By Saiyed Danish, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: One main reason perhaps why Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) fell short of majority mark in the Delhi Assembly was its poor performance in Muslim dominated constituencies. Out of eight seats the Congress won, four MLAs are Muslims, while the fifth Chandani Chowk too has sizeable Muslim voters. AAP has now formed a Task Force to win over the trusts of the Muslims, ahead of the general elections, where the community is believed to influence the outcome in about 218 seats.
The Task Force comprises of Irfanullah Khan, AAP’s candidate from Okhla who ended as runner up in the recently concluded Assembly elections, RK Puram candidate Shazia Ilmi, national general secretary Pankaj Gupta and senior leader Ashish Talwar.
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TCN spoke to Irfanullah Khan on his party’s plans to woo Muslim voters:
Q. Despite good performance by AAP in Delhi elections, why none of the Muslim candidates, including you, could register victory on party ticket?
A. In order to understand our defeat in Muslim dominated areas we have to understand that the major political parties in our country have been using Muslims’ vote for their own gains. But now there is an air of disenchantment among Muslims all over India towards big parties, especially the Congress party. Congress tried to keep Muslim away even from Anna movement. We are just a year old party still AAP received 30% of all Muslim votes. Definitely, they will come towards us but it is a long process as Muslims have been held ransom by the Congress party for 64 years.
Q. Lok Sabha elections are five months away. What is the agenda of Muslim Task Force which has been formed by the party?
A. You see, Muslims want an alternative but while voting they surrendered before the fear psychosis and negativity created by the stooges of other parties. They had no agenda so they asked for votes by frightening them in the name of Narendra Modi. AAP wants to avoid that approach. We are not going to play divisive politics like other parties.
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We have acknowledged that Muslims are most deprived section whether in health, services and education and that they bore maximum brunt of Partition. But we do not see Hindus and Muslims as two community vote banks as we are trying to dismantle that polarized politics. To shun this vote bank politics only, the AAP contested Muslims from Hindu-majority constituencies. This is how we will approach Muslims.
Q. Since AAP has decided to contest Lok Sabha elections where exactly AAP stands on volatile issues of Communal Violence Bill, Muzaffarnagar riots and the ever inflammatory, Muslim reservation?
A. We are definitely saddened by the riots at such large scale but the real thing to be worried of is that such riots do not happen in the future. Why did this riot happen? It happened because the law and order and system of justice have collapsed. The perpetrators of the riots are roaming scot-free.
When AAP will enter the Parliament it will ensure justice and create a mechanism that the communal polarization stops and thus rioters will be weakened. I can say the same thing about Communal Violence Bill. We are capable of tabling a stronger Bill in the Parliament as the intentions of Congress party behind CVB are diabolic.
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File photo of Irfanullah Khan during campaign.
As far as reservation is concerned, you have to see that from where this problem arises. It stems from inequality. AAP is working for the concept for a truly welfare state where justice is of prime concern. I have no problem is admitting that Muslim kids do not get admission in good schools or colleges. We will be soon uprooting this problem and hence inequality will be defeated.
Q. Why AAP has not decided to pitch any candidate in Modi’s constituency the way it has kept the heat on Amethi? What is AAP agenda on the rise of right wing?
A. We have challenged Modi to contest from Amethi the way we are contesting against Rahul Gandhi. If there is any Modi wave in the entire country then why is he contesting from a safe seat in Gujarat? Why is he not contesting like us? AAP wants to create an atmosphere of an egalitarian and just society towards which right-wing has no contribution. Only we can counter right-wing rise in India as we did in Delhi. Out of 28 seats we won, we stopped BJP on 22 where it came second and Muslims will acknowledge it sooner.
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Q. There are some organizations, for instance Jamaat-e-Islami which opposed AAP before the elections but are together with the party after it won. Can AAP benefit from it?
A. Such organizations should do a long term planning in order to align with any party; including ours as if they keep changing their allegiances to different parties they could lose their own trust base. AAP is an independent entity and it has its own support base. It is for these organizations to think whom they are supporting and should not decide their support on win-lose basis but ideologically.
Related:
Muslims are slowly opening up to AAP, although confusions remain