Friday, March 16, 2012

Muslims Elect Freedom From Fear


by Saif Shahin, New Age Islam

Saif Shahin, New Age Islam columnist takes a hard and factual look on the role played by the Muslims in the recent elections held in Uttar Pradesh and Indian state. He writes, “A new generation of Muslims is not content to be just kept alive; it expects a lot more from those it elects to office. Crucially, its expectations are not for Muslims as Muslims, but as citizens of a nation with which it is much more at ease than its parents and grandparents were. That is why tears of sympathy and promises of job quotas don’t cut too deep.
 IN THE wild and eccentric world of Indian politics, there is one golden rule that always seems to hold: if you lose, blame it on Muslims. Mayawati trot down the well-worn path on Wednesday, holding the Muslims of Uttar Pradesh to account for the Bahujan Samaj Party’s (BSP) humiliation in the recent assembly elections. Her logic: the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) raised the issue of Muslim reservation midway through the polls, polarising the electorate along communal lines and pushing Muslims into the arms of the Samajwadi Party (SP).”

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