2009 Poll Prospects And Alignments

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Most Muslim MPs of SP back Mulayam</b>
Atiq Khan
Munawar Hasan revolts against party for supporting nuclear deal
Muslims have been unnecessarily dragged into the controversy: Samajwadi Party MPs

LUCKNOW: The Samajwadi Party is counting on its Muslim MPs in the Lok Sabha from Uttar Pradesh to defeat the Bahujan Samaj Party’s design to create a rift among them on the issue of the nuclear deal and the Muslims.

The Muslim card was played by Chief Minister Mayawati, who said the nuclear deal had angered the minority community. Reacting quickly to it, the Samajwadi Party MP from Muzaffarnagar, Munawar Hasan, raised a banner of revolt against his party president Mulayam Singh for brokering the nuclear deal with the Congress.

Accusing Mr. Singh of backstabbing the Muslims, Mr. Hasan, who said he would defy the party whip, claimed that the number of Muslim MPs opposed to the deal would grow if and when a no trust motion is moved in Parliament against the UPA government.

Perhaps, taking cue from this, recent reports have suggested that the BSP president’s game plan was heading towards its logical conclusion.

Mr. Hasan, sources said, is assured of a BSP ticket from Muzaffarnagar in the next Lok Sabha elections. The Phulpur MP, Atiq Ahmed, who has been expelled from the party by Mr. Singh and is currently in jail, was the only other MP who seemed to support the BSP.

The SP has eight Muslim MPs from Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha while the BSP has three. The SP MPs contacted by The Hindu deplored the Muslim angle given to the nuclear deal and said the community has been unnecessarily dragged into the controversy. “What is good for the country also holds good for the Muslims, it is rather unfortunate that a Muslim flavour has been added to the nuclear deal. It is not at all linked to the Muslims and those who are saying so should concentrate on the welfare of the minority community,” said Salim Sherwani, MP from Badaun. Backing Mr. Mulayam Singh on the issue, Mr. Sherwani ruled out the possibility of his stepping out of line.

Talking over the phone, Moradabad MP Shafiqur Rehman Barq reiterated that the nuclear deal has no linkage with the Muslims. “Since the communal forces would be weakened and the secular forces strengthened following the Samajwadi Party’s pact with the Congress, a political propaganda has been launched against the party,” Dr. Barq said.

He said the SP-Congress pact would prevent the division of Muslim votes and would ensure that they were not wasted. Dr. Barq dismissed reports of deserting Mr. Singh as baseless.

The reported opinion of two leading clerics representing the Deoband and Bareilly schools of Muslims in Uttar Pradesh, Maulana Abdul Khaliq Madrasi and Maulana Tauqeer Reza Khan Barelvi, supports the view of the nuclear deal having no relation with the Muslim cause. “Aitami qaraar mulk ke haq mein hai” (the nuclear deal will be to the benefit of the country), said Maulana Khaliq, who is the Naib Mohtammim of Darul Uloom, Deoband, told The Hindu on Monday.

Maulana Tauqeer Reza, president of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (Jadeed), assailed the religious colour given to the controversy. “In the event of a pact between two sovereign nations the effect is on the country and not on a community,” the Maulana said from Bareilly.

In Lucknow, the working committee meeting of the U.P. unit of Jamiat Ulema –i- Hind (JUH) held on Sunday night said the Muslims had nothing to do with the nuclear deal. A resolution passed at the meeting said the deal was the prerogative of the politicians and scientists. The ulemas and religious leaders should maintain a distance from the issue. Maulana Kalimullah Khan Qasmi, secretary of the organisation, said the Muslims should devote attention to the education of their children.