A detailed examination of Muslim Politics by Qayde Urdu Shamim Ahmed, exploring Indian Muslims’ political isolation, secular party strategies, BJP relations, leadership gaps, and the urgent need for dialogue.
By Qalam Times News Network
New Delhi | 30 November 2025
Muslim Politics and the Current Landscape
Muslim Politics — this is where Shamim Ahmed begins his argument: the place where Indian Muslims stand today, the choices they’ve made, and the consequences that followed. Speaking to Qalam Times News Network, he lays out an unfiltered view of how fear-based narratives, confused political expectations, and leadership gaps have pushed a huge minority toward political loneliness.
Here’s the thing: the debate isn’t only about who Muslims vote for. It’s about whether they want to shape the political current or keep drifting along its surface.
A Strategic Wall Built by Secular Parties
Fear as a Political Tool :According to Shamim Ahmed, Muslim Politics changed shape the moment secular parties pushed a convenient storyline:
“BJP is communal; the rest are your protectors.”
For decades, this narrative kept Muslims away from the largest political force in the country. Over time, the gap grew so wide that Muslims found themselves outside the core political and administrative stream.
Drifting Away from the Mainstream
Fear may offer comfort, he says, but it steals long-term influence. Staying outside the rooms where decisions are made has cost the community more than it ever realized.
BJP’s Shift — From Courting Votes to Calculating Numbers
The Early Attempts:There was a phase when BJP promoted Muslim names like Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Shahnawaz Hussain, and Sikander Bakht in hopes of building trust.
The Reality Check
But when the party saw no electoral return despite these faces, BJP recalibrated. Tickets started going only to those who could guarantee votes.
Muslim candidates were sidelined not out of animosity, but because the party concluded they couldn’t mobilize their own community’s vote.
Leadership Silence and the Culture of Fear
Shamim Ahmed points to Muslim clerics, community leaders, and social groups. He says they amplified the fear spun by secular parties.
Lines like “If BJP comes to power, everything will collapse” shaped public sentiment for years.But none of this noise translated into social progress or political clarity.
Triple Talaq, Social Responsibility, and an 80-Year Gap
Avoiding Reform
He is very clear: institutions like the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, mosque committees, and clerics failed to build any real support system for divorced Muslim women.
No welfare structure, no community mechanism, not even sustained dialogue.
Government Stepping In
What should have been an internal reform was eventually pushed into law by the government—like the Triple Talaq legislation.
In his view, it wasn’t interference; it was a response to negligence.
Double Standards in Voting Behaviour
Muslim voters, he argues, often judge candidates not by character or work, but by party label. Babul Supriyo is his example: rejected as a BJP candidate, embraced the moment he joined TMC. This pattern makes it extremely difficult for Muslim leaders to survive in any party perceived as “non-approved.”
Other communities move freely across party lines—Muslims cannot.
The Message: Dialogue or Decline
Engagement Is Not Surrender :Shamim Ahmed warns that a community forming nearly 18% of India cannot afford to cut itself off from the ruling establishment. Government schemes—housing, subsidies, opportunities—reach everyone. But political distance dilutes influence. Staying aloof only deepens isolation.
Open the Door, Don’t Seal It
His advice is simple: Muslims should open channels of dialogue with BJP. Not out of fear, but out of realism. Shutting every door, he says, is dangerous—for the community and for the country.
