BJP works out ways for Muslim outreach amid row over Uniform Civil Code

Even as the debate around the Uniform Civil Code continues to rage, the Bharatiya Janata Party is working out ways to reach out to the Muslim community. The party’s minority wing is going to carry out a country-wide campaign to reach out to Pasmanda Muslims by celebrating the life of former President APJ Abdul Kalam.

The minority will carry out a ‘Pasmanda Samvad’ from July 27 starting in Delhi which will come to an end on October 15, the death anniversary of the former president. From Delhi, the campaign will move to Uttarakhand, then Uttar Pradesh where it will have a sustained campaign in Varanasi, and then Bihar. The campaign will also be carried out in West Bengal, then Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and end at Haryana. Of these states, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana are headed to the polls in November-December.

Minority cell chief Jamal Siddiqui said that the Muslim community has had no strong icon of its own. “The Muslims considered Pandit Nehru as their icon, and then Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and now Rahul Gandhi. But the Congress has just used the community for votes and have not given them anything,” Siddiqui said. “PM Modi is the only one who has spoken about the Pasmanda (backward class) among Muslims.”

Also Read: Who are Pasmanda Muslims and why is the BJP wooing them?

The objective, he adds, is to ask Pasmanda Muslims to take inspiration from Kalam’s life, who is a “good Muslim”. “We are accused of having Kasab as our icon. Pasmanda Muslims have also had to hide their castes, but now that is not the case,” Siddiqui said.

He said that the Modi “pro-poor” government’s schemes will be highlighted during the campaign; this includes the EWS quota for studies, schemes such as Ujjwala, PM Awas, Mudra, Startup schemes, etc.

The BJP has had a continued push in wooing the backward class votes, and in the party’s National Executive in July last year, Prime Minister Modi asked party leaders to reach out to Pasmanda Muslims, after the party’s wins at the bypolls in Azamgarh and Rampur. Last month, at a rally in MP, Modi said, “Even today, Pasmanda Muslims are not given an equal share. They are thought of as untouchables.”