http://twocircles.net/2011apr21/why_jamaatbacked_welfare_party_received_cold_response.html
Submitted by admin4 on 21 April 2011 - 12:35pm
By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: Welfare Party of India, Jamaat-e-Islami backed political party, was launched on April 18 here in New Delhi. Interestingly, the much-awaited move of the Jamaat was quite in the news but the way its launch has been received in the community media, circle of Muslim leaders and masses, has taken many by surprise. So far the Welfare Party has got cold response from the Muslim community and their leaders.
To give you the most striking example, anybody following Muslim “leaders’ will tell you that the community leaders are supposed to speak and react to almost every single issue under the sun. Contrarily, however, after the launch of the WPI on 19th and 20th of April there was hardly any reaction in the newspapers, particularly in Urdu newspapers.
Leaders of Welfare Party of India on the day of its launching on April 18. Mujtaba Farooque, 5th from Left.
Does it mean that Muslim leaders and masses are not enthusiastic towards the idea of a party by Jamaat-e-Islami?
“No” says Dr. Tasleem Rahmani, a Delhi based political activist who runs Muslim Political Council of India.” “It’s not that Muslims are not interested in WPI. It’s just that they are guarded in their reaction. They are just watching the party’s action because they have certain expectations from the party and they don’t want to judge it at such an early stage,” adds the physician turned political activist.
According to Dr Rahmani, the actual reaction of the Muslim masses towards the party will be decided by the way the WPI conducts its politics and its political and electoral success.
Dr. Zafarul Islam Khan, vice-president of WPI, adds the missing element of skepticism which is what defines the common Muslims’ reaction to the WPI, “There must have been hundreds of political experiments when it comes to the idea of a political party backed by Muslims, but almost all of them have failed.”
Dr Khan, editor of the community focused English fortnightly Milli Gazette, also highlights one important thing, “If people have not reacted in our support in the media, they haven’t opposed us either.”
But what disturbs me is the strongly religious jargon in the speeches of its leaders which points towards another important reason behind this silence by the Muslim masses over the issue of a political party launched by the Jamaat. During the launching convention, one of the vice-presidents of the WPI talks about establishing “Nizame Mustafa (Rule of Prophet Muhammad).”
The reaction of the Muslim masses, which are largely secular, to the WPI is not only defined by an element of skepticism but its also characterized by an element of disturbance and discomfort at the idea of a political party backed by Jamaat-e-Islami, essentially a religious organization formed to establish “Allah’s rule on Allah’s earth.” This disturbing feeling has its root in the transition of Jamaat from being essentially a religious organization to a group which is interested in political and material power on the earth by its cadre controlled political party.
There was no problem till the time Jamaat's agenda was theoretically oriented. But now when it wants to enter politics in order to gain political power, there should be a healthy debate on the intention and political inclination of the Jamaat particularly when a big section of Jamaat itself is opposed to any political venture.
(The views expressed by the author are personal. He can be reached at mdali86@gmail.com)
New Delhi: Welfare Party of India, Jamaat-e-Islami backed political party, was launched on April 18 here in New Delhi. Interestingly, the much-awaited move of the Jamaat was quite in the news but the way its launch has been received in the community media, circle of Muslim leaders and masses, has taken many by surprise. So far the Welfare Party has got cold response from the Muslim community and their leaders.
To give you the most striking example, anybody following Muslim “leaders’ will tell you that the community leaders are supposed to speak and react to almost every single issue under the sun. Contrarily, however, after the launch of the WPI on 19th and 20th of April there was hardly any reaction in the newspapers, particularly in Urdu newspapers.
Leaders of Welfare Party of India on the day of its launching on April 18. Mujtaba Farooque, 5th from Left.
Does it mean that Muslim leaders and masses are not enthusiastic towards the idea of a party by Jamaat-e-Islami?
“No” says Dr. Tasleem Rahmani, a Delhi based political activist who runs Muslim Political Council of India.” “It’s not that Muslims are not interested in WPI. It’s just that they are guarded in their reaction. They are just watching the party’s action because they have certain expectations from the party and they don’t want to judge it at such an early stage,” adds the physician turned political activist.
According to Dr Rahmani, the actual reaction of the Muslim masses towards the party will be decided by the way the WPI conducts its politics and its political and electoral success.
Dr. Zafarul Islam Khan, vice-president of WPI, adds the missing element of skepticism which is what defines the common Muslims’ reaction to the WPI, “There must have been hundreds of political experiments when it comes to the idea of a political party backed by Muslims, but almost all of them have failed.”
Dr Khan, editor of the community focused English fortnightly Milli Gazette, also highlights one important thing, “If people have not reacted in our support in the media, they haven’t opposed us either.”
But what disturbs me is the strongly religious jargon in the speeches of its leaders which points towards another important reason behind this silence by the Muslim masses over the issue of a political party launched by the Jamaat. During the launching convention, one of the vice-presidents of the WPI talks about establishing “Nizame Mustafa (Rule of Prophet Muhammad).”
The reaction of the Muslim masses, which are largely secular, to the WPI is not only defined by an element of skepticism but its also characterized by an element of disturbance and discomfort at the idea of a political party backed by Jamaat-e-Islami, essentially a religious organization formed to establish “Allah’s rule on Allah’s earth.” This disturbing feeling has its root in the transition of Jamaat from being essentially a religious organization to a group which is interested in political and material power on the earth by its cadre controlled political party.
There was no problem till the time Jamaat's agenda was theoretically oriented. But now when it wants to enter politics in order to gain political power, there should be a healthy debate on the intention and political inclination of the Jamaat particularly when a big section of Jamaat itself is opposed to any political venture.
(The views expressed by the author are personal. He can be reached at mdali86@gmail.com)