For a community that has a voter base of about 6 per cent, Muslims in Tamil Nadu find an increasing number of political outfits fighting for their votes. The emergence of varied groups has posed a serious challenge to the community’s attempts at leveraging unified vote share to further its cause, with the personality-driven organisations often joining opposing camps and splitting the votes.
The history of the Muslim political movement in Tamil Nadu could be traced back to Independence. Following the partition, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) was floated in 1948 with a strong South Indian character. For long, the party was led by the iconic Quaid-E-Millath and remained almost the sole representative of the community for decades.
With his death in 1972, churnings slowly began in the organisation.
In an earlier interview to The Hindu, Tamil writer and commentator, Kalanthai Peer Mohammed, had argued that after Quaid-E-Millath, the IUML was largely content with representing the interests of Muslim businessmen.
“The IUML was hardly involved in political mobilisation or organising mass agitations. In the pursuit of vote bank politics, the IUML was wooed by both the DMK and AIADMK, finally leading to the split in the organisation,” he told cultural historian A.R. Venkatachalapathy.
While the Indian National League (INL) was the first to emerge out of the IUML, which aligned consistently with the DMK between 1960s and 1980s, the Babri Masjid demolition led to a series of dissents.
In 1995, several leaders walked out of the IUML accusing it of a soft approach to Hindutva and formed the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK). In 2009, the TMMK floated a political party in Manithaneya Makkal Katchi and managed to win two seats in the AIADMK alliance in 2011.
IUML State president, K.M. Khader Mohideen, says his party remains the substantial player among Muslims owing to the importance it gives to the Jamath and Ulemas .
“It is our view that the Indian Muslim culture is unique given the place for the Sufi tradition.
Other parties dismiss this and insist on a puritanical reading of the religion,” he claims. Mr. Mohideen says most Muslims go by the advice of the Jamath when they vote, thus keeping intact the relevance of IUML and limiting the impact of the splintered groups.
MMK leader M.H. Jawahirullah strongly disagrees. “This was the pre-2004 scenario. The biggest reason why people walked out of the IUML was because it failed in mass mobilisation. The TMMK revived this aspect. This could not have happened without the support of the Jamath ,” he contends.
The MLA from Ramanathapuram states that in a democratic set-up, there was a right to form new political parties and this cannot be held against individuals as an accusation.
“How did the AIADMK and MDMK emerge? At the end of the day, Muslims will vote those who will further their cause. Leaders alone cannot completely sway them,” he opines.
However, the TMMK too was not immune to rebellion. In 2004, P. Jainul Abdeen walked out of the organisation and started the Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamath (TNTJ) with a strong slant towards the Wahabhi tradition. This in turn split, leading to the emergence of the India Thowheed Jamat (INTJ) in 2009.
Echoing Mr. Jawahirullah’s views, I. Mohammed Muneer, vice-president of INTJ, says the 2014 Lok Sabha election was a clear indication of how the Muslim electorate voted.
Livelihood issues
“The IUML, MMK and TNTJ joined the DMK. The campaign was that the AIADMK will hold hands with Narendra Modi after polls. But we countered this campaign. Muslims in large numbers voted for the AIADMK as is evident from the results. So, the number of groups doesn’t really matter as much as livelihood issues,” he claims.
‘Unite for common ideal’
Prince of Arcot Nawab Mohammed Abdul Ali says the various outfits need to unite for the common ideal of furthering the cause of Muslims.
“Not much could be achieved by being a divided house and peripheral players. Given the high position of the community as the second largest majority in the country, there is a need to join the mainstream, both for the benefit of Muslims and the country at large,” he says.
