Sufi culture in K’taka will not allow political extremities to take over: Prof Assadi

Rachana Ramesh | NT

Bengaluru:

In the memory of BA Moideen, for mer minister for higher education known for being an ‘honest administrator’, a talk was held on the subject of Muslim representation in the field of politics last week. Prominent speakers attended the talk where they addressed issues that could be tackled in order to increase the representation of minorities in positions of power.

Muzaffar Assadi, Dean of Faculty of Arts and Chairperson, Departments of Political Science and Public Administation at the University of Mysore, said “Reservation for Muslims to create the feeling of inclusivity and eliminate alienation have existed since the times of the princely state of Mysuru. Particular ratios would be sought and implemented.

Mysuru would have 26 seats reserved for Muslims and this number rose to 34 shortly after.” Comparing it to the current scenario of poor numbers, he added that while 17 people from the Muslim community received tickets to contest, only seven have managed to secure a win. “They have added us to Other Backward Classes (OBCs), deeming us as subordinate classes,” he said.

He spoke of how systematically, Muslims are forced to remain backward within their “ghettos”. Pointing out that these ghettos are deemed ‘red zones’, he said public sector institutions such as banks refuse to set up their workspaces within these boundaries. “Reservations will help erase this systematic backwardness that forces us to accumulate in certain pockets.

We are also blamed for communal riots. Each riot, irrespective of who initiated it, will take every Muslim 30 years back,” he said. He referred to a report by a prior commission and said that it suggested the government appoint minority cops to the police departments that fall within the jurisdiction of these ghetto boundaries, to ensure that investigations would be conducted in a just manner.

However, this suggestion has not been taken into consideration by any government. Assadi spoke of how the identity factors of Muslims – topis, beards and sherwanis are seen as negative elements when it comes to politics. “The tolerance when it comes to politics is diminishing. Leaders point to our identity and say that it will not sell, that people will not vote for us when they spot us in these identity factors,” he said.

He explained that new communal issues are being invented everyday, such as the hijab, halal and azan row, to attack the minority community and threw light on how Muslims have dealt with each one of these attacks lawfully, without turning violent. Assadi was hopeful for change and said the roots of Sufi parampara in Karnataka will not allow for extremities to take over.

Attaullah Shariff, also a political analyst, said that the minority communities must not only aim for seats in the legislative assembly but also must provide equal importance to municipal corporation and gram panchayat elections. “Other pockets of powers, the ones that do not align with electoral politics, such as gaining posts through UPSC must also be sought to,” he said, adding that while the graph of Muslims in these areas is seeing a rise, it is still inadequate.

Shariff spoke of an “internal issue” within the community that is responsible for the poor numbers of Muslims in politics. He said, “Siyasat” is looked down in Islam, creating a void of support in the campaign of Muslim candidates. “The approach to politics from the community must change. Our candidates do not receive any support from influential personalities and community leaders, creating a lack of connection from the grassroots,” he explained.

He also stressed on the need of the young being groomed to politics by those who are already in the position of power before they leave. K R Ramesh Kumar, member of the Congress and former speaker of the state legislative assembly was also present at the event and said, “The RSS and BJP are at an advantage because they only have a few decision makers leaving no room for debate.”

He spoke of how once upon a time, victory of Congress in Muslim constituencies was certain but “not everybody in Congress is also secular.” He added that politics is being viewed as a career that requires no investment and can reap massive profits. He spoke of the BJP ingrained their ideology into the minds of the young and the public institutions being comprised, and called for the Muslim community to provide grass root encouragement to their leaders.