Madani’s ‘mayor lens’ ignores Indian Muslims’ rise across politics, sports, education & arts
New Delhi, Nov 29 (IANS) Early this year, a list of ‘The Most Influential Indian Muslims of 2024’ was curated by Muslim Mirror in collaboration with the Minority Media Foundation. The list should not have escaped the attention of President of the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (JUH) Arshad Madani, whose name also features among the ‘influential’ rest.
The list included “prominent Indian politician, lawyer” Asaduddin Owaisi, “globally acclaimed music composer, singer, and songwriter known for his innovative and soulful compositions” A.R. Rahman, business tycoon and philanthropist Azim Premji, the “Mr. Perfectionist” actor, filmmaker, and philanthropist Aamir Khan, among other leaders from a dozen different fields.
Yet, Madani, himself a leading figure in Islamic education and politics, chose to ignore these leaders in India to look almost halfway around the globe at New York City’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and London Mayor Sadiq Khan. Incidentally, he conveniently forgot that the name of the Mayor of Kolkata is Firhad Hakim, popularly called “Bobby”.
Madani also alleged that in India, Muslims can’t even become vice-chancellors. Again, he chose to ignore the feat of persons like Naima Khatoon, who was appointed vice chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), becoming the first woman to hold the post in over 100 years.
Unfortunately, he chose to speak for Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, whose days in power and glory bore certain contentious deeds which are now under probe.
He even chose to ignore personalities like Dr. Zakir Hussain, an eminent educator and founding member of Jamia Millia Islamia University who served as its Vice Chancellor and went on to become the Vice President, and later, President of India.
Other Muslim Presidents also were Dr. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, and the widely respected scientist Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
The JUH leader’s narrative may appeal for a certain period to a particular audience he was targeting but it involved communicating through misinformation and disinformation.
The video clip does not include any statement, even with lesser degree of passion, addressing gender inequality, unemployment, lack of education or skill among minorities and means to overcome them.
In fact, earlier he had reportedly argued that the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act was unnecessary and had said that making triple talaq a criminal offense was excessive, since divorce is a civil matter.
He apparently believed that punishment under criminal law unfairly targeted the men.
The practice of instant triple talaq was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2017, and Parliament had subsequently criminalised it. It marked a shift toward enforcing gender equality within personal law domains.
For many women, the change meant clearer legal recourse, potential criminal accountability for arbitrary divorces, and greater public recognition of marital rights. But in the case of the government’s Pasmanda Muslim outreach, the JUH President had asserted that efforts to create a rift between people from different religions should be treated as a “national crime”, and welcomed the move.
Pasmanda is an umbrella term used to describe backward Muslim castes, typically the Ajlaf (occupationally disadvantaged groups) and Arzal (Muslim Dalits), who sit below the traditionally dominant Ashraf groups in social hierarchy.
The term highlights intra‑community inequalities and frames a political identity around claims for social justice and representation.
Over the past two decades, grassroots organisations such as the All India Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz have organized to document these deprivations, press for reservations, and push for targeted welfare and legal recognition of their distinct needs. But minority leaders like Madani chose to stay away from raising their issue by himself or work for their upliftment.
He chose to continue his work without paying heed to the community that make up nearly 80 per cent of Indian Muslims.
–IANS
jb/pgh
