In his interview with Arfa Khanum Sherwani with The Wire, Arif Mohammad Khan ably shattered the myth of perpetual victimhood that the ‘liberal’ fraternity constantly feeds the Muslim community. Khan reiterated that the primary cause of backwardness among Muslims is the regressive religious beliefs they harbour and called for intellectuals to introspect on their own conduct.
Naturally, Khan’s words haven’t gone down well with the Intellectual Maulanas and the Ayatollahs in suits and boots. But in their bid to undermine him, they have only proved the accuracy of Khan’s assessment.
Arif Mohammad Khan is history. Don’t know why media is hell-bent on giving him prominence. He doesn’t represent Muslims and, more crucially, he can’t win elections. Don’t forget that he lost even the India Islamic Cultural Centre’s election in Delhi in Jan. Polled just 702 votes.
— Rifat Jawaid (@RifatJawaid) June 28, 2019
Arif Mohammad Khan is playing a harmful game. He is creating the false perception that plight of Muslims is somehow their own fault. Then by creating terms like Deobandi Fundamentalism – straight out of RW playbook – he is giving talking points for badgering the community more
— Aditya Menon (@AdityaMenon22) June 28, 2019
So #arifmohammadkhan is in line for a Rajya Sabha seat from the Bjp. After leaving the congress he joined BSP & then the Bjp for a while
— Swati Chaturvedi (@bainjal) June 28, 2019
Arif Mohammad Khan isn’t meant for Muslims at all. His role is to provide talking points to Hindutva bigots in a Muslim voice. His role is to give the impression that Muslims are to blame for their own plight. Those giving him space are doing a disservice https://t.co/Y8cc5tw4BJ
— Aditya Menon (@AdityaMenon22) June 28, 2019
The core argument appears to be that Khan doesn’t represent the Muslim community and is, therefore, irrelevant. It has also been argued that those who are providing a platform to him are doing a disservice to the Muslim community. That Khan cannot win elections and isn’t considered a representative of the community is more an indictment of the Muslim community than it is of him.
Akbaruddin Owaisi once announced in public that should the Police be withdrawn across the country for 15 minutes, then Muslims will show Hindus who the boss is. Asaduddin Owaisi, being the leader of his party, took absolutely no action against his brother despite the Jihadist bile that he spewed. If the Owaisi brothers can become elected representatives of the Muslim community but Khan cannot, it only proves that every word of Khan’s assessment of the problems within the Muslim community is absolutely accurate.
The other argument is that Khan is augmenting his own stature by playing to the ‘Rightwing’ gallery. They appear to forget that he was, once upon a time, a Cabinet Rank Minister in Rajiv Gandhi’s government. He resigned after the Shah Bano verdict was overturned by Rajiv Gandhi to appease the Mullahs in the country. Thus, these aren’t opinions that he has suddenly discovered after the 23rd of May, 2019.
He has long harboured these views and his resignation to protest against Rajiv Gandhi’s woeful Mullah appeasement is a testament to that effect. Unlike a few liberals who jumped on the Modi bandwagon in the run up to the 2014 General Elections but abandoned it later on when it became obvious that there weren’t any special privileges waiting for them for their newfound support, Khan has stood by his word for more than three decades now. If his primary objective was to secure political benefits, he wouldn’t have offered his resignation following the Shah Bano tragedy.
That liberals are attacking Khan for stating pretty basic facts only reveals their own vested interests in keeping India’s communal pot boiling. That they denigrate Khan for not being representative of the Muslim community while cheering for the likes of Owaisis only reveals their utter moral bankruptcy. It’s clear that it’s not a concern for the Muslim community that drives them, it’s their virulent hatred towards Hindus. If their hatred towards Hindus was superseded by their concern for Muslims, then they would have preferred and wanted Khan to lead the Muslim community, not the Owaisis.
Amusingly, since when has electoral prospects prevented liberals from projecting someone as a hero? When it was obvious to every neutral observer that the likes of Kanhaiya Kumar would find it difficult to win even municipality elections, they were heralded as youth leaders. Was Gauri Lankesh capable of winning any elections at all? Is Swara Bhasker capable of it? Clearly, electoral popularity isn’t a factor for liberals when it comes to lionizing someone, why is Khan being given a special treatment?
It also reveals a certain interesting dynamic within the alliance between liberals and radical Islam. Liberals want Muslims to be their puppets in their war against Hinduism, Islamic fundamentalists are playing a game of their own where they are continuously strengthening themselves.
Thus, while they continue to be in an alliance, Liberals believe they are in control while the Islamists are continuously clawing away at the roots of the dominant culture waiting for the right time to strike. Therefore, if the alliance is successful in its endeavours, liberals will get their wish and the dominant culture will be replaced. However, it will not be replaced by a society based on liberal ideals, it will be replaced by one with clear Jihadist principles.
Muslims like Arif Mohammad Khan, who is more concerned with the intolerance within the Islamic community, is an anathema to the alliance. A Muslim exposing the scam the alliance is seeking to wreak is their worst nightmare. Therefore, every manner of effort is being made to silence him. Questioning his words despite his track record speaking volumes about his integrity only reveals their ulterior motives.
It’s extremely unlikely that one Arif Khan will be able to bring about any significant reform within the Muslim community. Because the hold of rabid Maulanas and Maulvis over Muslim society is simply too strong. In spite of that, the fact that he is attracting so much criticism only goes on to show the nervousness that the alliance feels about the problematic beliefs of the Muslim community itself.
