Absence of Muslim Congress candidate not driving community away from MVA

Will the resignation of fourtime MLA Arif Naseem Khan as a Congress star campaigner in protest against the denial of a ticket to him have serious repercussions for the party It seems notSoon after Khanrsquos resignation a WhatsApp message went viral urging Muslims to boycott election campaign events held by the Congress and NCP Only then would these parties realise the value of Muslim support said the messageSuch was the backlash from the community that within hours the message was deletedThis sequence of events sums up the mood of Muslim voters today Whoever the candidate their vote will go to the INDIA bloc which they see as best placed to counter the BJP This was the mood a month back when candidates had not been decided it remains the same today when not a single Muslim has been nominated by the allianceHowever the lack of Muslim candidates is indeed something that troubles the community Earlier the usual demand was for more tickets to Muslims But the number of Muslims getting tickets has fallen so sharply that the community risks being marginalised in ParliamentldquoWe didnrsquot expect the Shiv Sena to nominate anyone from our communityrdquo said social worker Mansoor Darvesh ldquoBut the Congress and NCP not doing so means they donrsquot care for our opinions at allrdquoQuestion of winnabilityldquoThe Congress and NCP talk about winnability as the criterion for choosing candidatesrdquo said political activist Akif Dafedar ldquoDoes that mean all their Hindu candidates winrdquoOne reason parties cite for not giving tickets to Muslims is that Hindus will not vote for Muslim candidates ldquoThis is wrongrdquo said Dafedar ldquoBy saying this you are painting all Hindus as communalrsquorsquoThere are however voices which question whether mere representation is enoughA community leader must be such that no party can afford to dump them said Marathi Muslim Sangh convenor Faquir Thakur adding that Mumbairsquos Muslim MPs and MLAs were not of that calibreAsked Farouque Mapkar ldquoWhatrsquos the point of a Muslim MPMLA who does nothing for usrdquo Mapkar has seen the Muslim leadership up close in his long and lonely struggle to book the policeman who shot him during the 9293 riots and who was indicted by the Srikrishna Commission Report ldquoArif Naseem Khan went to the Supreme Court for the implementation of the report but after he became minister did he do anything to get it implementedrdquo he askedMapkar raised another question ldquoWhatrsquos the point of Muslim representatives who cross over to the other side after winning on our votesrdquo Over the past few months the NCPrsquos Nawab Malik and the Congressrsquo Baba Siddiqui and Mushtaq Antulay have joined Ajit Pawarrsquos faction of the NCP which is in alliance with the BJPDeafening silenceThe lack of Muslim candidates is compounded by the silence of parties on Muslim issues ldquoWe have really become fit only to lay mats for party meetings lsquodari bichanewalersquordquo said a prominent religious figure wryly ldquoThey want our votes but wonrsquot mention us in their campaigns Theyrsquove made us political untouchables In UP Holi is now celebrated by covering up mosques and nobody protests Is this the freedom we fought forrdquoDespite such concerns Mumbairsquos Muslims are forcing themselves to vote for the CongressNCP parties theyrsquove always been loyal to Ironically when it comes to Uddhav Thackeray they are more than positive though he heads a party theyrsquove always opposedThey give two reasons for this One Thackerayrsquos record as CM Not only did his handling of COVID appeal to them ldquoMuslim women really liked the way he spoke on TV during the pandemic like a reassuring family elderrdquo but they also appreciated the way he handled crises which could have spelt trouble for Muslims be it the lynching of sadhus in Palghar or Raj Thackerayrsquos ultimatum to stop azaan on loudspeakersSecondly as community activist Sayeed Khan pointed out a new generation has grown up who have no memory of the 199293 riots or the Shiv Senarsquos role in them Oldtimers in the Sena may face awkward questions as they try to reach out to a community that has never voted for them yet the very people asking those questions know their vote will go to these old SainiksThe best example of this can be seen in south Mumbai where Muslims have voted for the Deoras since the 80s Now Milind Deora is with the NDA Do Muslims here feel his absence ldquoEven if his father Murli were alive and he had allied with the BJP we wouldnrsquot have voted for himrdquo said one as he set off to attend sitting Sena UBT MP Arvind Sawantrsquos meetingMay 20Day Mumbai goes to the polls