Khurshid, young and candid

March 28, 2015 10:47 pm | Updated 10:47 pm IST

26oeb_Khurshid

26oeb_Khurshid

Salman Khurshid’s outpourings as an earnest 30-year-old, recently imbued at Oxford with the liberal teachings of John Rawls and Ronald Dworkin, constitute the bulk of this book. Empathising with the “widespread feeling of restlessness”, “silent suffering and anxiety” of fellow Muslims, he resolved “to at least express their expanse and intensity, if not contribute, in some way, to alleviate them”, and to present “a public statement about personal impressions of a public matter”. Those early writings are reproduced in this book, unchanged except for the odd explanatory footnote, supplemented with a section carrying contemporary thoughts of Khurshid the seasoned politician.

The book is notable for the candour and sincerity of the young Khurshid. He objects to Muslims having to periodically prove their allegiance to the state and the system; and protests that unself-conscious and honest expression of Muslim aspirations and discontents is viewed either as extraordinary daring or conspicuous communalisation. Asserting that they should feel neither insecure nor embarrassed about their situation, he reaffirms Mohammed Ali’s words at the 1930 Round Table Conference: “Where God commands, I am a Mussalman first, a Mussalman second, a Mussalman last, and nothing but a Mussalman … But where India is concerned, I am an Indian first, an Indian second, an Indian last, and nothing but an Indian”.

Equality for minorities, he argues, will emerge from their ability to express their preferences and pursue their idea of the good and full life: a life that permits growth of the individual to full potential, intellectually, morally, politically and economically. He pleads for the equality of free expression and self-assertion as opposed to the equality arising out of sufferance and patronage.

Ironically — but, in light of the “inclusion deficit” of Muslims demonstrated by the Sachar Committee Report, with justification — the author himself in his present day avatar vociferously propagates reservation for minorities. With the passage of time Khurshid has now come to believe that “a careful and judicious mix of equality enforcement using affirmative action or preferential treatment as inclusive policy is perhaps the best remedy”. He regrets that the minorities’ quota proposed by his erstwhile government was stymied by “an inherent contradiction in the jurisprudence of reservations”, and pleads for an equal opportunity commission to facilitate “natural inclusion” rather than continuing with the prevailing “equal but separate” approach.

Khurshid draws attention to minority preoccupations with policing issues and communal disturbances that periodically afflict their existence. Evident during communal riots in Uttar Pradesh in the 1970s and 1980s, a recent report of directors-general of police of different states reiterated the “trust deficit” between the police and minority communities. Khurshid laments the lack of will to address the problem, the absence of ‘truth and reconciliation’ exercises and the unwillingness of those bearing direct or proxy responsibility to express remorse and regret. Bemoaning the demise of the Communal Violence Bill 2011, he insists that whatever may be the causes of a communal disturbance, blocking an arrangement for compensation and rehabilitation is unconscionable.

With the passing of the stalwarts who represented the community in the early days after independence, Khurshid bewailed the leadership vacuum in the ‘1980s. Through force of habit Muslims placed their fortunes in the hands of the Nehru-Gandhi family but, he warned presciently, the Congress could not take Muslim support for granted. The challenge before Muslim leaders was to earn the loyalty of the community through outspokenness and courage, and to balance “acceptance amongst our own community as well as amongst other people”. Khurshid, perhaps, aspires to that role.

The book’s sub-title misleads; leaving the reader disappointed and dissatisfied. Far from being a comprehensive and definitive account of the Muslim saga in India — as it might well have been had the approach of the author been less desultory — this is a random and repetitious selection of writings separated by a quarter of a century. Given Khurshid’s legal background and his roots in the politics of Uttar Pradesh, a disproportionate focus is on court-related matters, communal issues in U.P. and the politics of Aligarh Muslim University.

Khurshid’s personal recollections provide compelling sidelights to the book. The struggles of his grandfather, Dr Zakir Hussain, in nurturing Jamia Milia Islamia are illuminating. The fact that when this eminent educationist was President of India during the Indo-Pak war of 1965, rumours abounded that he had to be detained for treason is a telling commentary on the mindset of the country.

AT HOME IN INDIA - The Muslim Saga: Salman Kurshid; Hay House Publishers (India) Pvt. Ltd., Muskaan Complex, Plot No. 3, B-2, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi-110070. Rs. 699.

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