Jamaat-e-Islami-e Hind to launch its own party

New Delhi, Feb 24 2011 : In three of the five states going to the polls in weeks - Assam, Kerala and West Bengal - the percentage of Muslims, after Jammu and Kashmir, is the highest in the country. To tap this political space, the Jamaat-e-Islami-e Hind, the organisation established for the propagation and "reform" of Islam in the subcontinent in 1941, is planning to launch its political party.

Tentatively called the "Welfare Party," it is learnt that senior Jamaat members have been touring not just the poll-bound states but UP, Bihar and Maharashtra, too, to test the waters. While discussions about the need for a party have been on for two years, the formal launch is expected soon - some say even as early as next month.

A six-page note prepared by the Jamaat and accessed by The Indian Express details the objectives and the remit of the proposed party.

Jamaat, which already has a well-developed network of front organizations like a women's wing and a students' wing, is anxious not to be seen as a purely Muslim party but one which keeps the welfare of marginalized groups besides Muslims, such as the poor, backwards and SC/STs central to its proposed political face.

The party's concept paper makes scathing remarks about the state of the polity, especially the unequal distribution of new wealth in the new "happening" India. Underlining a social-democrat, religious and value-based "formula," it calls for a "paradigm shift." The party envisages strong participation by the middle-class and from individuals "having a record of flawless public service", committed to "ideals" and "values" and the ability to break the connection "between political power and wealth creation."

Said a senior Jamaat member: "This won't be Jamaat's party but our members would be fully with it. People feel left out from the way political parties work these days. We want to keep welfare as the central element of it. We believe in public funding, in the way Kanshi Ram set out asking for one vote and one rupee, we can do that."

Members said that they will forge ties with "like-minded" parties and although they aren't prepared to take on established political forces this time, they hope to make a statement by putting up a few candidates.

There was a divide in the Jamaat over this political course of action but the party's Majlis-e-Shoora made a decisive push for it. When contacted, Qasim Rasool Ilyas, a prominent member of the Jamaat-e-Islami, declined to comment.

The Jamaat-e-Islami claims to have at least 29,000 workers, and more than 300,000 "well-wishers" across the country. But Jamaat watchers warn about the group being at odds with its own ideology. They say that for a group whose constitution states its objective as "iqaamat-e-din" or the single-minded pursuit of religion, forming a political party may confuse those who flock to the Jamaat as a centre for mainly Islamic revival or refreshing the Islamic way of life.

The Jamaat, split with its most influential founder, Maulana Maududi, who was a staunch advocate of the creation of Pakistan, and later, a Jamaat-e-Islami-e-Hind and a separate one for Jammu and Kashmir was set up.

However, its literature has had no real substitute for Maududi's philosophy and old stereotypes remain. The parallels drawn with the RSS have often resulted in simultaneous bans, like in 1975, during the Emergency, when both the RSS and the Jamaat were banned.

Observers like Irfan Waheed say that political opponents, especially the Hindutva parties, will invoke Jamaat-e-Islami's past and present in Bangladesh and Pakistan. "After the partition, when Maulana Maududi was asked about the fate of the Muslims left in a Hindu majority India, he had said that he did not bother if the Hindus treat the Muslims of India worse than malechhas. He was only bothered about making Pakistan an Islamic state at any cost," said Waheed.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/jamaat-tests-waters-to-launch-its-own-party/754013/0