Author: Ranjit Roy
Publication: The Organiser
Date: August 12, 2007
URL: http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=196&page=7
The ruling CPI(M)'s policy to acquire farm
land for setting up high profile industries is slowly but steadily eroding
party's nearly 30-year-long Muslim vote bank in rural Bengal. This is evident
after the humiliating defeat in Panshkura and later losing seven seats to
the Opposition combine in closely contested Haldia municipal elections in
east Midnapore on July 22. Although the CPM-CPI combine have retained its
authority over the civic body by bagging 19 of 26 seats, this was far from
the clean sweep of winning all the 26 seats in 2002 elections.
But the fact that has either been ignored
or gone unnoticed by the media so far is the sudden and steady rise of a new
extremist Muslim force in Bengal under Siddiqullah Chowdhury's religious outfit
Jamiat-e-Ulema Hind. Many fear that Jamiat's involvement in political power
sharing may lead in near future to sharp communal divide during the Panchayat
elections early next year. Siddiqullah has floated his own political party,
"People's Democratic Council of India" (PDCI), on the eve of Haldia
civic body election. The Jamiat, which for the first time entered into the
fray under the banner of its political front PDCI, contested on two seats
in Haldia election and bagged one seat. In fact, Siddiqullah waited for a
long to unite Bengal Muslims and turn them into a formidable political force
totally independent from the mainstream of Indian politics. He is consciously
following the Muslim politics of the late Fazlul Haq and his Krishak Praja
Party in the thirties. Like Siddiqullah's PDCI, the late Haq's party had initially
aspired for a non-communal role only to gather support from both Muslim and
Hindu communities. Fazlul Haq was an ever shifting leader-one day he was populist
and secular and the other day he was a Muslim with a harsh communal antipathy
to the Hindus. Haq's so-called secular Muslim politics had later led to the
infamous "Great Calcutta Killings" under the support of his political
friend Sahid Suhrawardy when at least 5000 Hindus in the city were brutally
killed during the first two days of Muslim League's Direct Action to get Muslim
homeland Pakistan. The wounded were five times more than the number killed.
Siddiqullah fielded two candidates-one Hindu
and the other Muslim woman-in wards-14 and 15 respectively. Strangely, the
Hindu candidate, Shankar Prasad Jana, did not get support of the local Muslim
voters and lost to the CPI(M)'s Muslim candidate Sheikh Muzzafar by a considerable
margin in Muslim-dominated ward 14. But the PDCI's Muslim candidate Murshida
Bibi had no difficulty to win the ward 15 defeating the CPI(M) candidate.
Abdus Samad, spokesman of the Jamiat, said, "We entered the electoral
politics for the first time and the electorate of Haldia has proved we are
not a communal party although CPI(M) has launched a propaganda saying so."
The CPI(M)'s strategy, on the other hand,
to tackle the rise of Jamiat as its political foe is by pursuing the policy
of appeasement of Muslim community. The party has directed the government
officials not to acquire land belonging to Muslims, a quick development activities
aimed at the Muslim community only and to distribute a better compensation
package for Muslim farmers than to Hindu farmers. It is evident from the strategy
that the party is planning to follow the age-old British policy of divide-and-rule
by targeting only Hindu majority areas for acquisition of land for the proposed
SEZs and also by offering better compensation packages for Muslims if a few
of them are evicted for setting up industries. The CPI(M) think-tank believes
that such discrimination will only jeopardize the fragile unity of the Opposition
and confuse the Jamiat's rank and files.
The rise of Jamiat and Siddiqullah Chowdhury
in Bengal politics is a warning signal for both the ruling Left Front and
its Opposition. In 2006, no one was aware of the presence of Siddiqullah Chowdhury
and his Jamiat in Bengal. Today, no media house will ignore his press conferences
or meetings as he is now regarded, rightly or wrongly, as a voice of Bengal
Muslims. Thanks to the Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and
his party bosses for calling Jamiat a dangerous communal force, which in fact,
has helped the Jamiat leader to play with Muslim sentiments. He has told the
rural Muslims that by declaring Jamiat a communal force the Chief Minister
is now talking like the BJP leader, L. K. Advani. This has touched and swayed
the rural Muslims under the flag of Jamiat. The Shahi Imam of Kolkata's oldest
Nakhoda Masjid, Maulana Muhammad Shafique, has already extended his full support
to Siddiqullah Chowdhury and his Jamiat saying, "I find nothing wrong
with Jamiat fighting for the Muslims' cause. The Chief Minister should refrain
from making comments that hurt the Muslim sentiments". No doubt, Jamiat
has tested blood at Haldia. Now Jamiat is eyeing not only for the next Panchayat
polls but beyond it to the real power centre in Kolkata. (VSK Feature Service)
