On 3rd June, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind chief Maulana Arshad Madani said that the results of Lok Sabha Elections 2024 were the outcome of strategic voting by minorities, specifically Muslims, aimed at defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
He asserted that the General Election results rejected the politics of “hatred and communalism” and attributed the outcome to the “wise voting” by the Muslim community. He said, “Had the voters not voted wisely, the results could have been different,” he said.
Madani emphasised that the parties, particularly the Congress Party, have the moral duty to “protect the constitution and democracy” while “fighting for the rights of the oppressed minorities”. He also lauded Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav for their “secular stance”. He claimed that it was their so-called secular stance that garnered trust and support from the “secular-minded” voters. He also claimed that Muslims are “patriots” and they love the country more than their lives.
According to Madani, there has been a systematic effort to render the Muslim votes ineffective in the elections and marginalise the community altogether. However, the recent elections, according to him, saw Muslims voting en-masse to “uphold secularism, democracy and the constitution.” He highlighted the need for “secular parties” to continue their struggle for the rights of the Muslim community both inside and outside the Parliament.
Madani pointed out that there is a declining trend of Muslim representation in parliament and legislative assemblies. He claimed that it could be attributed partly to the ‘strategic’ reservation of Muslim-majority constituencies for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Reflecting on the 2021 meeting with RSS Chief
In stark contrast to the recent statements by Madani, he had praised the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and its chief, Mohan Bhagwat in 2021. At that time, he had welcomed Bhagwat’s comments on the shared ancestry of Hindus and Muslims in India and suggested that RSS was moving towards a more inclusive ideology.
According to reports, Madani said that he likes the statement made by Mohan Bhagwat. He said that in India, there are Gurjar, Rajputs and Jats, for example, amongst Hindus and Muslims both, therefore, there is nothing wrong in saying that Hindus and Muslims in India share the same ancestry. He is further claimed to have said that RSS is “changing its old ideology and is now on the right track”.
Arshad Madani believes Taliban is “good”
Arshad Madani, the principal of Darul Uloom Deoband who is also president of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind doesn’t believe the Taliban as a terror outfit, and, he adorns Taliban and Talibanis as freedom fighters. In an exclusive interview given to the Dainik Bhaskar, Madani said that if fighting against subjugation is terrorism then by this logic Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Maulana Hazrat Shekhuddin were also terrorists.
It must be noted that the Taliban is believed to have drawn inspiration from the Deobandi movement which originated in Uttar Pradesh’s Deoband. As the Taliban has come to conquer Afghanistan a large number of Muslim scholars, politicians and leftist media are trying for the makeover the image of the Taliban as ‘Good Taliban.’ “Anybody fighting against subjugation we don’t consider them as a terrorist. We clap if the Taliban are fighting for independence because everybody has the right to independence. If this is terrorism then Gandhi, Nehru and Shekhuddin were also terrorists, all those who fought against the British government were terrorists,” Dainik Bhaskar quoted Madani saying.
