BJP Vice President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and his wife Seema are an embodiment of secularism, in whose house every festival including Diwali and Eid is celebrated with great enthusiasm.
We were awaiting him as Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi returned after submitting his report on West Bengal violence to the Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Waiting, rather we were relishing the mouth-watering Suji ka Halwa prepared by Seema ji with her own hands on the occasion of Shab-e-Baraat.
When BJP got its historic victory on 16th May, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi had tweeted: “Jazbe aur janadesh ko salam (Hats off to the spirit and mandate).” Immediately after Naqvi’s arrival, keeping this tweet in the background, we put forth a series of questions, which he answered with his familiar calm disposition.
As the public looked for succour from the Congress misrule and got attracted towards the dynamic and development-friendly image of Narendra Modi, BJP got its biggest mandate in history; how do you intend to stand up to the public’s inflated expectations, we asked. “We are not going to follow the traditionally accepted way of politics,” Naqvi replied. “We have inherited a scarred legacy – legacy of inflation, legacy of corruption and scandals, legacy of misrule! That is why we came to power. We have to make it right! To achieve this task, we will have to proceed the works that we have commenced with a positive attitude and determination. Inflation is indeed a big challenge but we have already started working on ways and means to keep it in check.
Unemployment is also a big challenge. The solutions to these problems can be found only if the atmosphere in the country remains good. It is not that any work was not done before. But the atmosphere in the country was not conducive. We will work to bring that bad atmosphere on track.”
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has been identified, for decades, as the minority face of BJP. It was obvious that we questioned him about the relationship between the BJP and Muslims. “Is it true that more Muslims voted for the BJP this time than ever,” we asked? “We believe there was doubt and scepticism among majority of Muslims related to BJP regime, but we tried our best to eliminate or reduce these doubts,” Naqvi replied. Naqvi is of opinion that they have achieved 20 per cent success in their endeavour. He said: “We think we achieved 20% success in our efforts. Muslims voted around 20 per cent based on merit demerit. 80 per cent of the Muslims didn’t vote for the BJP. The elections are now over and we have formed the Government.
The issue now is not whether the Muslims voted 16% or 20%. To run the country, it is imperative now that we create trust and confidence among Muslims. As I said in the Parliament, the biggest problems that the Muslims face are discrimination, poverty and unemployment. Besides, all the problems that the poor face are also there. But the biggest problem is the fear that has been placed in their minds. Who labels them a terrorist and places them in jail, brandishes them as traitor, this is the fear that haunts them perpetually. We will remove this. We do not link it with vote. If there is fear within such a big chunk of population and it is cut off from the mainstream of progress, it is clearly not in the country’s interest. We will have to amend this.”
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi is of opinion that “the biggest problems associated with the community are related to their socio-economic development and education. But their political empowerment too is a big issue. In any democracy, it is essential that no group should remain untouched. The presence of Muslims has diminished regularly in judiciary, bureaucracy, police and administration. This time their presence has decreased in the Lok Sabha as well. We believe that until we are able to bring this big chunk of population into the mainstream of national progress, growth of the country will remained inhibited.”
Referring to another of his tweets in which Naqvi had said that the Congress continues to sing its disharmonious tune despite its defeat, we asked him about reason for present misery and plight of Congress. Naqvi responded that the chief reason was lack of vision and leadership in Congress.
Answering our question, Naqvi said: “I have seen so many ups and downs in life. From 2, we have now 282 members in Lok Sabha. From 200, Congress has now come to stand at 40 members. I have seen such changes taking place so many times. But lack of vision and leadership in Congress is harming it. Despite such plight, they are unable to conclude how it all happened. Issues are not merely inflation, unemployment, etc. The point is that the Congress couldn’t relate to people. Muslims can be presented as an example! It’s true that they didn’t vote for the BJP; they were traditional Congress voters. They too have broken away from the Congress. Neither could the Congress connect with the masses nor understand their basic problems.”
Naqvi further said “it’s not that good work was not done during Congress rule. But they couldn’t reach the common man. Framing a policy and pouring money on it is something different and making the benefits reach to the common masses is an altogether different issue. Congress was unable to govern. Policies were framed but men sitting around centres of power siphoned the money and benefits to their coffers. People remained largely untouched by these policies. That’s why they were feeling cheated!”
Aziz Haider
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