[Reader-list] Indian elections: how to woo Muslims to vote for you

[Taha Mehmood]

If we assume that the elections posters were intended to appeal to
Muslims of North India, then a survey of posters throws up some
questions-

1. Do all Muslims of North India know how to read Urdu? If no, then-
2. Why do political parties equate Muslims=Urdu speaking?
3. Do all Muslims of North India always think of Gujarat as an assault
on their collective religious identity all the time, especially when
they are about to vote?
4. Just like in earlier times, Imam Bukhari's fatwa to vote for
erstwhile Janta dal was assumed to be the ultimate clarion call to
North Indian Muslims, this time too, it appears, as if, the stereotype
of Indian voters who happen to follow Islam, robs them from any agency
to think and act on their own. I wonder why is an appeal from
authority is such a big deal in political communication?
5. I wonder if posters issued by political parties to appeal to
followers of other religions like Sikhism, Jainism, Buddhism or those
Indian voters who constitute a strategic vote bank follow a similar
trend?

Regards

Taha