Nandigram Lessons for the Indian Muslim

Nandigram Lessons for the Indian Muslim

November 22nd, 2007

After outbursts from Left Front chairmen first and then the Speaker of the West Bengal Assembly against her presence in Kolkata, controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen was finally moved out from West Bengal. She was today moved to Rajasthan, a day after outbreak of large-scale violence in central Kolkata during a `shutdown` called by a Muslim outfit over demanding cancelling her visa. 

This move follows Left Front Chairman Biman Bose retracting his comments on the controversial Bangladeshi writer who has sought political asylum in India. The BJP meanwhile attacked the ruling Left Front in West Bengal for asking controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen to leave Kolkata and demanded that she be granted a permanent visa.

If you are left scratching your head on what all of this has to do with Nandigram, you are not alone. But then the large-scale violence in central Kolkata during a shutdown called by All India Minority Forum is puzzling to say the least. The protest ostensibly for Nandigram on the ground that the majority of the victims were Muslim but then the agenda broadened to unrelated Islamic issues.

If the Islamisation of the protest against Nandigram is puzzling on the face of it so was the response of the ruling CPI-Mafioso which was quick to call in the Army and the Rapid Action Force. For an Administration which dragged its heels for months to deal with a motley group of villagers defying the rule of law this rapid response to the events in Kolkota followed by requests to Taslima to leave Bengal by the top party appartachik highlights the dark side of the “psuedo-secular” politics practised by the political Left.

Some fellow bloggers like Gaurav have expressed disappointment in Offstumped highlighting the fact that the majority of the victims in Nandigram were Muslim. It was precisely to expose this “dark side” that Offstumped “harped” (as Gaurav put it) on the religious identity of the victims.

It was nobody’s case that the victims in Nandigram were targeted because of their religious identity. But here is the reality. The dominant paradigm of Left of Center Politics in India is based on identifiying minorities based on religious persuasion and then cultivating them as a political constituency. From Sonia Gandhi to Manmohan Singh, Lalu Yadav to Chandrababu Naidu they have all abused the Muslim Identity by treating it as a vote bank.

So here you have their favorite political constituency, one for which they bend over backwards so routinely, victimised in large numbers by one of their own, and what is their response ?

If those who swear by politics of Minorytism, and so called welfare of Minorities cannot even stand up and hold to account one of their own for injustices inflicted with full state sponsorship, what does it tell us about the politics of Minorytism and the politicians who practice it ?

The answer to that question was perhaps not so obvious, but then events in Kolkota have provided us that answer.

So what does the ruling CPI-Mafioso do to deflect attention from the fact that it just waged war on a mostly Muslim community after its recent Taliban Act of paying back with the same coin ?

It resorts to appeasement with a convenient cause, that strangely presents itself from out of the blue - Taslima Nasreen’s continued presence in Kolkota. So you have mobs hitting the streets of Kolkota with no apparent provocation venting their ire at the State Government knowing fully well asylum to Taslima was a Central issue. You then have the Left Front returning back some friendly fire knowing fully well once again that it has no locus standi on the issue. Within 24 hours the police ensure Taslima packed and sent to a BJP ruled state.

So what is the lesson to the Indian Muslim?

The irony of Nandigram is that the most vocal advocates, from amongst the Political Spectrum, for justice and accountability to the mostly muslim victims has been the BJP with Mr, LK Advani being the only national leader from across the entire political spectrum to defy conventional wisdom and actually visit Nandigram.

There in lies the lesson from Nandigram for the Indian Muslim.

For far too long have the Indian Muslims allowed the Left of Center forces from the Congress to the Communists to abuse them with politics of appeasement. By pandering to the Islamists and thriving on politics of fear mongering these “psuedo secular” parties have taken the Indian Muslim for a ride. With Nandigram all of these parties who swear by Minorytism stand exposed of practising appeasement while shying away from delivering or demanding real justice or accountability.

Offstumped Bottomline:  Nandigram is a defining moment in Indian Politics with an interesting role reversal that saw the BJP demanding justice for the mostly muslim victims while the Congress and the Communists equivocate. It is time for the Indian Muslim to decisively reject the politics of appeasement. It is time for the Indian Muslims to make their political choices on real issues of justice and opportunity rather than on Islamist paranoia.