{"id":3536,"date":"2014-04-14T07:00:19","date_gmt":"2014-04-14T07:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/wp3\/?p=3536"},"modified":"2014-04-14T07:00:19","modified_gmt":"2014-04-14T07:00:19","slug":"edicts-issued-by-indian-maulanas-leave-muslim-voters-confused","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sunnionline.us\/english\/2014\/04\/14\/3536\/","title":{"rendered":"Edicts issued by Indian maulanas leave Muslim voters confused"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even before the parliamentary races began, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had announced its electoral strategy of uniting the Hindus and dividing the Muslims to win seats.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Now The Hindustan Times Correspondent in Lucknow Sunita Aaron says in an analysis published on Sunday that the maulanas have had their share of spreading confusion among the Muslims in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere, and this will inevitably help the BJP in the elections. Have the religious clerics bargained a quid pro quo?<\/span>
In 2008, says Aaron, one of the world\u2019s biggest and influential Islamic seminaries, Darul Uloom Deoband, which doesn\u2019t entertain politicians, issued a fatwa that said India is a democratic and secular country, whose electoral politics can\u2019t be assessed on the basis of Islamic scriptures.<\/span>
\u201cThis method would bring nothing except disturbance and confusion. However, one should vote for parties and leaders best suited for both Muslims and the country,\u201d the fatwa said, in reply to questions ranging from whether one should vote for a criminal politician to whether a Muslim loses his faith if he votes for BJP.<\/span>
Clerics at Lucknow\u2019s Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama, another internationally renowned centre of Islamic studies which receives politicians of all hues without rallying behind them, has also resisted voicing partisan opinions about elections. <\/span>
Compared to the seemingly neutral position of these seminaries, Shahi Imam of Delhi\u2019s Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari recently urged Muslims to vote for the Congress, saying it will \u201cstrengthen secularism\u201d. He also expressed support for Mamata Banerjee and Congress\u2019 ally Lalu Prasad.<\/span>
Syed\u2019s brother Yahya Bukhari, on the other hand, described Congress as a \u201chidden enemy\u201d under whose rule Muslims had to suffer several riots. Influential Shia cleric Kalbe Jawad declared a vote for the Congress meant \u201cbetraying Islam\u201d.<\/span>
Many Muslims feel that by endorsing parties, often invoking religion, mullahs are not only dividing the community but helping the politicians they intend to fight.<\/span>
Prof Rizwan Husain, an academic based in Aligarh, after casting his vote posted on his Facebook account: \u201cAs theologians, mullahs should not become political educators. We urge them not to confuse Muslim masses with their political fatwas. Auctioning, bartering and selling Muslim vote for personal gain is not an act of piety.\u201d<\/span>
The academic\u2019s remarks that such fatwas end up confusing voters appear apt, as reports coming out of communally polarised west UP confirm the divergent statements by Muslim clerics ahead of the polls divided Muslim voters sharply, rather than uniting them as a bloc that votes tactically.<\/span>
\u201cNajma and I have just returned after casting our votes. It feels as if it is a referendum vote on \u2018Modi sarkar’. The Muslim vote, however, seems divided because of varying endorsements of candidates by Shia and Sunni clerics,\u201d said another Facebook post.<\/span>
Dr Mustafa Kamal Sherwani, head of the department of law at Shia College in Lucknow, too blames maulanas for the division of Muslim votes in the first phase of Lok Sabha election in UP.<\/span>
He said many of his Hindu friends had told him BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi\u2019s rise had been helped by \u201cunwarranted reactions of maulanas\u201d.<\/span>
Although Muslims have a strong presence only in 46 of 545 seats in Parliament, they can influence the outcome of elections in more seats. They have often been derided by right wing political formations as a vote bank used by Congress and other secular parties.<\/span>
Much has changed since the 1990s when both Kanshi Ram and Mulayam Singh Yadav publicly snubbed the senior Shahi Imam, Abdullah Bukhari, telling him not to meddle in politics. Thereafter, both enjoyed love and hate relationship with his son Ahmed Bukhari. Most political parties have been seen cosying up to Muslim religious personalities.<\/span>
Senior lawyer and Uttar Pradesh additional advocate general Zafaryab Jilani believes there is no harm in maulanas guiding Muslim voters.<\/span>
\u201cThis is not the first time they have supported a particular party. They have been doing it in every election,\u201d he said.<\/span>
In fact, Jilani said that till 2004, Milli Council, a Muslim organisation, used to conduct a survey of constituencies to assess the winning candidate and guide voters accordingly. The exercise was stopped after BJP\u2019s decline, he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source: Dawn news<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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