Arfa Khanum Sherwani denies Muslim appeasement in West Bengal

Arfa Khanum Sherwani, ‘journalist’ with The Wire, has triggered fairly an argument after denying the existence of minority appeasement politics in West Bengal. The existence of the model of the politics, which is an apparent actuality acknowledged by political strategists resembling Prashant Kishore himself, was deemed a fantasy by the ‘journalist’.
The argument offered for the prepare of thought was that even after many years, the Muslim neighborhood continues to attain woefully in social improvement indices. Since Muslims as a neighborhood should not as affluent as others, Arfa Khanum Sherwani declared that Muslim appeasement is a fantasy.
There are a number of flaws with that line of argument. The primarily being that financial prosperity might not be the first concern for Muslims as a neighborhood in issues of politics. If Muslims prioritize non secular points over ‘Vikas’, then it should in the end mirror on their financial standing in society. And the model of leaders extraordinarily in style amongst Muslims is proof of the truth that that is exactly the case.
Arfa Khanum Sherwani argued that the “Periodic Labour Force Survey 2018-2019 shows that only 13% of Muslims” in West Bengal have common salaried jobs and 34.3% of them work as informal staff, each considerably worse than the nationwide common.
The fantasy of Muslim appeasement in Bengal. बंगाल में मुस्लिम तुष्टिकरण का सफ़ेद झूठ। 1.) The Periodic Labour Force Survey 2018-2019 exhibits that solely 13% of Muslims in WB have common salaried jobs (whereas the corresponding quantity for India is 22.1%)1/n pic.twitter.com/r46htvGD5S— Arfa Khanum Sherwani (@khanumarfa) April 10, 2021
On the idea of such information, Arfa Khanum Sherwani argued that Muslim appeasement in West Bengal is a fantasy. One can perceive why she is participating in such a determined denial of actuality. The Muslim appeasement politics of Mamata Banerjee has offered the BJP with an ideal platform to engineer their meteoric rise within the state. It is what’s prone to finally value her the Chief Minister’s chair.
Her arguments would have accrued some advantage if politicians in style among the many Muslim neighborhood have been extra involved with financial prosperity, literacy and jobs than petty non secular considerations. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. The reputation of leaders resembling Asaduddin Owaisi and his brother Akbaruddin and the rising stature of Islamist Abbas Siddiqui in Bengal politics is adequate indication of the truth that the Muslim voters prioritises non secular considerations over all else.
Since the Muslim voters is worried extra with non secular points, it’s pure that appeasement will happen alongside the strains of spiritual considerations and never financial. Consider this, a bunch of people is demanding 100 apples each week though that may imply that one other aggressive group is disadvantaged of apples totally. The elected consultant bows right down to the primary group and makes provision to satisfy their unreasonable calls for.
After a 12 months or so, it’s found that the primary group has a substantial amount of apples whereas the second group has managed to safe a larger variety of oranges. Suddenly, an individual supportive of the primary group comes forth and argues that there was no appeasement of the primary group as a result of they don’t have a adequate variety of oranges. It is an absurd declare to make and but, it’s exactly what Arfa Khanum Sherwani is doing right here.
The Muslim neighborhood needed its non secular considerations addressed and ‘secular’ events have ensured that these, irrespective of how unreasonable, are met. The inevitable consequence of it has been the truth that they’ve faired poorly in issues of ‘Vikas’. Of course, one may blame ‘secular’ events for the abject state of affairs however reality be advised, if any ‘secular’ minded particular person is considering blame-games, he solely want have a look at the mirror.
When politicians resembling Akbaraddin Owaisi, of the ’15-minute menace’ to Hindus fame, are elected to energy time after time after time, it’s weird to imagine that they’ve been elected to safe extra jobs. When Abbas Siddiqui, who prayed to Allah to ship a virus that killed 50 crore Indians, instructions such respect among the many Muslim neighborhood, it’s patently delusional to anticipate that he’ll work to supply monetary safety to the neighborhood.
When politicians are elected to satisfy unreasonable non secular calls for, then it’s those who will probably be met following their election; on the expense of social upliftment if wants be. For others to then deny the existence of appeasement itself based mostly on fully totally different metrics than on the idea of which the neighborhood was appeased is sheer propaganda.
This just isn’t a brand new improvement per se. It is a phenomenon that was noticed even by BR Ambedkar himself. In his ebook ‘Pakistan or the Partition of India’, he famous, “There is thus a stagnation not only in the social life but also in the political life of the Muslim community of India. The Muslims have no interest in politics as such. Their predominant interest is religion. This can be easily seen by the terms and conditions that a Muslim constituency makes for its support to a candidate fighting for a seat.”
He continued, “The Muslim constituency does not care to examine the programme of the candidate. All that the constituency wants from the candidate is that he should agree to replace the old lamps of the masjid by supplying new ones at his cost, to provide a new carpet for the masjid because the old one is torn, or to repair the masjid because it has become dilapidated. In some places a Muslim constituency is quite satisfied if the candidate agrees to give a sumptuous feast, and in other[s] if he agrees to buy votes for so much apiece. With the Muslims, election is a mere matter of money, and is very seldom a matter of [a] social programme of general improvement.”
“Muslim politics takes no note of purely secular categories of life, namely, the differences between rich and poor, capital and labour, landlord and tenant, priest and layman, reason and superstition. Muslim politics is essentially clerical and recognizes only one difference, namely, that existing between Hindus and Muslims. None of the secular categories of life have any place in the politics of the Muslim community; and if they do find a place—and they must, because they are irrepressible—they are subordinated to one and the only governing principle of the Muslim political universe, namely, religion,” he added.
What BR Ambedkar noticed holds true even now with the dominance of politicians such because the Owaisis, Amanatullah Khan and the rising prominence of Abbas Siddiqui. Mamata Banerjee tried to appease them on a number of fronts with initiatives resembling ‘Imam bhata’ and restrictions on Durga Puja. But in the long run, it seems extraordinarily doubtless that it gained’t be sufficient to fend off the Siddiqui menace.