The Bharatiya Janata Party accused the Samajwadi Party and the Congress of using Muslims as mere vote banks while the community strengthened these parties for over seven decades with their blind support.
The BJP organised a convention of Pasmanda (backward and Dalit) Muslim community here on Sunday. The BJP said it was the first such meeting held by a political party with the Pasmandas.
The meeting comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the national executive meeting of the party at Hyderabad in July, had asked party leaders to start exploring new social equations by reaching out to marginalised sections among other religious groups, including the Pasmanda Muslims.
Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak was the chief guest at the meeting, called the ‘Pasmanda Buddhijeevi Sammelan’ (Pasmanda intellectuals’ conference) which was also attended by Minister of State in the UP government, Danish Azad Ansari. He is the only Muslim minister in the BJP state government in UP and a Pasmanda.
“The prime minister had given the call for Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas and the BJP, during last over five years in Uttar Pradesh and other states, has proved this by its conduct and benefitted all sections of society, including Muslims, by its welfare and development schemes,” Pathak said.
He added that BJP had proved that it did not practice the policy of appeasement of any section of society but worked for justice for all.
“Muslims were misled by the so-called secular parties for seven decades for their en block votes. Only Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ensured that the Muslims get their due share in development, welfare and power structure,” the deputy chief minister said.
Gulam Ali Khatana of Kashmir, recently nominated to Rajya Sabha by the Union government, said, “Narendra Modi is our `rahnuma’ (leader). It is erroneous that the abrogation of Article 370 is against the interests of Muslims. This article was added in the Constitution only to benefit a particular political family of Jammu and Kashmir.”
He added, “Enough is enough as we have only strengthened the ‘secular’ political parties with our votes, now it is time for the community to be self-reliant and play an effective role in their nation’s development.”
He said the prime minister gave reservation on nine seats in Jammu Kashmir Assembly to Muslims and soon Muslims will get reservation in panchayat bodies. Khatana is a BJP leader from the Gujjar Muslim community. The Gujjar community is an under-represented group settled in some of the most inhospitable areas of Jammu and Kashmir and it also has a significant population in western Uttar Pradesh and in Amethi and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituencies in central UP.
Danish Ansari, the only Muslim minister in the Yogi Adityanath government, said the BJP would give tickets to the Muslims in coming elections to urban local bodies.
“The BJP will address the intellectuals on how over 4.5 crore people from the community have benefited by various government schemes rolled out by the Modi government and the Yogi government in UP. This event is a major platform for dialogue with the community,” said Kunwar Basit Ali, state president of the UP BJP minority wing.
Muslims in India are broadly categorised into three social groups – Ashraf, the “noble” or upper caste, Aljaf, backward caste Muslims; and Arzal, lower caste or Dalit Muslims. While Ashraf are considered the traditionally dominant group comprising Sheikh, Syed, Turk (Mughal) Pathan clans, Aljaf and Arzal are collectively known as Pasmanda, a Persian word for “ones left behind.”
Pasmanda is a term for Other Backward Class (OBC) Muslims comprising economically and socially backward members of society. According to Pasmanda leaders and rights activists, there is around 85 per cent backward or Pasmanda Muslim population across the country.
The community has often raised concerns over the lack of representation in political leadership positions despite being the numerical majority. They claim that out of the roughly 400 Muslims elected to the first 14 Lok Sabhas, only 60 were Pasmanda Muslims.
Although the BJP has been trying to engage with Pasamandas since 2014 to expand its voter base, this time (ahead of the 2024 polls) the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has shown a cultural shift by engaging with Pasmandas and not just the Ashrafs. The Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM), an affiliate of the RSS, says Pasmanda Muslims are progressing within the BJP and its sister outfits in a “natural” way.