Aiman Wasia for BeyondHeadlines
Ever since the election started each and every party started to woo Muslims. One of the reason is that Muslims constitute one the second largest population in the world in India, and they are the largest minority community in the country.
Even after 67 years of Independence, Muslims are more or less on the same conditions. In addition, riot after riot made them more insecure in some states, while their representation in government and private services has considerably declined, making them economically more vulnerable.
They went into a shell and their sense of victimhood pulled made them into a social and political ghetto. Liberal Muslim leaders demanded economic and social rights while religious leaders were more concerned with Muslim personal law, own political setups ,protection of madrassas or perceived notions of ‘Islam in danger’. Various statistics, including Sachar CommitteeReport, government records and media stories clearly point to this fact.
When Muslims are followers of the same faith, then no dissent is possible but reality is different from what it seems. Now question arises why and who is responsible for their pathetic condition. In my opinion, Muslims are responsible for their own conditions because they are not united. We practice the worst form of discrimination amongst themselves. We forgot the Last Sermon (Khutbah) of Prophet Muhammad (SWA) “Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood”.
This apart, the Muslims have near zero tolerance for Muslims of different sects. The Wahabis will not tolerate non-Wahabi Sunnis; the Sunnis will not tolerate Shiites who are for them apostates. With this track record, we decree that the Muslim claim of being a universal brotherhood is a nothing more than fiasco and we are still living under poverty, illiteracy, malnourishments or in one word we are living in ‘Ghetto’.
Being united is the need of the hour. Bridging the religious gaps to keep the ummah united is the responsibility of everyone who follows Islam. Vote for the sake of development for the community, by being fare to yourself and for your future generations. Not a single political party will change our destiny until and unless we are united. Ultimately, the exclusion of others is the exclusion of self.
