Daily Times

My article was recently published in The Hindu, and subsequently in Inquilab, Sahafat, and some other prominent Indian Urdu newspapers. I would like to congratulate the editors of these newspapers for displaying the courage to publish it.

Therein, I had said that although most Indian Muslims have become despondent (mayoos) after the recent Lok Sabha elections, it is, in fact, a blessing in disguise (vardaan) for them. This would jolt them to realise how they were pushed to the back benches with a feudal mindset by the Muslim clerics and crafty politicians; who claimed to represent Muslim interests.

The truth is that the so-called “secular” parties in India, including Congress, SP and TMC were hardly interested in the welfare of Muslims. They were only interested in winning elections. For that, they made use of Muslim vote bank, making it a milch cow (to use the words of Mamata Banerji).

These “secular” parties and their leaders knew that the mindsets of most (not all) Muslims were feudal, and the Muslim clerics (Maulanas) had a hold over the common Muslims. That being so, it was only necessary for these so-called secular Indian politicians to secretly enter into an alliance, a nexus with these maulanas by offering the latter various benefits, in return for the Muslim vote bank.

“Secular” parties in India made use of Muslim vote bank as a milch cow

It was in the vested interests of these maulanas that the common Muslims remain backward with a feudal mindset, for only then could the common Muslims remain trapped in their clutches. It is for this reason that most Indian Muslims remained poor and backward, as the Justice Sachar Committee report pointed out.

In my article, I said that now the time has come when Indian Muslims, particularly the youth, must raise three demands if they wish to progress.

(1) Promulgation of a uniform civil code for people of all religions and the abolition of the feudal, outdated Sharia law

(2) Ban on the burqa and a heavy fine on Muslim women wearing it. The burqa is a backward, feudal practice, which puts women into a cage. It should be outlawed, as has been done in France. Too much freedom is also bad. There should be no freedom to continue backward practices. They should be suppressed, as was done by Mustafa Kemal in Turkey.

(3) Abolition of All India Muslim Personal Law Board, a body consisting of mostly reactionary clerics, who strongly opposed the progressive and humanitarian Shahbano judgment.

I was told by the editors of the Urdu newspapers who published my article that there was no hostile reaction to my article from Muslims. A few decades back, there would have been an extremely hostile reaction. The fact that there was little now clearly shows that many Muslims, particularly the youth, are now coming out of the clutches of the reactionary maulanas and crafty politicians. They have started thinking about the causes of their sorry plight.

This is a good sign, and it is the duty of the Urdu newspapers in India to help in this process of modernisation of Muslims. They should not just keep shouting about the victimisation of Muslims in India and abroad, as they have been doing, so far.

The writer is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India