Mumbai: The 18th Lok Sabha could have 24 Muslim members, the second lowest ever. Only the 16th Lok Sabha in 2014, which had 23 Muslims among its 542 members, had a lower representation from the community. In percentage terms, the current Muslim strength in the parliament will be 4.4% - lower than the 5% representation in the first Lok Sabha when the country elected 25 Muslims to a smaller house in the aftermath of partition.
Irfan Engineer, author, and director of the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, said that the main reason for the declining representation of Muslims in the country's parliament is the reluctance by political parties to give tickets to candidates from the community. "And the major reason for this is that the BJP has created an impression that Muslims are untouchables. Even secular parties are reluctant to give tickets to Muslim candidates," said Engineer.
In Maharashtra, where Muslims are around 13-14% of the population - similar to the national average, none of the parties belonging to the two major political alliances gave a ticket to a Muslim.
"Muslims asked for at least one Muslim Member of Parliament from the state, but the parties did not listen, not because they did not want to but because they thought that non-Muslims would not vote for a Muslim candidate," said Engineer. "This is not true because the Samajwadi Party gave seats to four Muslim candidates and all have won. This shows that the electorate does not discriminate if there is a good candidate."
Salman Razawi of the Baqee Foundation, a religious and educational group, said that Muslim leadership has been declining. "The 24 Muslims in the current parliament were elected from local parties. There is no Muslim leadership at the national level," Razawi said.
"Parties want Muslim votes, but do not want Muslim candidates," said advocate Nadeem Siddiqui, giving the example of the Moradabad Parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh that the Samajwadi Party won. "The seat had been won in 2019 by S T Hasan who was from the same party, but the Samajwadi Party leadership decided not to field a Muslim candidate this time."
Amid this abysmal decline in representation, many Muslims are sensing a new beginning - the contribution of Muslim votes in strengthening the opposition in politically significant states like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and West Bengal.
Siddiqui said that Muslim votes were rendered irrelevant in the 2014 and 2019 elections. "But the Samajwadi Party and Congress wins in Uttar Pradesh has shown that Muslim votes are important. Muslims voted technically," said Siddiqui, giving the example of the Mumbai South Parliamentary seat where he is a voter. "I voted for Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate, not by choice but as a 'majboori'. The candidate won. Now parties will realise that Muslim votes are important."
Muslims said that this was a rare election when Muslims did not raise any issues like reservation in jobs and education. "They voted for the INDI Alliance en masse to defend themselves against the aggression of Hindutva. Muslims discarded old demands and voted to ensure that the BJP did not get enough seats to change the secular Constitution," said journalist Saeed Hameed.
There are Muslims who think that the community need not look at only co-religionists as potential leaders. "Anybody who can represent us and help us fulfill our needs can be our leader. Muslims do not have equality in housing, jobs, education, and representation in public institutions even after more than 70 years since partition," said Razawi.
But Engineer thinks Muslim representatives are needed in parliament to address community issues. "There are certain issues, like those relating to religion and education, which Muslims will be more comfortable discussing with a representative from the religion. It is not that only a Muslim can represent the community's issue; a non-Muslim can be a better representative, but a Muslim educational institution - and there are many, maybe more comfortable speaking to a representative from the community," said Engineer.
West Bengal: 6 (5 from Trinamool Congress, 1 from Congress)
Uttar Pradesh: 5 (4 from Samajwadi Party and 1 from Congress)
Kerala: 3 (2 from Indian Union Muslim League, one from Congress)
Jammu and Kashmir: 3 (2 independents and 1 National Conference)
Bihar: 2
Assam, Tamil Nadu, Lakshadweep, Ladakh, Telangana: 1 each
