The number of Muslim MPs has come down from 36 in 2004 to 29 in 2009 (including three women) although the general belief is that Muslim voters played a key role in determining the outcome of the elections. But only one Muslim (Ghulam Nabi Azad) has been sworn into the Manmohan Singh cabinet.
On the eve of the expansion of the Union council of ministers, this advertisement appears in The Indian Express, New Delhi.
A very ‘Secular’ advertisement indeed.
Muslims have always been under-represented in every part of govt. They sit on the margins of the socio economic landscape.
One heartening feature of this election is that Muslims have voted out extremist elements and those advocating hardline islam identity or separate Muslim state.
1. Sajjad Lone was shown the door by Muslims of Kashmir.
2. PDP, the hardline party which advocated separate currency for Kashmir, they got 0 out of 6 seats.
3. Madani, was thrashed at the hustings.
All these three instances show that from Kashir to Kerala Muslims have voted against Islamic hardliners. Muslims have voted to be a part of India.
hearteningly even HIndus voted out BJP in Jammu. BJP got a big zero in Jammu.
@ Simple ..so what you think should be done ?
Pick 11 Muslim community ministers and which will help the community which is ” under-represented in every part of govt” and ” sit on the margins of the socio economic landscape” ?
Come on Andy, help the muslims join mainstream. Don’t they deserve better. I think the economic position of muslims today is worse than dalits.
We dont require muslim leaders. We require jobs to our educated youth, we require education to our children, we require basic amenities, we require what all of India requires.
Muslims should be encouraged to enter the main stream, and for that we require centres assistance in terms of good policies, not puppet muslim leaders.
advertisement must have been sponsored by the MP’s hopeful of a SEAT in the government.
they will definitely try to waive the death penalty on Afzal guru.
Simple:
I suppose you have no objection therefore to hold a referendum in Kashmir, as Muslims there anyway will vote to be with India?? This would once for all end all uncertainty about Kashmir…
Also, Being secular, I am sure you will also support Uniform Civil Code, that’ll be framed using universal human rights as the guiding principle. I am sure Since Muslims now wholly support the idea of pluralistic and secular India where all citizens are equal, irrespective of their religion, caste and creed they too will support Uniform civil code, as this business of having a separate law for each religion is plain ridiculous and undermines the whole concept of equality before law?
On a serious note: Muslims will certainly benefit, if Govt. comes out with progressive policies like below:
1. Make it mandatory for Science, English, History and maths to be taught for all Children. Currently a large section of Muslim children going to Madrasa don’t get this. This makes them unemployable.
2. Enforce Right to education.
3. Liberalize Education and allow private institutes in education in a big way. This will make Reservations immaterial as supply constraints will go away. Just as we used to have scarcity in Phones, Gas cylinders etc. Where we needed to bribe/influence or use some quota to get them, currently our education system is what makes reservation attractive. All sections, including Muslims, will gain if the supply side constraints are removed.
4. Liberalize Labor market and make it easy to hire & fire. Kamalnath in a discussion put it aptly: “If govt. can assure 100days job guarantee, why not private sector”? Why insist on a job for life? If someone feels he can employ someone for 100 days and then let them go, by all means he should be able to do that. All of a sudden you’ll open India up for manufacturing industries of the kind China has built in past 2 decades. These are the ones that can employ Uneducated, but easily trainable people.
Having 11 ministers in Govt. is largely about symbolism, but how will it make any substantial difference? I mean you’ll only get people like Antulay, who will only see conspiracy where none exist, but in 5 years did nothing for his brotherhood.
Kingkhan,
All this talk of muslims entering the mainstream and getting jobs etc., is one thing.
Practically there are a few issues which I think only muslims should address themselves if they have to come to mainstream social life.
I am a diehard BJP supporter, alright. So that should make me a muslim hater, right???
For my office, a consulting firm, when I needed a few fresh graduates, I recruited about 6 freshers from a college. Out of the six, there were two muslim students too. Religion played no role in selecting the best of the lot.
Then the issues started. These two students started demanding that they be given longer breaks on Fridays to attend their prayers. On top of that they insisted that they will not shave their beards inspite of my clear rule to everyone in the office that clean shaven look is the only option preferred.
I refused to give permission. One day I find the father of one of these students in the office who demanded to know why I am not allowing his son the permission to pray. When it was told to him that the office rules did not permit such a thing, he had the gumption of asking me to change the rules!!!!
And in a few days time, both these new recruits, quit the job.
Now you tell me, how in the world will muslims join the mainstream if, even the youth, start preferring religion over the jobs??
Kingkhan and Simple, who is responsible for such a state of muslims… they have voted Mulayams, Lalus, the congress all these while since 60 years and they are in the same state… atleast now they need introspect and vote to the correct party.. if not Congress will keep the muslims in this state for another 100 years…..
Every time someone wants to cause trouble – all they gotta do is play the “religion” card!!!
The British have left India but the “Divide and Rule” policy still lives on. I dont know about u guys but I’m quite fed up wid this talk of Hindu- Muslim-Sikh etc etc… Heck! we’re Indians! Thats all we are!
This country and its politicians need to grow up and shed the fat!
History repeats..This seems to be the replay of what had happened during the 1920s or earlier (before the ultra secular moplahs of kerala taught some ‘peace’ lessons). Demographic invasion is the deliberate ploy of political islam.It will not be a long wait before a civil war breaks out in india(if the hindus dont display their usual dhimmitude that is)
How many Foreigners, Brahmin’s, Protestants, Catholics, Peticast, Lingayats and many more in the Union Cabinet.? Will some body clarify!
Dr Abdulla is he still an Indian?
Harkol
I am all for Uniform Civil Code.. The country should be ruled by Indian laws and certainly not religion.
And as far as taking breaks during office hours, for prayers, i wouldn’t support that.
Neither would i support companies insisting on doing Ayudh pooja in offices.
if Muslims are expected to keep religion out of offices, i think it should apply to Hindus too. No preferential treatment to anybody.
And also, sardarjees also get to wear the turban in the army, while Muslims are not allowed to sport a beard..so is this preferential treatment to sikhs?
Simple – I suggest you campaign for the stoppage of Ayudha puja and Sikh turbans. Better still, have the Congress campaign for your ideas.
Then see if the Congress retains even it’s deposits in any of it’s current 206 seats :)
Identity is never dead my friend. It’s dead only for secular-liberal zombies.
Btw, I am not a supporter of the UCC at all. I would love for the Muslims to be ruled under Shari’a. Their rights cannot be denied.
huttadallihutta – Those Muslim boys were not wrong in demanding their prayer time. Hindu and non-Muslim employers are wrong in hiring them and then expecting them to change.
Hopefully those boys have now found a Muslim establishment to work for.
Congress Party has been the major beneficiary of Muslim vote all these years. If a Person like Azhagiri, whose major qualification is having born to one of the wives of Thiru Karuna, deserves a cabinet berth, why not the Muslims?
In fact Congress should give them 22 ministerial berths this time to cover all the shortfalls in previous congress ministries. For a change the Congress should reward their faithful voters and be truly secular, just not for the sake of votes.
Simpleji,
Yes I agree. We should also have a PM who is not a ‘poodle minister’ controlled by an Italian Indian…:)
huttadallihutta
I truly empathise with you for the bad taste you have had with the 2 muslim guys. But I assure you there are umpteen other muslim guys who are more disciplined and hard working. After all which barrel doesnt have a couple of rotten apples.
By saying this I can vouch for many muslims who not only are relegious but are disciplined at work too. It doesnt require much. But some people tend to over act and physically display their relegion. And few others are on the opposite end of the spectrum who totally are name sake muslims.
What I am trying to say is dont discriminate anybody by the relegion he practices, its not fair at all.
Do think about it.
***
Harkol
You have hit the nail on the head. And if the present Government is really serious in its efforts, then it can really use some of your suggestions.
We really have the potential to compete with China and other
Asian giants in the field of manufacture. The only need is to harness the potential. For this we need a very dynamic policy maker at the helm.
I really hope with this majority Congress Govt, the leadership is free to take some hard decisions and come out winners.
Sajjad Lone was shown the door by Muslims of Kashmir.
Just as they showed the door to 400,000 original natives of Kashmir who never returned and just as they raised an uproar when the government wanted to build lodges for pilgrims in Amarnath where there is nothing but snow and ice–a leopard does not change its spots.
***
Come on Andy, help the muslims join mainstream. Don’t they deserve better. I think the economic position of muslims today is worse than dalits.
And why is that? Why are Pakistan and Bangladesh doing so poorly? How about Muslims take one hard look at their own culture which causes them to be backward–how are Muslims doing as opposed to other minorities in industrialized countries like England? Please stop the “help them join mainstream”–whining and Mulims take one hard look at your culture which is what keeps you backward. Muslims in Kashmir get thousands of rupees more than what a poor person in Bihar. What is the result? Without huge subsidies from the Indian government what would they be like in Kashmir? Like on the Pakistani side of Kashmir. So quit whining and do something to change your culture and integrate into mainstream and stop blaiming others!
Palahalli,
And perhaps you would also want every muslim to be packed to Mecca? :P
All idiots seem to be clinging on certain keywords (communal, secular etc.) so change the topic from Uniform Civil Code to The Indian Civil Code or something then all kinds of people will readily accept it.
Pala: I can never understand your contempt for Secular-liberals. Secular/Liberal ideology doesn’t deny identities. It isn’t like communism (or even Islam, which talks of Ummah).
Being secular and Liberal basically means being tolerant of others beliefs/rights. Why should we be zombies for being that??
Simple:
I penalized a few employees in office for bringing colors this Holi and putting it on others and spoiling the office decorum. The punishment: They had to clean the office as well as dry-clean anyone’s cloth which was colored. Their practice caused disruption and they were warned they’ll be terminated next time they do so. If they did that outside, it’d have been none of my business, but when they brought disruption in office, it did.
But, Typically Ayudha pooja is about people showing their respects to their systems/tools, they perform a small little pooja and it doesn’t cause any disruption. So, The only barometer is if work is disrupted due to an individual belief.
So, by the same token, if an Muslim prefers to take a Prayer break, it’s up to him, as long as his work isn’t disrupted. If they can take a loo-break, they can take a prayer break (i am not comparing the two acts, just pointing out how things work).
Courts have ruled Muslim’s can’t sport a beard, only when the rules of a unit explicitly prohibit them. It wasn’t in Army as mentioned by you, it was in IAF, and the rule book prohibited the beard starting from Jan 2002. It only gave exemption to people who had beard before Jan 2002 (so as to not hurt their religious feelings). So, IAF acted entirely honorably. It only mandated that new guys can only join them if they are willing to shave their beard. This guys joined IAF, agreeing to that condition, but later went to court asking for permission to grow/keep beard.
And those rules apply to everyone (Sikhs too). Supreme Court had on October 4, 2005, also rejected the petition of a Sikh serving in the IAF who wanted to keep his beard.
So, What the courts say is that if you acceded to rules that require you to have a uniform then do so. Do not request a special privilege sighting religion.
Recently Supreme court also ruled against Beards and Burkha in classrooms where a particular uniform is required. That too is a right decision. Uniform rules are there to instill a sense of discipline. People can choose not join the school, instead of asking for exemption, after having joined it.
I don’t think in most offices people care for either turban or beard. But, where a rules exists they have to be followed.
NAWN – No, I’m serious about my opposition to the UCC.
Reasons –
1. Protagonists have yet to define what their UCC is.
2. Being a traditionalist, I will not support any law whose basis is not derived from tradition; meaning continuity. Break from tradition is implied in the UCC.
3. Muslims have a real point in opposing the UCC. They say Shar’ia is their law. Giving up Shar’ia is akin to giving up their Islamic basis.
4. Although UCC may seem like a thoroughly secular idea, in reality a Multi-Cultural (MC) society burdened with a Secular State cannot enact a UCC.
Why?
a. A Secular state presiding over an MC society automatically has to take upon itself the job of “protecting” MC diversity in the name of “sarva dharma sama bhava” and non-discrimination in the name of religion.
b. Since Secularists cannot really dispute the factual basis of point (a), how can they ever dispossess an insistent minority like the Muslim of their own law? It’s practically telling Muslims that they will be ruled by the UCC because Shar’ia is inadequate or outdated thereby also conceding that all religions are not equal and thus positive discrimination is necessary.
5. But the Secular state, by not allowing for the Islamic penal code for Muslims have cleverly allowed themselves to be played with by pragmatic Muslim non-insistence in this particular area. Note that no Muslim organization has ever said NO to Islamic penal law. They have simply kept quiet. When pressed, they make laughable arguments.
Such as;
a. How can Islamic penal law be enforced in a non-Islamic country?
b. India is imperfect for Islamic penal law to be implemented.
And such.
So, Indian Muslims must have their penal law.
In case they do not like it they are free to convert themselves out of Islam.
After all, we are a free country and we allow diversity to flourish.
what????? only 11 ministers in cabinet. Why not all 67 ministers?? In fact, even better… in the name of secularism why don’t all hindus kill themselves as a means of repentation for “oppressing” muslims for the past 10 billion years. That way the through the means of non-violence the problem will be solved
Palahalli
Of course, nobody would ban turbans in Army. Nobody would Ban Ayudh Pooja.
That is simply because Congress believes in appeasing Majority Community. And almost all parties believe in appeasing Hindus, and it is not just the BJP.
You believe in a theocratic society. Theorcacies, anywhere in the wolrd have never progressed.
P.S”” : I am all for people celebrating Ayudh Pooja in homes..But if Muslims are not allowed to pray in office during office timings so should otehrs discouraged from celebrating their festivals in office.
Simple – You see no difference between a National society and the country’s minorities. You seem to have de-nationalized yourself a-la Arundhathi Roy. Nothing much or better may be expected from you here.
Btw, what gives you the idea that I believe in a theocracy? This is another problem with liberals. They refuse to see what is real and always bet on the unreal.
I have not denied Muslims their right to pray at work. But who the hell are you to deny Hindus their worship within their own establishments or wherever they are numerous? Muslims can very well pray in their own establishments or wherever they are a numerous workforce. I know a number of Muslim shop owners who pray while customers wait to be served.
ಕನ್ನಡಿಗ – Houdu swami. Shortly, Hindus will be requested to do just that in the name of “protection of minorities”. Simple has already virtually dismembered Hindus by reducing their lot to 5% each!
harkol – “Secular/Liberal ideology doesn’t deny identities.”
– Yes. I should have been clearer. Secular-Liberals deny only the predominant National identity. See, they don’t like anything that they think “might” threaten their fads of a Multi-Cultural or plural society. So, just like Simple suggested, they like to see even the National society reduced to minority/ies status. That way everybody can be equally vulnerable or shall we say, equally equal.
Btw – You sound almost apologetic when speaking of Ayudha puje. “…yeah..a small little puje is performed..” It’s like you would line them up against a wall if it got any bigger :) You get the point don’t you?
Secular-Liberals resemble zombies because they see what’s wrong all around them and yet do not react as they should. They make various excuses for what is wrong. Don’t you see? Communism and Islam amongst others are not wrong in themselves for Secular-Liberals. There are always excuses for “why they went wrong”.
“That is simply because Congress believes in appeasing Majority Community.” – But then, per you, the Congress is above identity politics ;) Remarkable!