MINORITIES WITHIN

Several members of the Dawoodi Bohra community – at least in Gujarat – has not only made peace with Mr. Modi but has also gone overboard in appeasing him. They have lent the weight of their beard and skull-caps to him so often and on such flimsy causes, that it is hard to imagine they felt the pain of the general Muslim masses at all.

Mr. Modi, the opportunist he is, has encashed this gleefully, never presenting them as a sect of Muslims, but rather as ‘the Muslims’. An average Hindu, unable to see through the game, mistook this as the general Muslim endorsement. Mr. Modi took pains to make a rare appearance at a Muslim function by attending ‘His Holiness’ Syedna’s birthday celebrations at Surat.

While they have a right to do what they wish, the fact that their presence was used to advertise Muslim endorsement and approval was certainly damaging, intended or unintended.

Now, if the mainstream Muslims feel agitated and treat them with indifference they can’t be faulted. Overtime this behaviour leads to their isolation within the larger community and then some complain. I wonder who should be complaining, for once. I wish some activists of the community stood up and corrected the distortion.

But is this analysis of mine correct? Or am I way off the truth? Please feel free to comment and criticize me, considering that I am making a serious charge