Patna, April 18 (IANS) Many Muslims in Bihar are not impressed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s latest move to target Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his allegedly communal politics. It is mere “doublespeak”, they say, and has little to do with secularism. “After all, Nitish Kumar has been with the BJP for 17 long years. What happened to Muslims in Gujarat in 2002 is well documented, but all this while Nitish Kumar failed to criticise Modi and never demanded his sacking as chief minister. Suddenly, now, he questions Modi’s secular credentials,” says Irshadul Haque, a Dalit Muslim activist. “If Modi is communal, how could Nitish Kumar treat senior BJP leader L.K. Advani, the man behind the demolition of the Babri mosque, as secular? For Muslims, Advani and Modi are two sides of the same coin,” social activist Naiyer Fatmi told IANS Mohammad Abid, a small-time contractor, said that Nitish Kumar had been trying to paint the BJP in white and Modi in black. “If Nitish Kumar is so serious about the secular principle, he should first part ways with the BJP. Attacking Modi means nothing, as he was with Modi after the Gujarat riots of 2002,” Abid said. Sorror Ahmad, a community activist and mediaperson, said Muslims understand that they have nothing to do with Nitish Kumar’s statement on ‘topis’ (skull caps). Nitish Kumar had said that leaders should adopt the style of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was able to take everyone along. He had said that leaders should sometimes wear a topi, sometimes a tilak – a reference to the skull-cap and marks on the forehead that offer visible evidence of belonging to the Muslim or Hindu communities. “One should know that ‘topi’ is part of culture, not religion. Nitish Kumar is using catchwords to send a political message to Muslims, but he has failed. He is widely seen as a close partner of BJP’s Advani and Modi. Nitish Kumar was railway minister under Vajpayee, and when he raised the raj-dharam (duty of office) question for Modi after the Gujarat riots, Nitish Kumar deliberately maintained silence,” Ahmad said.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Jul 2013 11:07:05 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015