BJP Outreach to Pasmanda Muslims: Can Inclusive Growth Be Achieved?

'Pasmanda', or the “ones left behind”, is used to describe the other backward class (OBC) Muslims that comprise economically and socially excluded members of the religious community.

Pasmanda Muslims reportedly comprise 85 percent of the total Indian Muslim population.

Speaking at the national executive meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) this July, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a focus on including Pasmanda Muslims.

Since , the ruling BJP has initiated several programs in an attempt to reach out to the Muslim community.

In an interview with Sputnik, BJP Delhi unit's minority wing chief Atif Rasheed talked of the efforts made by his party for the leveling up of the community and why there is a special focus on Pasmanda Muslims.

Rasheed also served as vice-chairman of the National Commission for Minorities in the past.

Sputnik: Could you please elaborate on the BJP program for Pasmanda Muslims?

Rasheed: The outreach program for Pasmanda Muslims was not a part of any plan --- rather, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called upon the BJP politicians to work for the community. Pasmanda Muslims were subjugated by upper-class Muslims. It is not that upper-caste Muslims have been suppressing the Pasmanda community only recently -- rather this has been the practice for the last 800 years.

Pasmanda Muslims comprise 85 percent of the Muslim population and none of the political parties, who call themselves as their 'messiah', ever think [about] their upliftment [leveling up]. They only view them as a vote bank.

Ever since Prime Minister [Modi] made a clarion call to work for the community, they have started realizing that who really wants them to be at par with upper-class communities.

Some of the political parties and prominent Muslim leaders started to say that BJP is dividing but it is not true: rather we are uniting the 85 percent Pasmand Muslims.

This is not only on paper, but if you see the party gave political representation to the people from this community. For example, Danish Azad Ansari has been made a minister in the Uttar Pradesh government, Ashfaq Saifi has been appointed as chairman of State Minorities Commission in Uttar Pradesh, I was appointed as vice-chairman of National Commission for Minorities, Ghulam Ali Khatan was given a Rajya Sabha (upper house of the Parliament) seat.

Not only this, if you see the list of beneficiaries of the government schemes, you will find that most of them belong to this community only.

With so much happening, the community has started believing in Prime Minister Narendra Modi. They now feel that if he has said that something good will happen for them it will happen.

I believe that the Pasmanda movement started by the prime minister will be a historic one for the country and help in the upliftment of the community. We are getting a huge response from the community. Recently we did a rally in Bareilly city of Uttar Pradesh and it was attended by more than 25,000 people from the community.

I think that the only need of the hour is that every BJP leader, be they Hindu or Muslim, has to reach out to the Pasmanda community and make it aware about their rights.

Sputnik: Why the special focus on Pasmanda Muslims and not the other Muslim communities?

Rasheed: As I said earlier, the suppression of Pasmanda Muslims has been going on for the past 800 years. However, several efforts were made for the upliftment of Pasmanda Muslims through various movements before partition as well as after partition. But they were not that strong.

Those movements were not strong because I believe that Pasmanda Muslims were Hindus from Dalit (backward) communities who converted into Muslims and after conversion they had to face atrocities.

They never get political representation, because whenever it comes to such a thing, this community was sidelined in a planned way in the name of religion. What happens is that whenever a person sees anything through the lens of religion they deviate from their basic issues and rights.

Ever since independence in 1947, Muslim politicians who have been elected as parliamentarians belong to the upper-caste Muslims. All the political parties are only focused on upper-caste Muslims who are just 15 percent of the total population of Muslims.

There is a caucus that wants Pasmanda Muslims to be their vote bank and doesn’t want them to be politically aware. We want to break this caucus and want to make the people of the community aware that they should see politics and religion with different angles.

If you see, the schemes launched by the federal government in the last eight years are focused on – Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas (collective efforts, inclusive growth). There has been no bias while giving out the benefits under any scheme.

The BJP is now creating awareness among the deprived community of Muslims so that inclusive growth can be realized. When they will be aware, they will think about the country.

Sputnik: The opposition parties, as well as a lot of prominent Muslim leaders, have repeatedly accused the BJP of neglecting the community, labeling it as a primarily Hindu party. How would you counter the allegations?

Rasheed: They have been scaring them of the BJP and are trying to showcase themselves as the messiah for Muslims.

For example, during 2020 Delhi assembly elections, there were protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA): Muslims were misinformed that they would loose their citizenship and would be put in detention centres if the act were enacted.

However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made it very clear that no one from the Muslim community has to fear it. Despite the assurance, they were in fear as they couldn’t understand the act and were misinformed. As soon as the elections were over, the protests were over.

All this was created by those belonging to the 15 percent of Muslim population and if this ruckus wouldn’t have been created, Kejriwal would have failed to win the elections in 2020. It was a well-planned conspiracy.

Similarly, during the Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections, the same people misinformed Pasmanda Muslims about the farm laws. No one knew what was wrong with the farm laws but still, they stood against it because of misinformation spread by those who want the people from the community should remain in the backward category.

Now, it is the responsibility of people like me to make them understand what is right and what is wrong.

Sputnik: Recently, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has also been trying to make efforts to reach out to Muslims. Is the party making some special plans before 2024 parliamentary elections?

Rasheed: First of all, I would like to make it very clear that RSS is a nationalist organization. It believes that worship systems can be different, and it doesn’t have a problem with that.

I have worked with the RSS, as well as its student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) for many years. But my religion never caused any hindrance. I was elected as a president of the Student Union and that too from a college where there were only 20 Muslim students.

The RSS clearly believes that it works for the nation building and is against anyone (be it Hindu or Muslim), who will try to obstruct it. The outreach made by the RSS is not a political, but rather a social move. The organization is connected to those Muslims who [care] about the country irrespective of their political affiliation.

Secondly, the RSS doesn’t work for the BJP. Therefore, it would be wrong to say that there are some plans for the 2024 elections.

Sputnik: The Delhi civic polls and Gujarat polls are looming. Do you think BJP could succeed in getting votes from the Muslim community, which is not the traditional electorate of the party?

Rasheed: The Pasmanda movement started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is still at a very nascent stage and shouldn’t be seen as political motive of the party. It is very important that the Pasmanda Muslims of the country associate with BJP irrespective if it remains in power or not.

Whether it is the Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections, Gujarat elections or 2024 elections, the party is making efforts for the upliftment of the community without thinking of the results.

However, I believe that the results of this outreach will not be immediate but for sure we will see it in long term.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the expert and do not necessarily reflect the position of Sputnik.