Ahmedabad, 28 March 2015: Here is an open letter to Gujarat businessman and close aide of Prime Minister Narendra Modi Zafar Sareshwala by a Gujarati Muslim on his urge for having dialogues with the Government. The letter has been written after the last week’s Jaipur incident where Sareshwala, chancellor of Maulana Azad National Urdu University, was reportedly denied entry to a meeting of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board.
Text of the Letter
Dear Sareshwala Sahab,
Assaslamualaikum v.v.
This refers to the recent hullabaloo created in the wake of the insult you were subjected to in Jaipur during a general body session of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and a subsequent letter you had written to the Board’s Chairman explaining your position in the matter. In your letter you have qualified yourself to be someone who has a very deep understanding of the position of Muslims in an arguably very sensitive state of Gujarat. You have also claimed to be enjoying a very close proximity to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and thus you find yourself to be a credible voice of the Muslims especially the Gujarati Muslims when it comes to engagement with the establishment.
However, I have questions about your claims and whom do you exactly represent. This letter is not about inquiring on how you turned the coats from once being a champion crusader of bringing Narendra Modi and the company to justice in the aftermath of the Godhra riots. This letter is also not about questioning your ascension to great heights in the world of business and neither it is about how did you end up winning a prestigious position in an Urdu University without having anything to do with the academic world and your contribution to the Urdu language.
This letter is about asking you that who has franchised you to lend their voices. Are they the ones from Naroda Patiya or Sardarpura or from all those places in Gujarat who lost everything in a matter of few hours? Or are you representing the women of Devgadh Baria who are slapped with the charges under Section 307 or those youth of Hansot who were silently protesting against the blasphemous messages tarnishing the dignity of Prophet Muhammad pbuh and had to face brutal consequences for the same? Are you representing the Muslim builders of the state who are not allowed to buy properties in the majority localities citing flimsy excuses? Are you representing the educational activists of the states who are struggling to bring in funded educational institutions for the uplifting the status of the Muslims? Are you among the ones who are questioning the state government for not spending even 15% of the budget sanctioned for Minority Welfare in Gujarat State? Are you representing the activists who have been waiting for more than a decade now to get full compensation of the religious structures damaged in the aftermath of the 2002 riots? Are you representing the common Muslims who are forcibly cornered in the ghettoes with pathetic civic facilities?
For once, I admire the way you cited Islamic traditions that how should the guests be treated in a gathering. You felt deeply offended when this Islamic tradition was put to a toss. However, you would agree there are greater traditions in Islam which are sincerity and raising voices against injustice.
Sir, I completely agree with you when you say that it is indeed foolish not to engage with the establishment. Dialogue remains a perennial weapon for all civilizations to resolve their issues. However, there are pre-requisites to dialogues. In order to have a fruitful dialogue, the representation should be genuine and the audience needs to be receptive. The dialogue process which you are proposing seems to be a soft and submissive in tenor without being assertive of your demands and applying necessary pressure.
Just to conclude I an ordinary Gujarati Muslim would like to be represented by sincere and authentic leadership rather than the ones who are not at all in a position to challenge the establishment. I wish and pray to Almighty Allah that your love for Islam would help you to rediscover your boldness and raise your voice against injustice. I also wish that your entrepreneurial skills help you to be someone whom the state feels a great asset and is ready to bargain on a level playing field without having to throw some freebies to serve their agenda. Till such time, I request you to leave representation of Muslims to more deserving ones among the community.
Your brother,
Zuber Sachora
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