By Raman Jokhakar, Mukesh Trivedi, Hon. Jt. Secretaries
In a welcome, even path-breaking move, former RSS supremo K. S. Sudarshan and eminent Muslim cleric Maulana Kalbe Sadiq have issued a joint appeal to the electorate not to vote on religious lines. Instead they want voters to send honest representatives to assemblies and Parliament, regardless of their community of origin. That such a call should come from a prominent Hindutva leader and the vice-president of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board in unison is significant. By making a clear distinction between the politics of good governance and the over-leveraged rhetoric of identity-based mobilisations, the two important community leaders have set the tenor for a new political discourse.
The appeal also gains significance in the light of the forthcoming UP elections. It is in stark contrast to the divisive, vote-garnering strategies launched by political parties. Given UP’s caste-based electoral politics, major and minor political players — the BSP, the Samajwadi Party, the BJP and the Congress — are busy leveraging caste-and religion-based electoral strategies. It’s hardly surprising therefore that Sadiq’s statement has not gone down well with Samajwadi Party leader Mohammad Azam Khan. Apprehensive of losing his party’s share of the Muslim vote bank, Azam has asked Sudarshan and Sadiq to ‘make their agenda public’. With an eye on Muslim support, the Congress and BSP too have already ramped up their demand for Muslim quotas in jobs and education.
(Source : The Times of India, dated 2-11-2011)
