The Hindu : Q & A: Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

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Sunday, Mar 21, 2004

National

National - Elections 2004

Q & A: Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

'We don't want to treat Muslims as a vote-bank'

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is the Muslim face of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is a party general secretary and a spokesperson. Even his critics admit that he has made a niche for himself. Mr. Naqvi's rise in the party hierarchy became more noticeable after Venkaiah Naidu became president. Neena Vyas spoke to Mr. Naqvi at length on what it was like to be Muslim in the BJP, on whether he had any doubts when the Gujarat riots occurred, and how far the party has been successful in attracting Muslims. Excerpts:

You are the Muslim face of the BJP. How comfortable do you feel in the party?

From the time I joined the BJP in 1986 and today, Zameen asman ka pharak hai (there is a big difference). I feel more comfortable in the BJP now.

There was confusion earlier. Muslims felt this government would be a Hindu sarkar. That perception has been demolished. I'm not trying to say that the BJP is now a hero for Muslims. But, from villain to central role ... Muslims are beginning to think about the BJP's merits and de-merits.

What about the Gujarat riots. Did you wonder which way the party was going? Did you have any doubts?

No. My views were the same as those of the Prime Minister, Advaniji or Venkaiah Naidu. What happened was shameful and inhuman, and there can be no justification ... during the earlier Congress regimes more than 30,000 communal riots took place over 40 years. There was no justification then, no justification for Gujarat now.

I would like to say that if Godhra had not happened and if the riots after Godhra had not taken place, the BJP's regime would have been neat and clean vis-à-vis communal riots. When such incidents took place during the Congress regime, its so-called secular image remained intact. But in the case of the BJP there is this mahaul (atmosphere), our governments have to be more cautious and vigilant.

By a negotiated settlement of the Ayodhya dispute, does the BJP mean Muslims should surrender unconditionally all claims to the disputed site?

The BJP view on a negotiated settlement is clear-cut. Both communities want the Ram temple to be built in Ayodhya.

I am talking about the piece of land on which the Babri Masjid stood.

A negotiated settlement would be better than a resolution through a court verdict, but fears and doubts in the minds of both sides would have to be assuaged ... This dispute can be resolved only by a BJP Government. No other party can settle the dispute. I cannot say anything about the possibility of accepting a temple site outside the disputed area. Negotiations are going on, talks have moved forward. Saying anything now would lead to another controversy.

Has the party been successful in its recent efforts to attract Muslims?

There is a strong feeling among the new generation of Muslims that they should go with the BJP. What have they gained all these years from association with other political parties? BJP is a political reality, you cannot ignore it. Under Atalji's rule, Muslim attraction to the BJP has increased because of the Government's thinking in relation to issues concerning them.

Do provocative statements made repeatedly by leaders of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Bajrang Dal and other RSS organisations hamper this process? Why has no action been taken against them? The BJP is part of the Sangh Parivar ...

Some statements by certain organisations push this process backwards. The RSS has never made provocative statements, but, yes, other leaders have. It has become clear that their view is not the BJP's. In a democracy it is not possible to stop anybody. We disagree, but we cannot boycott them. We try to persuade them. Venkaiah Naidu has rapidly improved relations between the BJP and the Sangh Parivar through regular communication. In the last few years the tone of the VHP, the Swadeshi Jagran Manch and other organisations has softened.

If the Muslim League, the Jamait-e-Islami or the Babri Masjid Action Committee say something, we can disassociate and disagree with them, but cannot stop them. Otherwise, there would be an Emergency-like situation ...

Do you think the BJP has decided to leave behind the so-called contentious issues though these may figure in your Vision document for the elections?

We remain committed to issues such as abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, implementation of a uniform civil code, Ayodhya and so on. The party feels that there should be a discussion on these and a consensus should be evolved. These should be modified ... if because of Article 370 Kashmir is unable to progress and join the mainstream ... in the entire world there has been a rapid change in favour of a common code ... even in Pakistan laws have been changed and modified.

But, we don't believe in forcing these ideas on anyone. The NDA agenda was the basis of all discussions within the NDA. Since these issues were not on the agenda, the question of a discussion on these did not arise.

In the past some of your leaders have gone to the extent of saying that the BJP does not need nor want the Muslim vote? You criticised the Congress for appeasing Muslims by subsidising `haj', now you are doing the same ...

I do not want to go into who said what and how it was reported. But, yes, there is a difference in attitude. We are a political party and we want the vote and support of all sections of the people, but we do not want to treat Muslims as a vote-bank. The difference between us and the other parties is that we want Muslims to look at our socio-economic policies.

We want to focus on their education and employment ... Other political parties harp on narrow and sentimental non-issues like personal law, Kashmir and Urdu, and they exploit Muslims by whipping up their passions.

As a first step, we stopped the `haj' subsidy for income-tax payees. One cannot stop this subsidy at one go. It is not only a question of India being a secular state, even in Islamic countries `haj' is not subsidised.

It takes time to rectify mistakes made by the Congress. If we do anything hastily it would be misinterpreted because of the propaganda that we are anti-Muslim. We have to ensure that we do not take steps which will be exploited politically.

Will you be contesting elections from Rampur in Uttar Pradesh?

I have told the party that I want to contest. But the party feels that there should be some to take charge of the campaign, and not contest. This is not a final decision; we cannot say that till the Central Election Committee takes a formal stand. But, more or less, this is the decision.

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