway to evade expected criticism.”
Sufi Chisti: BJP rightly used this rare opportunity by fielding a master orator Mr. Chisti to effectively build image of the party and the leader. He blamed the “Congress for the backwardness of Muslims, for engineering riots, and illegally detaining innocent Muslims.” He claimed that Modi has cleansed the BJP of communal elements viz., VHP and Bajrang Dal etc. He further said, Modi can truly resolve the minorities’ issues, although Mr. Chisti could not highlight the Muslim issues. As he wanted to leave the venue after his speech, the audience demanded him to answer their questions. A pandemonium prevailed in for some time due to heated exchange of words between the audience and his supporters.
Tanveer Ahmad: He focused on the theme of the session and was clear about Muslim problems and identified a few issues including “increase the reservation for Muslims in Education and Employment.” He assured that the JDS will implement the recommendations of the ‘Ranganath Mishra Commision’ and ‘Sachar Committee Report.’ He was the only speaker who pointed out the issue of Islamophobia and said, “It is being imported from Western countries and we would tackle it prudentially.
Prithvi Reddy: He highlighted the basic issues of the country viz; poverty, health, education, water, price-rise, and housing. He said, “Education is the most important issue concerning the Muslims which has resulted into marginalizing the community.” He further said, “Our party does not consider Muslims as leaders of Muslims only, they should be considered to represent all citizens of the country; that is why we have fielded Muslim candidates in two constituencies considering their leadership qualities not the caste composition in the constituency.”
Masood Abdul Khader: In his presidential address Mr. Masood emphasized the need to hold this kind of programmes and advised the political parties’ spokespersons to increase the understanding level of Muslim issues. He also suggested the organizers to hold such sessions after the elections too. He appealed the audience to work for increasing the polling percentage.Courtesy:Karnataka Muslims
http://karnatakamuslims.com/portal/political-parties-lack-maturity-over-muslim-issues/