Dear Arvind Kejriwal and all the AAP leaders,
Let me first make a confession, as a reporter who was covering Delhi elections I was really amazed by the kind of ‘wave’ as first timers you people made, although till last minute I was pessimistic about the outcome. I must also add that I may have had my reservations with your party or with your style of functioning (in true Bollywood style combination of Anil Kapoor starer Nayak and Amitabh Bachchan starer Shahenshah). But the way you people have forced other parties to follow the trends is simply commendable.
I understand that the main plank of your party is corruption free India and the reason you deride the Congress and UPA is precisely because you see them as facilitating corruptions. I am also aware that your party has publicly said that you see no difference between the Congress and the BJP, when it comes to corruptions. And as Professor Yogendra Yadav suggested, AAP is beyond any ‘-ism.’ As we are aware that the “rainbow coalition” for the larger agenda of weeding out corruptions and removing Congress might have achieved short term goals, but failed in the long run. I have also been observing how AAP has consciously tried to chart a separate path from the Anna Movement, which clearly had right wing tilt and some support base.
As a ‘mango’ person myself, who also happens to be an Aam Indian Muslim (ordinary Indian Muslim), I still have my reservations with your party, particularly with the silence your party has so far maintained on issues that concern the ‘community’ most. You manifesto does mention about some of you plans (which by the way are not very different from what most parties assure the community, but in your anti-corruption rhetoric, we do not get to hear your clear stands on other pertinent issues of communalism, castes, reservations, and the imminent fascism. As if once corruption from bureaucracy and police removed, communalism too would end and illegal arbitrary arrest of Muslim youth too end.
It’s good to see that your party realizes that while most groups, including educated middle class, migrants Dalits, etc voted for you, one major ‘vote-bank’ Muslims continued their ‘loyalty’ with the Congress. (This may also have been as the Muslim candidates from Congress are ‘heavy weights’ in their own rights in respective constituencies.) And I appreciate your party’s decision to form a Task Force to reach out to Muslims, in particular. It is precisely because of this that I dared to write this open letter.
In an interview with me before the elections, Professor Yogendra Yadav emphatically said that AAP is “trying to move beyond two kinds of politics that dominate any discussion on the Muslim question towards a third kind of politics which moves beyond pseudo-nationalism and this completely bankrupt form of secularism which being practiced.”
While attacking both the BJP style of “nationalist” politics and the “so called politics of secularism,” which “reduces the concerns of Muslims to problems which are exclusively Muslims. So the entire thinking revolves around the question of security and identity, as if Muslims do not need water, as if they do not need electricity, as if they do not need education and health.” And I am totally in agreement.
File Photo of AAP leader Yongendra Yadav and Prashant Bushan during a campaign in Babarpur.
He also acknowledged that there are “community specific problems”. “There are some problems which are very specific to Muslims. One there is a question of identity. As a Muslim do you need to be consistently accountable and answerable for your nationalism, which is related to the question of suspicion that Muslim always feel surrounded by,” he underlined, adding, “there is a real issue of security and the discrimination they face from government agencies, from security forces,” which he admits, leads to alienation.
However, he did not give out any clear answers to his party’s stand on most of these issues. And your party has not made its positions cleared yet. I am hence writing to you to appeal for a clearer answer on those issues.
Corruption clearly is something with which all Indians, irrespective of caste, creed or religion suffer, but as Prof Yadav too acknowledges there are also issues of communalism, fascism, issues of security of minorities, discrimination, etc directly affecting them.
Besides the sham of development, BJP clearly also has a divisive agenda that comes from pseudo and hyper forms of politics of nationalism that wants to homogenise the country. As a party raring to contest the general elections and for the government of the ‘people,’ strangely we do not see AAP challenging the communal and fascist force on the same pitch.
We are yet to know the stand of the Aam Aadmi Party on how it plans to counter the communal, divisive forces. Your diatribe against BJP appears softer – or has so far appeared – compared to Congress. Let me cite few examples, while AAP’s most known and strongest candidate and your current CM contested the Assembly election against Sheila Dikshit, but you fielded a novice against BJP’s chief ministerial candidate. Not only that, soon as elections got over Kumar Vishwas announced that he would contest from Amethi against Rahul Gandhi. We do not yet know who will contest against Narendra Modi!
Now that the Delhi CM appears willing to contest the Lok Sabha elections, after spectacularly defeating Sheila Dikshit in the Assembly elections, is he ready to contest against Gujarat CM? You have taken on the Congress, whom you termed as the ‘mascot’ of corruption, will you now also challenge Modi, the mascot of communal fascist forces?
AAP supporters at Hajipur junction in Bihar.
During the heat of your campaign Muzaffarnagar burned and the deplorable conditions of those in relief camps still continue. I am aware that your party indirectly said few weeks back that political forces with use divisive agenda for political gains. But now that your party has decided to contest all seats in UP, I am yet to see the pro-active role of AAP on ground, amongst riot victims.
As a party whose core team comprises of academicians like Prof Ananad Kumar, Prof Yogendra Yadav, civil rights lawyer Prashant Bhushan; and now also former Journalist Ashutosh and the likes of others, clearly I have no hesitation in accepting your party’s ‘good intent.’ But how are you going to implement it?
Anyone associated with social science research realizes the backwardness of Muslims (like many other communities) and Sachar Report has documented it well. Clearly one major grievance of the community against the UPA government has been that they failed to deliver on the recommendations of the Sachar Committee and Rangnathan Mishra reports respectively. Gujarat Government, under BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, recently filed an affidavit in the Apex Court terming Sachar Committee as “neither constitutional nor statutory,” whose “target was to help Muslims only” for the vote-bank politics.
What is your party’s stand on taking affirmative actions for the community, like some sort of reservations for the backwards among Muslims, helping them financially through cheaper loans or scholarships, etc. And more importantly as your party too acknowledges that Muslims (also other communities like Dalits) are discriminated. How is your party going to tackle these? Will simply by weeding our corruptions, inherent bias too will end?
Advocate Naushad Ahmad Khan joined AAP recently and has filed the internal application to contest elections.
Surely, I do not doubt the credentials of Prof Yadav, or Prashant Bhushan (or even Arvind Kejriwal), or several new entrants like Mallika Sarabai, Prof Kamal Mitra Chenoy, amongst others. But a party that appears desperate to enroll anyone and everyone (who literally gives a miss call on a number), like several other concerned citizens, we are waiting to know your party’s stand on the pressing issues, concerning our country (whether based on ideologies or larger interests).
It’s high time, AAP should ponder over all these issues as well as on reservations, and other matters of national interests, like AFSPA, nuclear energy, economic policies, etc. But several commentators have been writing on those and hence I will restrict myself to the issues concerning Muslims.
Postscript: After AAP’s empathic performance (I would call it emphatic although you fell little short of the majority mark), like everywhere I see a greater enthusiasm amongst Muslim leadership as well as common men on streets in your favour. Several educated Muslim youth queuing up for your party’s memberships too. Clearly that is a healthy sign.
But let me also caution you that in this race to enroll as many people and to contest elections from maximum seats in the upcoming general elections, you must not compromise on your basic criteria. The reason I am saying this, for I have a hunch (and I reiterate it’s only my hunch) that several opportunists and ‘wananbe’ politicians and so called community leaders would see a greater opportunity with your party now and join you with the agenda of contesting elections.
Of course this holds true across the country, but without taking names, let me specially warn you about many so called Muslim activists/leaders who have shown interests or are joining your party, although before the elections they were pessimist about AAP’s ideologies as well as your performance.
Thank you
A prospective AAP voter
(M Reyaz is the Assistant Editor of TwoCircles.net.)