The Hindu : `BJP only guarantor of security for minorities'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 08, 2002

National

National

`BJP only guarantor of security for minorities'

By Neena Vyas

NEW DELHI DEC. 7. At a time when most BJP leaders admit that they do not expect to get even a single vote from Gujarat's Muslim minorities, the party spokesperson, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, today declared that his party alone could guarantee their security.

In fact, Mr. Naqvi went a step further, saying that the Gujarat Assembly elections would be a "positive turning point for the Muslims", and not because the BJP was about to lose the election.

"It is because it is the BJP which has always emphasised the importance of social and economic issues related to the minorities, and the party has been very honest to this approach," he claimed.

However, the plain fact is that not only has the party failed to give the ticket even to one Muslim candidate but it has also asked the two "Muslim leaders" in the BJP, the Civil Aviation Minister, Shahnawaz Husain, and Mr. to keep away from the Gujarat campaign.

A senior BJP leader admitted a day ago that the reason was simple: "in any case, we are not going to get Muslim votes, and sending the two Muslim leaders for the campaign could have meant turning away some of the Hindu voters".

The party has denied the allegation that by saying it was the "only guarantor of the minorities in Gujarat" it was, in fact, indirectly issuing a threat to Muslims to the effect. The message perhaps was: if you do not vote for us, you will not be safe.

Mr. Naqvi alleged that the Congress had been trading in the "Muslim votebank" by making "deals" with the minorities and following a policy of appeasement. This is an old charge by the party, but at no point has it been able to show how the Muslims, who are on an average the poorer and more illiterate segment of society, have been "appeased".

The party spokesperson also said that this time the election in Gujarat had been "above `fatwas' (diktats by Muslim clerics)", but it was pointed out to him that in the past the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, had himself sought a `fatwa' in his own favour from the then Jama Masjid Shahi Imam when faced with a tough election in Gwalior.

Mr. Naqvi alleged that the Congress had a "hidden agenda" in Gujarat, but when asked to explain what it was, his answer was: "ask the Congress".

Another allegation levelled by him against the Congress was that it was "soft on terrorism" in Jammu and Kashmir and "silent on Godhra" — but not a word about the Prime Minister's own "initiative" of a "unilateral ceasefire" against militants in Kashmir during the Ramadan two years ago.

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