Thank
you, Modi, for proving that partition saved the subcontinent’s Muslims from
extinction
Prime Minister Narendra Modi gives a speech at his lecture
meeting hosted by Nikkei Inc. and Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) in
Tokyo September 2, 2014. PHOTO: REUTERS
Dear Mr Narendra Modi,
I was not at all surprised that your party, Bharatiya Janata
Party (the BJP), swept the recent Uttar Pradesh (UP) elections. You
ran your campaign on an anti-Muslim platform, you convinced most of the UP
Hindus that Muslims in their state are Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agents and that
Muslims would not vote for your party, therefore they voted en masse for BJP.
In fact, to appear anti-Muslim, you did not field a single Muslim candidate despite the
notion that there are more than 40 million Muslims in UP! So, in
spite of the Muslim population of UP being over 20% of the total population,
the new UP assembly will have only 25 Muslims (only 6% of the total), the lowest
ever. And the credit for all this goes to you, Mr Modi.
But why should we be surprised?
It was in your state of Gujrat (when you were the
chief minister) that the genocide of
over 2,000 Muslims took place. As hooligans wrenched open the bellies of
pregnant Muslim women and fed the fetuses to dogs, you watched silently, even
though you could have prevented the massacre.
But why
should you have done anything to stop the killings, Mr Modi?
The Hindu vote was important for your party and the destruction of the Babri Mosque helped your
party become popular. Your men destroyed five hundred mosques and shrines of
Muslim saints while the slaughter of Muslim men, women and
children was being carried out in your state in 2002. And you cannot deny that
it was your blatant anti-Muslim agenda that helped your party win the national elections in 2014.
You
have never faced a mob of killers, have you Mr Modi?
My parents did; in 1947, when they had to flee to Pakistan from
your state to save themselves from the followers of another rabid Hindu leader (Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel). I shall never forget how,
for many years after the event, my mother would break down in tears as she told
us about the thousands of dead Muslim men and women she saw as she and my
father trudged their way to safety in the new country.
Mr Modi, I sometimes hear Pakistani and Indian Muslims claim
that if India had remained united, and partition had not taken place, Muslims would have been
a force to reckon with in a united India. They do not know that if Pakistan had
not been created, the percentage of Muslims in a united India would have been,
at the most, 30%. And even though the Muslim population in India today is 15% of the
total, their representation in the Lok Sabha is only 4%.
In fact, Muslims would have been a powerless group in a united India, the same
way Muslims there today have no clout.
Just in case you are tempted to think that Muslims voted for
you, think again. The Muslim vote was split between Congress, the
Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) parties. If you think
Muslim women voted for BJP due to your campaign against ‘triple
talaq’, you’re wrong. You won because the Muslim vote was split, and next time
it won’t be so easy, as Muslims will continue to live in fear of being killed as long as you are the prime
minister. Next time, they will be united to ensure that the BJP does not win.
No, Mr Modi, if 600 million Indians (including Hindus) continue
to live below the poverty line, you will not be able to
win the Lok Sabha elections in 2019. Ultimately, Hindus will realise that there
is no possibility of improvement in their lives under
the BJP government and they will vote your party out. It is good governance
that wins elections, Mr Modi, not terrorising Muslims and treating them as
pariahs.
And this is why Mr Jinnah wanted a separate country for India’s Muslims, because he
knew that in a united India, Muslims would have practically no rights. He knew
that they would have been in danger of being massacred, which has repeatedly
been proved by Gujrat’s Muslims and those that are being killed in hundreds of
communal riots in India.
So, Mr Modi thank you for proving that Partition saved the subcontinent’s Muslims from extinction!
Shakir Lakhani
Engineer, former visiting lecturer at NED Engineering College, industrialist, associated with petroleum/chemical industries for many years. Loves writing, and (in the opinion of most of those who know him), mentally unbalanced. He tweets @shakirlakhani (twitter.com/shakirlakhani)
http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/47804/thank-you-modi-for-proving-that-partition-saved-the-subcontinents-muslims-from-extinction/
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