Every time I hear the word “Minority” I cringe. Because over time, I have noticed every time we say minority, we really mean Muslim. So when the word went around that the next President had to be a minority, it was clear who we ware talking about. It is as if India has no other kind of minority in this vast land—no Buddhists from Ladakh, no tribals in the North East or the Andamans or Lakhwadeep and of course no neo Buddhist , Christian , Parsee , Sikh or Bahai, the indigenous faith practitioners of Arunachal Pradesh or any body else.
I think some times that the phrase “appeasement of minorities” has acquired such a bad taste along with its sister phrase “pseudo secularism”, it is because it is patently apparent that in India displaying your secular credentials by fawning over on one community only to the exclusion of all others. Since the Muslims are the largest numerical minority nation wide and the community most vocally able to create a din on the streets about “Islam in Danger”, every time a minority is to be chosen for some position, it happens by default to be a Muslim.
I can understand the compulsions of largely regional based parties propping up only Muslims in the name of minorities as they may be the only minorities they are conversant with, but I was surprised that the Left Parties which have pretensions to a Pan Indian, if not a global outlook went the same route in choosing a candidate for the Vice Presidency. They chose a Muslim. Meanwhile, the BJP led NDA is soon set to announce their candidate for the Vice Presidency and again it is from a minority community, rather, THE minority community, their new found Muslim icon, Najma Heptullah.
Without commenting on the merits of the individuals chosen, who are by all accounts distinguished and respected in their own fields, some more and some less, there is some thing to be said for this unhealthy cuddling up to one particular community, the Muslims. It is an irony that while all three political combines have chosen to field minority candidates which is creditable, it is also sad that not one of the three could rise above their Muslim myopia. Even going by the Left’s criteria of “distinguished non political” personality, there were no Fali Nariman or Charles Corrrea or Montek Singh Ahluwalia on any one’s radar screen, in other words , even if one were to go by the stated preference of the UPA constituents to have a minority in the Vice President’s chair.
I think that there would not be so much of discontent in our country if we were able really to be representative in our choices, that our idealism or appeasement, whichever way we like to see it would be more evenly poised. Call it appeasement if you will, but unfortunately even our appeasement policy is not fair- it is guided more by vote banks rather than justice and fair play. It could at least be tilted towards the more vulnerable, who don’t agitate and run riot on the streets – the genteel Parsis, the placid Budhhists, and the passive Christians. That would be fairer. More just. More equitable. And may be more genuinely secular than pseudo secular.