BHOPAL: Muslims in Madhya Pradesh are up in arms against the Congress party, saying it has not picked enough community members to contest the assembly elections. And they say they can’t take it any more.
The decline in Muslim representation in the Madhya Pradesh assembly has become a major cause of concern for the community that accounts for over four million in the state’s 60 million population.
“Muslims understand everything. If we don’t get our due share, we will fight for it,” asserted Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress Vice President Asif Naqvi, who has vowed to contest as an independent after the party failed to field him.
Muslims number some 140 million across India and are its largest minority. The Congress has put up only five Muslim candidates while Muslims had no hope of being fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Congress and the BJP are the two dominant parties in the sprawling state.
Parties like the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Samajwadi Party and the Left have little or no presence in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh assembly.
“There is undoubtedly a sense of alienation among Muslims as they feel the Congress has exploited them without giving them ample representation,” eminent Urdu poet Manzar Bhopali told IANS.
The outgoing assembly has just two Muslim members — Arif Aqueel of the Congress, representing Bhopal North, and the Nationalist Congress Party’s Hameed Qazi (Burhanpur).
“Muslims are not satisfied with their representation. The Congress didn’t allow Muslim leaders to develop even in places like Indore and Jabalpur that have a large Muslim population,” said Madhya Pradesh Muslim Vikas Parishad (MPMVP) President Mohammad Mihir.
“We are worried because our civil liberties are being restricted across the country. We are often looked at with suspicion, but the Congress isn’t bothered about our uplift,” said Mihir.
