Muslim parties in Tamil Nadu focus on communal harmony and fair representation
A fortnight after the right-wing event in Madurai, when Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK), a Muslim party, organised a rally at the same venue, some feared communal tension. However, the MMK stage on July 6 presented a different picture: MMK leader M H Jawahirullah was flanked by Thiruvadikudil Swamigal, a Hindu spiritual leader and the founder of Jothimalai Iraipani Thirukootam, and Rev Jegath Gaspar Raj, a Catholic priest and social activist.
A week before the MMK event, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) held its zonal conference in Kayalpattinam in Tuticorin on June 29, where the theme, again, was communal harmony. It appears that the two prominent Muslim parties refuse to play the game of religious polarisation — which they believe would benefit only their political opponents.
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Also noteworthy was that the Muslim parties' gatherings came after communal tensions in Thiruparankundram, where a controversy involving worship rights at the Murugan temple and Sikkandar dargah arose early this year.
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The MMK conference demanded that the govt should protect the dargah.
'We don't want secular votes to be split,' says IUML state general secretary, K A M Muhammed Abubacker. Jawahirullah concurs. 'Some forces want to create disharmony in Tamil Nadu, but the state has always been an inclusive society, a place for communal harmony,' says Jawahirullah. 'Adequate representation of minorities in elected bodies would help create harmony.'
MMK and IUML have been DMK allies, and MMK won two assembly seats on the DMK symbol in the 2021 election.
Are they acting on their alliance leader DMK's instructions? 'We don't have to instruct them,' says a DMK leader. 'They just behave as responsible members of a secular alliance.' IUML national president K M Kader Mohideen acknowledges there is alliance dharma, but there is also a need for human brotherhood like never before.
'In Tamil Nadu, we are with DMK, we will continue to be so. This alliance is not only for elections.
We are aligned with DMK's slogans of 'ondre kulam, oruvane devan' (one community, one God), 'pirapokkum ella uyirukkum' (all are born equal),' he says.
That doesn't stop the parties from calling BJP 'anti-Muslim'. Speakers at their meetings talk about the lack of Muslims in the Union Cabinet and accuse the Centre of making legislation that goes against minority interests.
At its recent zonal conferences in Tirupur and Kayalpattinam, which have significant Muslim populations, IUML emphasised communal harmony. 'We chose Kayalpattinam because the port town's Muslim community is known for its historical role in retrieving the Tiruchendur Murugan temple idols looted by the Dutch and taken to Sri Lanka. There are temple inscriptions that commemorate contributions of Muslim traders,' says Abubacker.
Muslim leaders say they are confident that polarisation attempts by right-wing groups will not fructify in Tamil Nadu because of the high literacy rate and awareness levels. 'But when Murugan is used as a political weapon, there is a sense of tension and fear in the state,' says Manithaneya Jananayaga Katchi (MJK) leader and former Nagapattinam MLA Thamimun Ansari. He says Muslim parties took refuge in 'safer places' because of AIADMK's weakness in protecting the minorities.
Even the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), a reincarnation of the banned Progressive Front of India (PFI) and a former ally of AIADMK, is speaking moderation. SDPI state general secretary Nellai Mubarak says Tamil Nadu can never be divided on communal lines. 'Everyone in Tamil Nadu has the responsibility to preserve social harmony, secularism, and peace,' he says. Mubarak recently met chief minister M K Stalin at DMK headquarters Anna Arivalayam.
'I went to congratulate him for passing a resolution against the Wakf (Amendment) Act in the assembly.'
IUML has now planned a 'Mohalla Jamaat Yatra' in August to meet 8,000 office bearers and ulema (clergy) across Tamil Nadu to reiterate the importance of 'brotherhood and communal amity'. Jawahirullah says MMK will hold a thousand street corner meetings from August to emphasise the need for peaceful coexistence of communities, besides seeking fair political representation for Muslims and withdrawal of the Wakf Amendment Act.
Muslim groups are raising the demand for a proportionate share for the community in elected bodies in the run-up to the polls. 'Only 39 of the 776 MPs are Muslims,' says Jawahirullah. Fifteen are in the Rajya Sabha; 24 in the Lok Sabha. 'The MPs come from only 12 of the 28 states and three UTs. In the 2024 LS election, only 24 Muslims were elected, which is 4.4% of the House. Of 4,123 MLAs across states and UTs, only 296 are Muslims.
In the Tamil Nadu assembly, which has 234 MLAs, only seven are Muslims. In Greater Chennai Corporation, Muslims make up 9% of the population. Yet only four out of 200 councillors are Muslims,' he says.
Former AIADMK minister Anwhar Raajhaa, who joined the DMK on Monday, accused the BJP of making attempts to destabilise the state's communal balance. 'BJP's objective is to win elections through polarisation. It used similar strategies in the northern states and has now struck an alliance with AIADMK to do the same here. But people of Tamil Nadu won't be deceived,' says Raajhaa.
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