‘To Claim That Muslims Vote On Religious Lines Is Erroneous’

“There is nothing called Muslim vote. It is a stereotype that we have been fed with,” believes Aishwarya Pandit, author and Associate Professor, Jindal Global Law School. She was speaking at the India Business Literature Festival, Gurugram chapter.

Pandit has authored “Claiming Citizenship and Nation,” a book that provides insights into the changing nature of Muslim politics and ideas of citizenship in Independent India. It studies the electoral mobilization of minority groups across North India, particularly in Uttar Pradesh where Muslims have a sizable presence in various constituencies.

Pandit argues that the media delves into the issue of Muslim identity politics only during the elections. “Muslim politics is not a part of the mainstream discussion because people tend to assume that identity politics or secularism are for only journalists and academics and that it does not concern them,” she said at the lit-fest.

She added: “I wrote in Chapter One of the book about the compulsory retirement of Muslims from services immediately after Partition. There are references that Congress had made a list of Muslims who were branded as communal because sometimes giving tickets to such Muslims could make them win in elections.” 

Asked about radicalism and whether it was reversible, the author said, “It’s reversible. What’s happening on social media doesn’t reflect ground reality. With so many trolls and WhatsApp forwards, you cannot really quantify how many people actually believe them. Nobody can deny the contribution of any community in nation-building.”