[Reader-list] MUSLIMS WANTS TO MOVE AHEAD

[Rakesh Iyer]

Dear Malik jee

I want to make three arguments about what you want to say:

1) When anybody talks about development of Gujarat, I do bring 2002 in
perspective because that in a way is also related to development. When the
BJP or Modi tries to make it seem that security is a question related to but
separate from development, I disagree. Security is very much a part of
development (integral part), since for me security enhances freedoms. But
security from the fear of Muslims going to kill Hindus or vice versa is also
important. And on that front, I don't believe Gujarat has changed much from
when he took over or at least since 2002.

On the other hand, I am not a fan of big dams which will displace people.
His support of the Sardar Sarovar dam project is something I can't accept.
So also his idea of these huge summits where land is literally being given
to industrialists for a petty amount and then people are asked to leave, as
the Nirma project brought forward.

There are sectors where Gujarat seems to be the shining light. Agriculture
is one such thing. But is it shining? And will its fallouts be good? I don't
know. That I accept.

And for Modi being a great CM, I would say give him Bihar or any other state
like Maharashtra also. Let us see what he does there.

2) It's not Modiphobia. It's Hindutva-phobia. On that I very much agree.
It's a phobia of the kind of world being created where minorities have to
live on the goodwill of the majority, probably to the detriment of their own
rights and liberties which they should enjoy as human beings. It's a phobia
of the ideology which supposedly puts Hindus on a higher pedestal than
others, even though all of us are human beings. It's a phobia of making some
seem patriotic and others seem as enemies, when they may not be so.

It's a complete caricature of the belief in Hinduism, and instead tries to
make it seem like a Western religious model of Christianity or the barbaric
model of Islam which it wants to imitate, having one God and one religious
book and subscribing to just one view and all that.

That is something I am completely against. And I would rather have that
phobia. It's something Modi represents as an ideology, though how much he
believes in it is for him alone to decide.

Of course, that does not in any way mean support of the Congress. That party
is equally to blame for the rise of the BJP. And that is what happens when
people tend to pander to extremism rather than sticking to centrist views.
What the RSS could not ever do, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi successfully
did: make BJP the major opposition party of Congress. Congratulations to
them on that!

3) Maulana has his view and so do others. To criticize either of them for
having just views like that which are not like yours, without any basis, is
wrong. Maulana has his view and his justification and so do those
criticizing him.

I think it's just more important to be on the side of facts though. I don't
think Maulana or his detractors have facts put out won whether Muslims have
also come ahead under his regime or not. Of course, what happened in 2002
should be a shame for Modi also, in my view (though whether he feels it or
not, I don't know again). And it can't be about just one Gandhinagar or one
Kalol or one Chamanpura.

It has to be about entirety of Muslims since 2002. That has to be the issue.
I hope the Census 2011 figures give some indication.

Rakesh