Organization: Penn State University
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1992 22:13:17 EDT
From: <DXA4@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
Subject: Muslim Ministers in BJP Governments

A recent write-up in Times of India, on the treatment and the performance of
Muslim ministers in the BJP governments in MP and UP, will be an eye opener for
those who continue to accuse the BJP governments as anti-muslims. Hereunder are
some excerpts from this article (Times of India, August 30, 1992).

Dinesh Agrawal...
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The first thing that strikes you as you enter the room in the decor. The four
walls are adorned with a strange mixture - his photograph with top BJP dignita-
ries along with certificates of honor in Urdu and verses from the Quran in
Arabic. An obvious attempt to maintain a semlance of balance between religion
and politics by the lone Muslim minister in the BJP government in UP, Azaz
Rizvi, in charge of jails and waqf.

He is under constant surveillance both by his party colleagues and the minority
community to which he belongs, but does not truly represent for if staunch
muslims are to be believed, an 'anti-muslim' party like the BJP can never have
a true Muslim in it.

Unperturbed by allegations, Rizvi, who has been a minister for over a year,
sings an altogether different tune. Not only does he claim to represent his
community, he also says the Muslims have greatly benefitted from his minister-
ship for he constantly serves their interests through welfare schemes launched
for the minorities.

In the '40s, Rizvi had to go to bed hungry because his family had fallen on
hard days after the abolition of zamindari. The youngest of six brothers and
sisters, he was left alone to keep the home fires burning when his siblings
migrated to Pakistan. He was forced to take up menial tasks, and also piled a
rikshaw in the city of nawabs, before he got a clerical job in the collectorate
He studied law and started his practice as a criminal lawyer.

"Those were days when my very existence seemed submerged in darkness. But they
were also days on which I built my dreams, which have come true to-day," says
Rizvi.

A man with a progressive outlook, Rizvi gave the best of education to his
children. One of his daughters, Seema Rizvi, is a well known name in the TV
and radio world, besides holding a doctorate in Urdu.

Educational uplift of the Muslims is a must if they are to achieve genuine
progress, the minister feels. Free coaching, for Muslim boys and girls for
the IAS and PMT examinations, vocational training, for which 23 centers have
been opened in the districts, and scholaships of up to Rs 500 per month for
meritorious students are some of the measures adopted by the UP government over
the past year to ensure that the minorities receive educational benefits.

Brushing aside allegations that he is an opportunist and does not mind being
used by the BJP as long as he retains his chair, Rizvi says, "The BJP is too
big a party to use or need an individual like me. I joined the Jan Sangh in
1962 for its ideology appealed to me and which is not anti-Muslim." In 1980
when the BJP was formed he automatically joined it.

Has he been able to remain a good Muslim despite his long association with a
"Hindu" party? "Religion is a personal affair, do not mix it up with politics,"
Rizvi implores. "It is a relationship between me and my God. My Allah will
decide whether I have been a good Muslim. I do not need any certificates from
mortals."

His greatest contribution as waqf minister has been the plan to free all waqf
property from the Rent Control Act through an ordinance. This, he says, will
benefit more than half a million Muslims.

(Kulsum Mustafa)
________________________

Fifty-six-year-old Mohammad Ghani Ansari has been a BJP member since 1980.
Although he entered the Vidhan Sabha for the first time in 1990, he is veteran
of election battles having come very close to victory in his previous four
attempts. He had lost by three-digit margins all the time.

"He represents the Chandla assembly constituency in Chhatrapur district, and is
now the minister of state for fisheries, Haj committee, waqf board and the
Urdu Academy. A post graduate in political science, history and urdu, he also
holds a degree in law. He had quit his job as lecturer to contest the assembly
polls as an Independent in 1972. He lost narrowly ....In 1980, he had everythin
g going for him, but the Congress thought otherwise and denied him a ticket.
He then joined the BJP.

"I was rather reluctant to contest the elections this time, and had not even
sought the party ticket. It is not that my constituency has a dominant Muslim
population. There are hardly 600 Muslim voters, but the party wanted me to
contest, and here I am, a minister in a BJP government," he says.

" I am treated with a lot of respect. Everyone calls me Bhaijan or Chachajan.
I have never faced any problem within the party," he concedes. But that's about
all he can get from the BJP....

(Anil Sharma)
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Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian