09-29-2005, 10:15 PM
(fwd)
"We are not ruling out the possibility of an alliance before the elections with Muslim or other minority political parties having secular and progressive credentials," Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said.
A political party of or for Muslims/a religious minority can be secular/progressive, but a political party of/for Hindus/the majority becomes "fundamentalist".
This is Nehruvian secularism.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->http://dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_variable=STATES&file_name=state1%2Etxt&counter_img=1
The Pioneer, Sept 24, 2005
<b>Poll time: Parties woo Muslims in Assam </b>
Syed Zarir Hussain/ Guwahati
Come elections and minority Muslims in Assam become the heartthrob of all political parties; this time too the scene is no different with Assembly polls scheduled for early next year.
Â
The ruling Congress in Assam has already sounded the poll bugle by hinting at the possibility of a pre-poll alliance with minority Muslim political parties.
"We are not ruling out the possibility of an alliance before the elections with Muslim or other minority political parties having secular and progressive credentials," Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said.
Muslims in Assam, who account for about 30 per cent of the State's 26 million people, have for decades been at the centrestage of electoral politics with the community holding the key in at least 40 of the 126 Assembly constituencies.
The Congress is worried this time with at least 12 influential linguistic and religious minority groups led by the Assam chapter of the Jamiat Ulema trying to float a political party.
The Muslims and the Bengali speaking linguistic minority voters in Assam have been traditional Congress supporters. The decision to form a political party by the minority groups in the State comes in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in July to repeal the controversial Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act. The 22-year-old Act was replaced with the Foreigners Act of 1946.
Assam Jamiat Ulema president Badruddin Azmal has been on record saying religious and linguistic minorities in Assam will not vote for the Congress as the party failed to defend the IMDT Act from being repealed.
"Despite Azmal and few others trying to project we are anti-Muslim, I am sure the Congress party would be getting support from the minority voters than before as our Government have undertaken a slew of welfare and development schemes for the community," the Chief Minister said.
Barring the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), political formations like the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the AGP (Progressive) led by Prafulla Kumar Mahanta too are trying hard to enlist the support of the minorities in the upcoming elections.
"We have all along been espousing the cause of the minorities and really concerned about their welfare unlike the Congress who use the minority people as their vote bank and forget the community after elections," AGP president Brindaban Goswami said.
The Congress, however, rejects the AGP charges. "We are bringing out a white paper on the various development schemes taken by our Government for the welfare of the minority people," Gogoi said.
Â
For the next few months until the polls, minority leaders of all hues would be much sought after by the mainstream political parties. "Before every election, the minority parties and their leaders are much in demand and once the elections are over, all promises made by political parties disappear in thin air," said Habib Hussain, a Muslim youth leader. "Our community leaders should not fall in their trap this time," he warned. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
"We are not ruling out the possibility of an alliance before the elections with Muslim or other minority political parties having secular and progressive credentials," Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said.
A political party of or for Muslims/a religious minority can be secular/progressive, but a political party of/for Hindus/the majority becomes "fundamentalist".
This is Nehruvian secularism.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->http://dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_variable=STATES&file_name=state1%2Etxt&counter_img=1
The Pioneer, Sept 24, 2005
<b>Poll time: Parties woo Muslims in Assam </b>
Syed Zarir Hussain/ Guwahati
Come elections and minority Muslims in Assam become the heartthrob of all political parties; this time too the scene is no different with Assembly polls scheduled for early next year.
Â
The ruling Congress in Assam has already sounded the poll bugle by hinting at the possibility of a pre-poll alliance with minority Muslim political parties.
"We are not ruling out the possibility of an alliance before the elections with Muslim or other minority political parties having secular and progressive credentials," Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said.
Muslims in Assam, who account for about 30 per cent of the State's 26 million people, have for decades been at the centrestage of electoral politics with the community holding the key in at least 40 of the 126 Assembly constituencies.
The Congress is worried this time with at least 12 influential linguistic and religious minority groups led by the Assam chapter of the Jamiat Ulema trying to float a political party.
The Muslims and the Bengali speaking linguistic minority voters in Assam have been traditional Congress supporters. The decision to form a political party by the minority groups in the State comes in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision in July to repeal the controversial Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunals) Act. The 22-year-old Act was replaced with the Foreigners Act of 1946.
Assam Jamiat Ulema president Badruddin Azmal has been on record saying religious and linguistic minorities in Assam will not vote for the Congress as the party failed to defend the IMDT Act from being repealed.
"Despite Azmal and few others trying to project we are anti-Muslim, I am sure the Congress party would be getting support from the minority voters than before as our Government have undertaken a slew of welfare and development schemes for the community," the Chief Minister said.
Barring the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), political formations like the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and the AGP (Progressive) led by Prafulla Kumar Mahanta too are trying hard to enlist the support of the minorities in the upcoming elections.
"We have all along been espousing the cause of the minorities and really concerned about their welfare unlike the Congress who use the minority people as their vote bank and forget the community after elections," AGP president Brindaban Goswami said.
The Congress, however, rejects the AGP charges. "We are bringing out a white paper on the various development schemes taken by our Government for the welfare of the minority people," Gogoi said.
Â
For the next few months until the polls, minority leaders of all hues would be much sought after by the mainstream political parties. "Before every election, the minority parties and their leaders are much in demand and once the elections are over, all promises made by political parties disappear in thin air," said Habib Hussain, a Muslim youth leader. "Our community leaders should not fall in their trap this time," he warned. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->