To be a Muslim PM

It is heartening to see Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi take on a poser from a Muslim student, Umme Kulsum, at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) on Monday on a subject that most of the Congress ‘secularists’ would evade or on which they would talk hogwash only to appease the Muslim electorate. When asked as to whether a Muslim can ever become India’s Prime Minister, Rahul said: ‘‘It is not about your religion or community you come from. It is what you bring to the table, what capability you have.’’ Umme further asked: ‘‘Muslims have come a long way after Independence. Sir, how long will it take for India to have its first Muslim Prime Minister?’’ Rahul’s response was candid as well as reflective of his maturity: ‘‘Today, Manmohan Singh is not the Prime Minister of India because he is a Sikh. He is the Prime Minister because he is the most capable person to do the job. And let me tell you, when you do have a Muslim Prime Minister, he will be a Prime Minister because he is the most capable person.’’ He asked the Muslim youth to ‘‘step up’’ as ‘‘the number of leaders coming out of your community needs to go’’.

There are three points that the Congress leader has driven home. First, in a secular state, religion (or, for that matter, caste, creed and community) must not be allowed to determine as to whether a person should be elevated to any post by virtue of him being just a member of a politically expedient community. The Rahul argument is simple: there is no problem at all if a Muslim becomes the country’s highest political executive, but it must be on the basis of the principle of meritocracy — he must be ‘‘the most capable person’’. Secondly, routine grumble will not do now. Indian secular democracy is for all, regardless of religious or casteist affiliation, and therefore, it is the very community concerned that should begin to move up. As Rahul has rightly pointed out, ‘‘there are not many young Muslim leaders active in national politics’’. What stops them from coming up? Where is the impediment? But what the Congress leader forgot to tell the AMU students is that unless and until the educated Muslim youth begins to assert his position as a liberal Indian first and tells the clergy to mind its own business and not to meddle with politics or things beyond religion, the Muslim stereotype will continue despite there being so many enlightened and promising Muslim youth. For instance, the liberal Muslim youth should have strongly objected to the Jamiat’s irrational fatwa on the singing of the national song, Vande Mataram. He should have told the Jamiat leaders that such decrees are meaningless when it comes to the educated Muslim youth’s aspiration in a 21-century secular democracy. And thirdly, by harping on the question of merit that alone must matter in the business of making of a prime minister, Rahul, implicitly though, has once again questioned the very system whose product he is and many others too are. Here is the sign of a good leader.

Yet, the question remains: Given Rahul’s infusion of new ideas into politics, his ability to relate to the aspiration of a young India, and his rightful deviation from some of the Congress’ traditional trajectories, will the Congress evolve anew, such as when it comes to the policy of appeasement of Muslims solely for electoral gains without addressing their core issues? THE SENTINEL