The atrocities of the EC and BN in this democratic nation is very mind boggling. We have no other alternative but to vote for PR in GE13.
… it’s unfortunate that we have a government that is copying what the opposition proposes. the very 1st amendment to the constitution was to place an independent EC under parliament (read BN)..this allows jerry meandering ,etc etc....but it's a double edged sword? What if BN is no longer the parlliament? — Wan Saiful Wan Jan, chief executive of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs
What's the use of having RCI after RCI when very little or hardly any action is taken. I wonder whether BN is serious about the recommendations as lots of time and money are/were spent on each and every RCI done. Perhaps it would be better to show Review Crime Index (rci) for the nation to be happy with what PDRM are doing. We can see lots of actions done and goodies given to make voters please, but wise voters can see a bigger picture on the ills happening in our country especially CORRUPTIONs, selective tenders given cronies, actual actions done by enforcement agencies and to please the ruling party, justices supposed to be clear but became distorted, wealth of nation depleted witl ill-thought strategies, etc. EC takes instructions from UMNO. Dragging their feet in the implementation of the PSC recommendation is to the advantage of the corrupt BN. They know that the only way they can win in the poll this time is by cheating. Why would they do something to prevent that from happening. How come, our religious LEADERS of different religions, just keep quiet about the whole thing.ARE THESE SO CALL RELIGIOUS LEADERS 'BLIND'? COME ON, DO AND SAY SOMETHING FOR THE GOOD OF OUR NATION EVEN YOU ALL NEED TO STEP ON SOME ONE FOOT!DON'T BE COWARD.Keep on dreaming about poll reform because it's not going to happen. Even at present situation without reform BN/Umno is not confident to win GE13. With reform, for sure they will be vote out of Power.
By agreeing to successive demands — from investigating Sabah’s illegal immigrants problem to repealing security laws and considering a review of oil royalties and even allowing public rallies — the Barisan Nasional (BN) government is hoping to blunt Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) momentum on issues the opposition has championed, but political analysts say it also risks being seen as being a weak government ahead of elections expected soon.
But political analysts and watchers interviewed by The Malaysian Insider say the BN government runs the danger of projecting an image of having no grand ideas of its own.
… it’s unfortunate that we have a government that is copying what the opposition proposes. the very 1st amendment to the constitution was to place an independent EC under parliament (read BN)..this allows jerry meandering ,etc etc....but it's a double edged sword? What if BN is no longer the parlliament? — Wan Saiful Wan Jan, chief executive of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs
Please ask the Prime Minister " bilakah JANJI AKAN DITEPATI ?".You can't expect the EC to do what is right when it is not independent of the executive and those in its top echelons are untrustworthy.
Weakness is contagious. It tends to debilitate even those limbs of the body politic that are functioning normally. UMNO ministers have always known that they owe their jobs to image would be an asset on judgment day when the voter headed for the ballot box. This enormous strength has withered because no one expects Najib Razak to lead the party in the next general elections ironically, to project an image of control. Instead, he passed the baton when he said, in his typically honest manner, that he would make way for Mahathir and his mafia gang the moment he was asked to do so. Power is never stagnant. It either consolidates around the leader, or ebbs. Those with longer plans for the future than the Prime Minister are establishing individual markers at the cost of collective cohesion.This is useful if you want to buy time, but not effective if you want to run a government.is burdened by a further paradox. He is presiding over not one but two coalitions. Congress itself is the second coalition, a storehouse of multiple interests that requires dexterous management even during times of serenity. Personal feuds are only a part of the alternative story; there are genuine and strongly held differences over policy. This is healthy, up to a point; when that point comes, the leader must demand obedience to a government decision.The Prime Minister has imprisoned himself in the rather dubious proverb, that silence is golden. Silence is too aloof an option for democracy.A helpless Prime Minister induces a hapless government. Drift, as the term indicates, is never in a hurry. A government can float a long way before someone realizes that it has lost direction. Drift does not threaten a government's survival, but it saps the people's patience.The third paradox may seem puzzling but is easily comprehensible. It is always much more difficult to run a weak government than a strong one. The latter has a command structure, purpose and enough discipline to induce confidence in the ever-watchful voter. A weak government is great news for a newspaper, and even better fodder for television; but that is where its limited entertainment utility ceases. During his first five years, Najib Razak was an anchor that was powerful enough to keep the ship steady through heavy turbulence in the final 8 months of its journey. Victory in 2004 could have made him master of a cruise liner. If, however, he continues to do nothing, he could become captain of a paper boat.some enormous challenges facing the nation and how 's government is all at sea in tackling these issues; indeed the government resembles a rudderless boat. One more challenge that is worth mentioning and which is of paramount importance to the populace is the galloping inflation and its crippling effects on the aam admi. For a few years now, the monstrous inflation is administering a "shock and awe" treatment to the middle and lower classes. The netas have nothing to offer in terms of solutions except prosaic platitudes of erudite prognostications. Yesterday the PM was made to tackle the food inflation problem when he offered the solution that with a normal monsoon, which is the expectation at present, the rate of inflation in food prices will abate in the second half of the year - well, a candid surrender to the rain gods is better than faked up competence. Nothing has so openly laid bare the impotency of the political class as inflation. EC is testing the patience of all by delaying and ignoring the call on electoral reform.They are just buying time until the general election is at our doorstep.They have read well the Malaysian psyche-we forget and give up easily. After a big Bersih3 rally we are back to zero.It also seems that Bersih steering committee under Ambiga and Pak Samad have resigned to their fate of not achieving what they had set up to.Only one reform,the use of indelible ink,was mentioned but the method and the types of ink were all shrouded in secrecy.We call upon the Bersih committee to wake up from the slumber (with apologies if I am wrong).It is time to play hardball with the EC and the BN govt who are seen to gave tacit support to the commission.Bersih,have you run out of ideas on how to deal with the recalcitrant EC? If so,please state your position clearly for all. Don't keep quiet; lest we thought everything is fine.At least you put EC to shame and we shall take it from there on the polling day.Electoral reforms will come when the EC is kicked out when PR takes over Putrajaya; and not before. EC is another arm of BN; and will only jump when 1 Malaysia boss says " jump!" Otherwise, there will not be any jump! That is one " promise fulfilled!" MP Loke may shout until his voice is hoarse but the EC has no ears and no eyes! But, when Bapa " 1 Malaysia " calls, EC will jump and rush calling " Tuan, tuan, did you call me ? " So, MP Loke, forget about electoral reforms! Even the Perak Speaker's call for by-eelctions of two renegades fell on deaf ears! Where in a democratic nation the EC ignores the order by the Speaker for by-election?Let the voters kick out BN and the EC chairman's post will be given to another person.
Weakness is contagious. It tends to debilitate even those limbs of the body politic that are functioning normally. UMNO ministers have always known that they owe their jobs to image would be an asset on judgment day when the voter headed for the ballot box. This enormous strength has withered because no one expects Najib Razak to lead the party in the next general elections ironically, to project an image of control. Instead, he passed the baton when he said, in his typically honest manner, that he would make way for Mahathir and his mafia gang the moment he was asked to do so. Power is never stagnant. It either consolidates around the leader, or ebbs. Those with longer plans for the future than the Prime Minister are establishing individual markers at the cost of collective cohesion.This is useful if you want to buy time, but not effective if you want to run a government.is burdened by a further paradox. He is presiding over not one but two coalitions. Congress itself is the second coalition, a storehouse of multiple interests that requires dexterous management even during times of serenity. Personal feuds are only a part of the alternative story; there are genuine and strongly held differences over policy. This is healthy, up to a point; when that point comes, the leader must demand obedience to a government decision.The Prime Minister has imprisoned himself in the rather dubious proverb, that silence is golden. Silence is too aloof an option for democracy.A helpless Prime Minister induces a hapless government. Drift, as the term indicates, is never in a hurry. A government can float a long way before someone realizes that it has lost direction. Drift does not threaten a government's survival, but it saps the people's patience.The third paradox may seem puzzling but is easily comprehensible. It is always much more difficult to run a weak government than a strong one. The latter has a command structure, purpose and enough discipline to induce confidence in the ever-watchful voter. A weak government is great news for a newspaper, and even better fodder for television; but that is where its limited entertainment utility ceases. During his first five years, Najib Razak was an anchor that was powerful enough to keep the ship steady through heavy turbulence in the final 8 months of its journey. Victory in 2004 could have made him master of a cruise liner. If, however, he continues to do nothing, he could become captain of a paper boat.some enormous challenges facing the nation and how 's government is all at sea in tackling these issues; indeed the government resembles a rudderless boat. One more challenge that is worth mentioning and which is of paramount importance to the populace is the galloping inflation and its crippling effects on the aam admi. For a few years now, the monstrous inflation is administering a "shock and awe" treatment to the middle and lower classes. The netas have nothing to offer in terms of solutions except prosaic platitudes of erudite prognostications. Yesterday the PM was made to tackle the food inflation problem when he offered the solution that with a normal monsoon, which is the expectation at present, the rate of inflation in food prices will abate in the second half of the year - well, a candid surrender to the rain gods is better than faked up competence. Nothing has so openly laid bare the impotency of the political class as inflation. EC is testing the patience of all by delaying and ignoring the call on electoral reform.They are just buying time until the general election is at our doorstep.They have read well the Malaysian psyche-we forget and give up easily. After a big Bersih3 rally we are back to zero.It also seems that Bersih steering committee under Ambiga and Pak Samad have resigned to their fate of not achieving what they had set up to.Only one reform,the use of indelible ink,was mentioned but the method and the types of ink were all shrouded in secrecy.We call upon the Bersih committee to wake up from the slumber (with apologies if I am wrong).It is time to play hardball with the EC and the BN govt who are seen to gave tacit support to the commission.Bersih,have you run out of ideas on how to deal with the recalcitrant EC? If so,please state your position clearly for all. Don't keep quiet; lest we thought everything is fine.At least you put EC to shame and we shall take it from there on the polling day.Electoral reforms will come when the EC is kicked out when PR takes over Putrajaya; and not before. EC is another arm of BN; and will only jump when 1 Malaysia boss says " jump!" Otherwise, there will not be any jump! That is one " promise fulfilled!" MP Loke may shout until his voice is hoarse but the EC has no ears and no eyes! But, when Bapa " 1 Malaysia " calls, EC will jump and rush calling " Tuan, tuan, did you call me ? " So, MP Loke, forget about electoral reforms! Even the Perak Speaker's call for by-eelctions of two renegades fell on deaf ears! Where in a democratic nation the EC ignores the order by the Speaker for by-election?Let the voters kick out BN and the EC chairman's post will be given to another person.
What's the use of having RCI after RCI when very little or hardly any action is taken. I wonder whether BN is serious about the recommendations as lots of time and money are/were spent on each and every RCI done. Perhaps it would be better to show Review Crime Index (rci) for the nation to be happy with what PDRM are doing. We can see lots of actions done and goodies given to make voters please, but wise voters can see a bigger picture on the ills happening in our country especially CORRUPTIONs, selective tenders given cronies, actual actions done by enforcement agencies and to please the ruling party, justices supposed to be clear but became distorted, wealth of nation depleted witl ill-thought strategies, etc. EC takes instructions from UMNO. Dragging their feet in the implementation of the PSC recommendation is to the advantage of the corrupt BN. They know that the only way they can win in the poll this time is by cheating. Why would they do something to prevent that from happening. How come, our religious LEADERS of different religions, just keep quiet about the whole thing.ARE THESE SO CALL RELIGIOUS LEADERS 'BLIND'? COME ON, DO AND SAY SOMETHING FOR THE GOOD OF OUR NATION EVEN YOU ALL NEED TO STEP ON SOME ONE FOOT!DON'T BE COWARD.Keep on dreaming about poll reform because it's not going to happen. Even at present situation without reform BN/Umno is not confident to win GE13. With reform, for sure they will be vote out of Power.
By agreeing to successive demands — from investigating Sabah’s illegal immigrants problem to repealing security laws and considering a review of oil royalties and even allowing public rallies — the Barisan Nasional (BN) government is hoping to blunt Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) momentum on issues the opposition has championed, but political analysts say it also risks being seen as being a weak government ahead of elections expected soon.
BN politicians have argued that the government’s position is not one of capitulation but is a sign that the ruling coalition is now listening to the public and making the right moves towards political reforms.
Promises unfulfilled - Malaysians, do we put up with more of the same? The Lingam RCI, the Teoh BH RCI all came to nothing. Now the Sabah RCI has been promised. But like the rest of the RCIs no action will be taken by this BN gomen. All these promised reforms by the BN gomen are just empty promises, but yet many will be again deceived into giving their votes to BN in the coming GE13. Vote BN out and give Pakatan a chance to make things right. Pakatan can't be any worse than the present BN gomen if not better
Ahead of the 13th general election, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has carried out various reforms in what is seen as a bid to hijack PR’s aggressive campaign to take power in Putrajaya.
Najib’s administration has abolished the Internal Security Act (ISA) and plans to repeal the controversial Sedition Act.
It has also enacted a new law that allows public rallies although any benefit from that was severely eroded after the authorities forcibly broke up the latest Bersih protest on April 28.
PR and Sabah opposition politicians were also using the problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah to score points among disgruntled voters in the state, but Najib stepped in recently to set up a royal commission of inquiry after the recent defections of senior Sabah BN lawmakers.
Wan Saiful Wan Jan, chief executive of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), told The Malaysian Insider that “it’s unfortunate that we have a government that is copying what the opposition proposes.”
“They should be the ones leading. Copying is not really leadership,” he said, adding that “they need to start coming up with policies of their own.”
However, he notes that “it shows that it’s good for a country to have a strong opposition” as there would be “real competition” between politicians on “what is good policy for the public.”
Asked about the effect of BN’s measures on voters, he said “it’s risky for the government to continue this strategy of copying PR.”“People may start questioning who is the real leader,” he said, warning that it will “harm” BN in the long term as it may “lose leadership status and become a follower.”
Prof Dr Jayum A. Jawan, a professor of politics and government with Universiti Putra Malaysia, agreed with Wan Saiful, saying that “they (BN) are doing the right thing but they are stealing somebody’s idea.”
He points to the federal government’s “weak think-tank” for its failure to come up with its own “grand ideas”.
He said BN appears to be “responding because of pressure from PR”, saying it needs to have a “comprehensive review” instead of “responding to one or two issues.”
“Is BN going to respond every time PR comes up with an issue?” he asked, saying that the opposition will never give up asking.
He said the BN’s reforms will enable the opposition pact to claim credit by saying that its campaign worked.
Professor Datuk Dr Shamsul Amri Baharuddin, a political analyst with UKM, disagreed with the view that by fulfilling the public’s demands the Najib administration would be seen as weak.
But he told The Malaysian Insider that it is an “illusion” that BN can change voters’ minds with such reforms, saying it is only a “feel-good” factor.
Shamsul said the people would not be easily satisfied, adding that they are more interested in changing the federal government. tends to have a cool, or even antagonistic, relationship with real life.
He said the real impact on elections will be from “issues that directly affect voters’ daily lives”, especially the economy and “people’s fears about crime”.
The relationship between MP and voter can, thereby, be officially abandoned. This should make party bosses delirious. The irony is that such flaws can be easily corrected, with some time and thought. Both have been absent from the process. The pro-reservation lobbies have employed hustle topped off by self-congratulation; those opposed think that explosions constitute an argument. The desire to be politically correct has overtaken the imperative to be politically sensible. Method and order, the favourite weapons of Hercule Poirot, might be usefully employed in analysis.Power is the glue of politics. That is why a government is expected to be in array and opposition generally in disarray. Ideology is a fickle custodian of unity in an age of convenience. Its absence has eliminated the difference between single-party rule and coalition government. Both are held together by individual or sectarian self-interest, which is why they last. Ideology is a differentiator; it makes a partnership untenable even if the partners consider it sustainable. Sentiment is irrelevant to any political marriage. This is true of all democracies where coalitions become necessary. Politicians live for power; why would they invite a premature death?The basis on which a candidate is chosen, by any party, can be described in a single, if ungainly, word: winnability. The life-blood of our democracy is a covenant, a pact between elector and elected that the quid pro quo for the vote is service to the constituency. The quality of that service is an important (but not the only) factor in an MP’s re-election. This is the one big check that keeps a MP on some sort of practical leash. therefore, will have no political incentive to serve its constituents. This, given prevailing levels of public morality, is a license to satisfy personal interests for the length of the term to MP and minister. The cynical response is that this hardly matters since MPs have become irrelevant to national development or even to their constituency’s welfare. If that is the level of degeneration, then we should abandon first-past-the-post parliamentary democracy and find another definition of democracy. Perhaps we can adopt a dual system in which two-thirds of MPs are elected on the basis of lists prepared by the party leaders, enabling them to send their chosen favourites to the House in direct proportion to the percentage of votes they have receivedThe former worked through cheerleaders in the media; the latter played to galleries beyond the media, and did so effectively. umno began to waver when the message from the second horizon began to permeate back to Putra Jayai. The government was indifferent to the threat from political parties, but it could not remain immune to a threat from the voter.
The relationship between MP and voter can, thereby, be officially abandoned. This should make party bosses delirious. The irony is that such flaws can be easily corrected, with some time and thought. Both have been absent from the process. The pro-reservation lobbies have employed hustle topped off by self-congratulation; those opposed think that explosions constitute an argument. The desire to be politically correct has overtaken the imperative to be politically sensible. Method and order, the favourite weapons of Hercule Poirot, might be usefully employed in analysis.Power is the glue of politics. That is why a government is expected to be in array and opposition generally in disarray. Ideology is a fickle custodian of unity in an age of convenience. Its absence has eliminated the difference between single-party rule and coalition government. Both are held together by individual or sectarian self-interest, which is why they last. Ideology is a differentiator; it makes a partnership untenable even if the partners consider it sustainable. Sentiment is irrelevant to any political marriage. This is true of all democracies where coalitions become necessary. Politicians live for power; why would they invite a premature death?The basis on which a candidate is chosen, by any party, can be described in a single, if ungainly, word: winnability. The life-blood of our democracy is a covenant, a pact between elector and elected that the quid pro quo for the vote is service to the constituency. The quality of that service is an important (but not the only) factor in an MP’s re-election. This is the one big check that keeps a MP on some sort of practical leash. therefore, will have no political incentive to serve its constituents. This, given prevailing levels of public morality, is a license to satisfy personal interests for the length of the term to MP and minister. The cynical response is that this hardly matters since MPs have become irrelevant to national development or even to their constituency’s welfare. If that is the level of degeneration, then we should abandon first-past-the-post parliamentary democracy and find another definition of democracy. Perhaps we can adopt a dual system in which two-thirds of MPs are elected on the basis of lists prepared by the party leaders, enabling them to send their chosen favourites to the House in direct proportion to the percentage of votes they have receivedThe former worked through cheerleaders in the media; the latter played to galleries beyond the media, and did so effectively. umno began to waver when the message from the second horizon began to permeate back to Putra Jayai. The government was indifferent to the threat from political parties, but it could not remain immune to a threat from the voter.
Ramdev’s shenanigans in New Delhi, declaring an all-out war against the Congress government, may appear to be the most defining moment for this year’s Independence Day. But an equally significant development this time around is what is being called “the coming of age” of Indian Muslims. Lending voice to the Muslims is an unlikely Asaduddin Owaisi, Lok Sabha member from Hyderabad. Straight from Kokrajhar in Assam, where he went to too witness first hand the plight of Muslims affected by the ethnic riots, Asad was in Parliament last week warning of a third wave of radicalization among Muslim youth. He also appeared on TV channels, quite aggressively, with very much the same message.
“Ever since Babri Masjid in 1992, Muslims have been at the receiving end. Now they think it is time that they stood up and be counted. Otherwise, they would be pushed to the margin and it would be too late to recover. I think Asad is lending voice to this feeling,” says Shoeb Ahmad (name changed), a government official, who does not want to be identified. What gives confidence to Shoeb is the religious demography of India. Though Census 2011 figures by religion are yet to be announced, the percentage of Muslims in the total population will be possibly higher than the 13.4 per cent of Census 2001. Analysts point out that in the rapidly collapsing polity of India where no mainline party is expected to get a clear majority in the 2014 general election, this block 13.4 per cent (if not more) vote could well be a decider of who will come to power. “In the first-past-the-post (FPTP) mode of elections that we have in India, winners usually get about 30 per cent of the votes. If somebody has 13.4 per cent of the votes getting another 16.6 per cent is not a big deal,” says an analyst.
Analysts, however, point out that there is really no pan-Indian political party exclusively representing Muslims, their vote till now alternately going to the Congress or parties like the SP in UP. Asaduddin Owaisi was unavailable for comments on whether he would take the lead but sources close to him said that he would be active in articulating Muslim concerns in the coming years. These concerns would not only include attacks on Muslims but also the general backwardness of Muslims and their low socioeconomic indicators. A barrister-at-law and educated at the Hyderabad Public School, Asad, 43, has the advantage of being a good orator. He also speaks clearly in English, something not many contemporary Muslim leaders can boast of. This gives him an ability to make an impact through the visual media which had been used to deadly effect by Anna Hazare earlier and Ramdev now. Owaisi’s party, Majilis-Ittehadul-Muslimeen (MIM), holds one seat in the Lok Sabha and seven seats in the Andhra Pradesh assembly. It is in alliance with the Congress, which has virtually left the Old City of Hyderabad for the party since 1984. This has allowed MIM to consolidate its roots.
Muslims form over 35 per cent of the population of Hyderabad and many feel that this is the only metro city where Muslims are at home. “Middle-class Muslims and educated Muslims don’t feel highly excited with the MIM but always end up voting for them. This is because of the perception that this is the only party which represents us, the Muslims, who are a discriminated lot,” says Mohammad Iqbal (name changed), a senior journalist. “The same logic would be applicable if there is an all-India Muslim party,” he says. Coming from Hyderabad, Owaisi is in a pre-eminent position to catalyse the formation of such a party.
“Muslims have come of age. On one hand, more and more Muslims are getting educated and there is the emergence of a Muslim middle class. On the other hand, attacks on Muslims are increasing. There is increased radicalization of politics in India and many wrongly accuse Muslims of having extranational allegiances,” points out a retired additional-secretary-to-GOI rank Muslim officer. “This is a good enough reason why they should form their own outfit to represent Muslims and be part of the national discourse,” he adds.
Other than MIM there are some regional Muslim parties in existence, like the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in Kerala and the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), led by Badruddin Ajmal in Assam. The latter contests elections in West Bengal also. The Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), a pre-Independence vintage organization that has undergone a metamorphosis, also has taken baby steps towards forming a political party and in 2010 soft-launched the Welfare Party. Loosely, this formation will represent the interests of Muslims, SCs, STs and backward classes. The party is yet to make an impact though state units are now being spawned. “What is now wanted is a party that will make a big-bang impact. But it has to focus on not only enabling a Muslim voice but also address the backwardness of the community,” says Zafar Baig, a corporate manager. The Sachar committee set up by GOI had recently found that Muslims faced backwardness on many counts including representation in upper government and managerial jobs and access to education. It also found that most of the Muslims in urban India were in the low-income category.
But analysts point out the formation of a big-bang Muslim party would have a reaction – Hindutva forces feeding on the fears of the 1947 partition will up their ante as well. This could lead to escalation of tensions on the ground.
“Ever since Babri Masjid in 1992, Muslims have been at the receiving end. Now they think it is time that they stood up and be counted. Otherwise, they would be pushed to the margin and it would be too late to recover. I think Asad is lending voice to this feeling,” says Shoeb Ahmad (name changed), a government official, who does not want to be identified. What gives confidence to Shoeb is the religious demography of India. Though Census 2011 figures by religion are yet to be announced, the percentage of Muslims in the total population will be possibly higher than the 13.4 per cent of Census 2001. Analysts point out that in the rapidly collapsing polity of India where no mainline party is expected to get a clear majority in the 2014 general election, this block 13.4 per cent (if not more) vote could well be a decider of who will come to power. “In the first-past-the-post (FPTP) mode of elections that we have in India, winners usually get about 30 per cent of the votes. If somebody has 13.4 per cent of the votes getting another 16.6 per cent is not a big deal,” says an analyst.
Analysts, however, point out that there is really no pan-Indian political party exclusively representing Muslims, their vote till now alternately going to the Congress or parties like the SP in UP. Asaduddin Owaisi was unavailable for comments on whether he would take the lead but sources close to him said that he would be active in articulating Muslim concerns in the coming years. These concerns would not only include attacks on Muslims but also the general backwardness of Muslims and their low socioeconomic indicators. A barrister-at-law and educated at the Hyderabad Public School, Asad, 43, has the advantage of being a good orator. He also speaks clearly in English, something not many contemporary Muslim leaders can boast of. This gives him an ability to make an impact through the visual media which had been used to deadly effect by Anna Hazare earlier and Ramdev now. Owaisi’s party, Majilis-Ittehadul-Muslimeen (MIM), holds one seat in the Lok Sabha and seven seats in the Andhra Pradesh assembly. It is in alliance with the Congress, which has virtually left the Old City of Hyderabad for the party since 1984. This has allowed MIM to consolidate its roots.
Muslims form over 35 per cent of the population of Hyderabad and many feel that this is the only metro city where Muslims are at home. “Middle-class Muslims and educated Muslims don’t feel highly excited with the MIM but always end up voting for them. This is because of the perception that this is the only party which represents us, the Muslims, who are a discriminated lot,” says Mohammad Iqbal (name changed), a senior journalist. “The same logic would be applicable if there is an all-India Muslim party,” he says. Coming from Hyderabad, Owaisi is in a pre-eminent position to catalyse the formation of such a party.
“Muslims have come of age. On one hand, more and more Muslims are getting educated and there is the emergence of a Muslim middle class. On the other hand, attacks on Muslims are increasing. There is increased radicalization of politics in India and many wrongly accuse Muslims of having extranational allegiances,” points out a retired additional-secretary-to-GOI rank Muslim officer. “This is a good enough reason why they should form their own outfit to represent Muslims and be part of the national discourse,” he adds.
Other than MIM there are some regional Muslim parties in existence, like the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in Kerala and the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), led by Badruddin Ajmal in Assam. The latter contests elections in West Bengal also. The Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), a pre-Independence vintage organization that has undergone a metamorphosis, also has taken baby steps towards forming a political party and in 2010 soft-launched the Welfare Party. Loosely, this formation will represent the interests of Muslims, SCs, STs and backward classes. The party is yet to make an impact though state units are now being spawned. “What is now wanted is a party that will make a big-bang impact. But it has to focus on not only enabling a Muslim voice but also address the backwardness of the community,” says Zafar Baig, a corporate manager. The Sachar committee set up by GOI had recently found that Muslims faced backwardness on many counts including representation in upper government and managerial jobs and access to education. It also found that most of the Muslims in urban India were in the low-income category.
But analysts point out the formation of a big-bang Muslim party would have a reaction – Hindutva forces feeding on the fears of the 1947 partition will up their ante as well. This could lead to escalation of tensions on the ground.
Nationalism is a schizophrenic project. It uses strategic alibis to switch from one form to another. The determining factors, always, are of political, diplomatic and of course, military convenience. The latest example in this schizophrenic play comes from Britain; more precisely, from two recent events in London. The first is the recently held closing ceremony of London's Olympic games. One of its memorable highlights was John Lennon's hair-raising song 'Imagine', rendered by the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Choir Singing Choir, alongside the Liverpool Signing Choir.
A group of young people, dressed in white T-shirts with 'Imagine' inscribed on the front, held the audience in their thrall, singing the iconic peace song, its first rendition by Lennon in 1971. A sculpture of Lennon too had also been installed for the occasion.
'Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do...'
Lyrics from a different world, many would say. But despite the cold cynicism and rank indifference to that world, Lennon's "Imagine" has managed to hold popular imagination. In 2002, it was named, in a UK poll, the second best single of all times behind Queen's 'Boheminan Rhapsody'. Two year later, 'Imagine' ranked third on Rolling Stone's list of the five hundred greatest songs of all times.
Move from that palpable moment at the Olympic ceremony to the events of last week at the Ecuador embassy in London: from the possibility - though elusive - of an opening up of trans-national borders to their narrowing down through strategic and diplomatic manipulations. The David Cameron government has refused allow WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to leave for Ecuador, the country which has offered him asylum. Yes, the path-breaking social media activist is facing serious charges of sexual misconduct, and he has to stand trial. But that issue is separate from the sinister plans of the US to gag him and his website by putting him behind bars, once he is extradited to Sweden. Cameron's plan is to pack Assange off to Sweden ostensibly to face the former charges. But at the moment, it seems, Sweden is just a stopover to America.
If Lennon was a 'dreamer', Cameron is a hardheaded bully. His government has even suggested aggression against the small country of Ecuador. Forget about crossing the boundaries of Britain, Assange can't even leave the small patch of territory that is the Ecuador embassy.
Here is the paradox of globalization, strategic aggression, and hyper-nationalism, which are, at more than one level, connected with each other, drawing from the same philosophy of predatory selfishness - quite the opposite of Lennon's musical creed.
Under this regime of free trade and 'liberal' ideas, the movement of commodities is simpler than that of human beings. Protecting illiberal powerful regimes like the US which can start wars on the basis of lies and carry out an incredible scale of destruction (what we are seeing in Iraq) is more important than protecting Julian Assange, who has been bringing to light many of the injustices around which US's hyper nationalism and paranoia is built.
The distinction between things which move and those which don't, maps onto to what the Polish sociologist Zygmunt Bauman has identified as the tension between the "tourist" and the "vagabond" in globalized society. Tourists, he says, are welcome migrants - who move but never stay, who are economically and politically desired because they pose no threat to boundaries. By contrast vagabonds "are the caricature which reveals the ugliness hidden underneath the beauty of make-up. Their presence is irksome and infuriating: there is no evident use they may be put to; for all one knows, they may be disposed of to no one's - not even their own -loss or regret." But, he adds, the vagabonds "are the dark background against which the sun of the tourist shines so brightly that the spots are hardly seen." Julian Assange, seen in this light, might be the vagabond our time needs.
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