The secular Jaziyah tax: Contemporary India continues to entrap Muslims in the politics of fear As chairman of Congress Minority Cell in 1996, i was surprised to discover that all its meetings began with recitation of Quran. I stopped this practice as i considered it a religious activity not suitable for a secular party. However, this was held against me by my secular colleagues in the party. Whenever i spoke about socio-economic and educational problems faced by the community, i was told by Congress highest leadership that Muslims voted out of fear and not for development. The same attitude prevails in other secular parties like SP or BSP. They believe in taking the Muslim vote for granted. Muslims had no option but to vote for these parties if they wanted India to remain secular. Any group or community without an option in a democracy is a bonded slave of certain parties and politics. There are regional alternatives like SP, Trinamool Congress, RJD and so on — but their attitude is the same. They all expect Muslims to pay protection money in the form of their votes, the secular Jaziyah of modern democratic India. How long and for how many more elections will this continue? When will secularism be the need for a modern state which treats its citizens equally, rather than a burden to be carried by minorities of this great nation? The enemies of secularism are not those who have opposed it but those who have manipulated it for their electoral benefit, looking to get Muslim votes out of fear rather than from conviction. Shahid Siddiqui, former MP and Editor Read full article ---> bit.ly/1hf84GS
Posted on: Wed, 09 Apr 2014 03:01:05 +0000
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