‘Kahan dara hua hai Musalman? (Where’s the scared Muslim?) There’s no fear among Muslims.’
New Delhi: Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Minister of Minority Affairs, believes that the Allahabad High Court verdict on the Ram temple in Ayodhya should have been accepted. “But now since the issue is in the Supreme Court, it will be better if a consensus is achieved through talks, or all sections accept the court’s decision,” he says, adding, “even Muslims support the temple in Ayodhya, except a few people with their own political interests and agenda”. Asked why the party doesn’t ask for a school or a hospital to be made at the disputed site, the minister says matter-of-factly, “We should understand that Ram Janmabhoomi is a part of religious belief and faith of crores of people of the country.”
In an interaction with The Sunday Guardian, Naqvi discusses an array of topics, from madrasa modernisation and irregularities in Waqf properties to Muslim women going in large numbers for Haj and why the narrative of “Dara Hua Musalman” is erroneous. Excerpts:
Q: The mandate given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his second term also reflects the changing mood among the minority population. Your comments.
A: The Congress had distorted the definition of minorities in the Sachar Committee report. It tried to declare just a single community as minorities. That was the reason why only 90 districts of the country had been identified as minority-concentrated areas.
The Modi government has made all the sections of society including six notified minority communities—Jains, Parsis, Buddhists, Sikhs, Christians and Muslims—an equal partner of the mainstream development. The development works for minorities have been expanded from 90 to 308 districts of the country.
For several decades, minorities, especially Muslims, had been politically exploited by so-called champions of secularism, who deprived them of basic development in terms of education, employment and others. But the Modi government’s policy of “empowerment without appeasement” and “development with dignity” has created an atmosphere of “development with trust” among all sections including the minorities. This has been reflected in the results of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Muslims have shown trust and faith on the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Q: Do you think that development will be the only core philosophy in dealing with castes, classes and religions under the Modi government and can the minority population be a part of the mainstream?
A: Prime Minister Modi talks about the development of 130 crore people of the country irrespective of caste and religion. This has been proved after the massive mandate given by the people to the BJP-led NDA in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Due to the “perform, reform and transform” policy from 2014 to 2019, our government has again received the huge people’s mandate. A large number of minorities, including Muslims, also have given their votes to the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Our mantra is “Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas”. More than 30% of the beneficiaries of Ayushman Bharat, Ujjwala Yojana, Mudra Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, etc, are minorities.
Q: The minority community has a rich tradition in weaving and handicraft. How is your ministry leveraging that?
A: Our government has given significant attention to preserve and further improve the rich tradition of master artisans and craftsmen belonging to the minority communities. The Ministry of Minority Affairs has been organising Hunar Haat across the country to provide market and opportunities to master artisans and craftsmen. More than two lakh artisans, craftsmen and culinary experts have been provided employment and employment opportunities through Hunar Haat, organised across the country during the last two years.
We are going to organise the next Hunar Haat in Jaipur from 24 August to 1 September 2019. We will organise 100 “Hunar Haats” in the next five years. Those people who are engaged in the campaign to promote indigenous crafts/products by connecting artisans/craftsmen from minority communities also participate in Hunar Haat.
Q: This government is serious about modernising madrasas and has been granting scholarships to students from the minority community. What’s the ground situation?
A: We are not in favour of closing down madrasas. But they must be linked with formal education. Madrasas across the country will be included in mainstream education by providing bridge courses to their teachers through reputed educational institutes such as Jamia Millia Islamia, Aligarh Muslim University and other reputed educational institutions. As part of our “3T” formula, we have launched a programme to provide Teacher, Tiffin and Toilet to madrasas.
During the last four years, we provided scholarships to around three crore students which include about 60% girls.
Q: We often hear stories about irregularities in Waqf properties. What’s the government doing to regularise them?
A: There are around 5.77 lakh registered Waqf properties across the country, which is second only to the properties of the Armed Forces. The Modi government has launched a programme on war footing for 100% geo-tagging and digitalisation of Waqf properties across the country to ensure these properties can be utilised for the welfare of society. Geo-tagging and digitalisation will also ensure transparency and safety of Waqf records. About 85% of the Waqf Board’s records have been digitised.
Q: This year, a record number of Muslims, including women, went for Haj. How did the government do this?
A: For the first time since Independence, a record number of two lakh Indian Muslims are going to Haj this year without any subsidy. An honest and transparent system developed by the Modi government has ensured that even after the removal of Haj subsidy, there is no unnecessary financial burden on Haj pilgrims. GST on Haj pilgrimage has been reduced from 18% to 5%, which will ensure that about Rs 113 crore will be saved by Haj pilgrims during Haj 2019. Subsidy ka chhal ko imandari ke bal se hamne khatam kiya hai (We have defeated the deception of subsidy with the strength of honesty).
The number of women Haj pilgrims going without mehram (male companion) this year is double in comparison to last year. Around 2,340 Muslim women from India are going for Haj without mehram this year, while the number was just 1,180 last year. Two lakh Indian Haj pilgrims include about 48% women.
Q: Despite taking so much efforts and initiatives for the minority community, how does the narrative of ‘Dara hua Musalman’ still make so much of noise? What’s the government doing to stop this?
A: Kahan dara hua hai Musalman? (Where’s the scared Muslim?) There’s no fear among Muslims. For the last several decades, there had been attempts to create an atmosphere of fear among minorities. This was done by the so-called champions of secularism through their narrow-minded appeasement politics. These champions of secularism had hijacked the empowerment of minorities.
Ironically, the regimes of these “secular” political parties were full of riots and curfew had become a part of life. For them, secularism was not a constitutional commitment but a “political tool” to exploit minorities. The minorities have also realised that the opponents of the BJP created the atmosphere of fear only to further their own political agenda.
Q: You have been a vocal supporter of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. How do you see the government move forward on this issue?
A: Every person of this country feels that the Ram Mandir should be constructed at Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya. Even Muslims support the temple in Ayodhya, except a few people with their own political interests. It will be better if a consensus is achieved through talks, or all sections should accept the court’s decision… We should understand that Ram Janmabhoomi is a part of the religious belief and the faith of crores of people of the country.
Q: The Opposition accuses you of eroding the power of the Opposition. Do you take this blame?
A: We are of the opinion that there should be a constructive and active Opposition. The Opposition should honour the people’s mandate given to our party. The Opposition should come out of the hangover of defeat and move forward with a positive approach.
Q: Finally, what is your take on the resignation drama surrounding Rahul Gandhi?
A: When the commander of an army abandons the battlefield, it’s obvious that his army will search a for secure place. The Congress’ situation is like “Senapati Chhumantar, Sena Jantar Mantar”. The Congress should come out of its arrogant and feudal mindset and face the ground reality. It should move forward realising the mood of the people and atmosphere in the country.