Do you know that Politics is also an art of subtle messaging? Any minor event, however futile it may seem, can have a huge impact on the larger political canvas. In a fast paced new development, many events and happenings go unnoticed.
Apparently, if all the developments of the past few weeks are analysed properly, it will not be wrong to deduce that the nation is at the cusp of some major reforms.
However, unlike the past, this time the government seems to be following the well advised policy of once bitten twice shy.
Before enrolling the major reforms, it is making all the necessary deliberations and creating a conducive environment for the rollout of those reforms.
RSS’ Muslim Outreach
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is claimed as the ideological parent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It has undertaken countless initiatives for the welfare of society and uplifting the poor and the downtrodden.
However, for petty political reasons it has been needlessly vilified and falsely projected as anti-minority organistation particularly anti-Muslim.
To dispel false notions, counter smear campaigns against Sangh and dispel the fear among the Muslim community, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwant has undertaken a muslim outreach programme.
For this, he is holding back to back meetings with Muslim intellectuals, Masjid and Madrassa clerics. With these outreach programmes, the RSS wants to reach out to moderate muslims.
These Muslims are majority in number but have been trampled by the violent minority of few radicalised elements in their community.
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Evidently, the RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat visited a mosque in Central Delhi to meet Chief cleric Umer Ahmed Ilyasi. He also visited Madrasa Tajweedul Quran in Azadpur, North Delhi and met the children in the madrassa.
The Chief Cleric of the All India Imam Organisation (AIIO) Umer Ilyasi stated that the RSS Chief visited the mosques and Madrasa on his invitation.
Notably, AIIO is the representative organisation of the Indian Imam community. It is claimed to be the largest Imam organisation in the world.
The aim of these meetings is to dispel the needless fear of alienation and vilification in the minds of moderate muslims.
Further, it wants to unite the country, to strengthen communal harmony and to celebrate unity in diversity rather than letting diversity to be the ground for polarisation and violent struggle.
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This is the RSS chief’s second meeting with Muslim intellectuals in over a month. Earlier, on 22nd of Aug, five Muslim intellectuals met Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat.
The attendees included former Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung, former Chief Election Commissioner SY Qureshi, former Aligarh Muslim University Vice-chancellor Lt Gen Zameeruddin Shah, former MP Shahid Siddiqui and businessman Saeed Sherwani.
Mohan Bhagwat was accompanied by senior functionaries of RSS including Krishna Gopal, Ram Lal, and Indresh Kumar.
As per media reports, RSS Chief was listening carefully to the concerns of the Muslim community. Apart from that, he also presented the concerns of the Hindu community including the slaughter of cows, usage of words ‘Kafir’ among others.
The Muslim Intellectuals and clerics have dubbed their meetings with RSS Chief and other functionaries as cordial. In their media interactions, these intellectuals and clerics dubbed debate and dialogue as the only way forward for peace and progress in the nation. While raising their issues, the intellectuals condemned the fringe elements in the society.
Moreover, in all his public interactions and otherwise, the RSS Chief has propagated the message of the same DNA.
He has been emphasising that even after all the differences in religion, dress or food, all the people living in the country are Indians. The feeling of Indianness comes before any other identity.
Pasmanda Outreach of the BJP
In the National Executive meet held in Hyderabad, PM Modi stressed that the party’s goal has always been to take India from “tushtikaran” to “triptikaran” that is from appeasement to fulfilment.
In the meeting, the top leadership asked its workers to reach out to the weaker and left out sections especially the Pasmanda Muslims.
Notably, Pasmanda Muslims are the backward class in the Muslim community. Efforts are being made to bring them into the mainstream of development.
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As per reports, the Pasmanda community comprises of 85% of the total Muslim population. Even after being in the majority, they are socially and economically backward.
The community includes Dalit (Arzals) and backward Muslim (Ajlafs). The rest, 15 percent Muslims are considered upper class or Ashrafs.
Taking radicalised Muslims to task
On one hand the RSS and BJP are reaching out to the moderate and intellectual muslims, the law enforcement agencies are taking hardliners, extremists and terror sympatisers to task.
Recently, the NIA, ED and other state agencies launched a crackdown on the terror infrastructure of the hard-line Islamic outfits like Popular Front of India and other organised criminal Islamic groups.
In these raids, the security agencies have arrested more than 100 hardliners who were accused of vitiating the atmosphere and were involved in terror and other serious illegal activities.
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Furthermore, several state governments are framing laws to end other sinister activities of the radicalised Muslims.
The laws on forced conversions (love Jihad), banning cow slaughter and eradicating oppressive laws like Triple Talaq are prevalent examples of actions on hardliner Muslims.
Apart from these punitive and legislative steps, the governments have been rationalising and modernising Madrassa education.
The accusations of land grabbing in the name of religion and money laundering in the garb of Madrassa education are being probed thoroughly to segregate the law breakers and moderate Muslims, who are in the silent majority but have been oppressed and deprived by the violent minority. Earlier, this was let loose for petty political reasons but not anymore.
The state governments are conducting surveys of Madrassas as well as Wakf properties to break the financial source of extremist and radicalised Islamists, while at the same time keeping the interest of the common Muslims unharmed.
India on the verge to get much needed reforms
The Government of India seems to have adopted a two pronged strategy.
One is to dispel the fear of the silent majority, ensuring their upliftment (triptikaran) without any trace of appeasement politics (tustikaran). Second is to punish the law breakers, terror sympatisers and hardcore Islamists.
It hints that the government is planning to create a conducive atmosphere in order to bring deep rooted systemic reforms.
These developments suggests that the government might issue the notification for the implementation of the much awaited Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Further, it may bring the National Register of Citizenship (NRC) in the upcoming winter session of the Parliament. As the saffron party wants to implement its Sankalp Patra before the wee hours of the Lok Sabha elections 2024.
The CAA-NRC has been the major poll plank of the party in Assam and West Bengal. In both these states, the party performed well on these planks and would not want to get caught, while going into the states during the 2024 General Elections.
Furthermore, it also don’t want to move in haste and repeat the same mistake of communication gap, as happened after the legislation of a humane CAA act.
Before going to issue the notification of CAA and present the draft of NRC in the Parliament, it want to arrest the hardliners and dispel the needless fear of Moderate Muslims to not let anti-India forces exploit their feelings this time.
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