By Ashis Biswas
In recent weeks, certain decisions of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) have kept political circles guessing on issues such as floor coordination in Parliament, putting up a joint front against the Centre, or the anti-triple talaq legislation sponsored by the NDA government.
The TMC, known for its strident opposition to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) treatment of the minorities, sprang a major surprise by remaining silent on the question of triple talaq in the Lok Sabha. Pressed by media persons for an explanation, TMC leaders remained evasive. Informally, they indicated that their party would rather ‘not interfere in delicate personal relations between men and women in the Muslim community’.
However, indications suggest that questions will still be asked of the TMC as to the true reasons that prompted what appears to be a 180 degrees change in its perceptions on the triple talaq issue. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has appealed to Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to clarify her party’s stand on the triple talaq issue.
Significantly, the AIMPLB brought the matter into the public domain by addressing a press conference in Kolkata on the subject. Its leaders also sent a letter through senior TMC minister Subrata Mukherjee, addressed to the chief minister.
Observers feel that the organisation is within its rights to seek what amounts to a clarification from the TMC on the talaq question. After the recent Supreme Court verdict banning triple talaq, several Muslim organisations had protested strongly, pointing out that the judiciary should not interfere in religious matters.
In West Bengal, along with the rest of the country, Muslims were divided on the issue. So were Muslim organisations. However, the TMC had taken a stand supporting the conservative Muslim elements, who were arraigned against the abolition of triple talaq. More importantly, they questioned the authority of the apex court to arbitrate on such issues, quoting Sharia laws.
Proof of this was a series of rallies and processions in Kolkata organised by TMC minister Siddiqullah Choudhury, a known Islamic hardliner. From such platforms he criticised the Supreme Court as well as the BJP-ruled government at the Centre strongly. He indicated that the community would be forced to oppose the Constitution if necessary if the Centre tried to abolish triple talaq.
Mamata Banerjee did not personally comment one way or the other about triple talaq. However, the fact that Choudhury was allowed to organise such programmes and mobilise his followers was a clear signal of the TMC government’s tacit approval. Choudhury’s opinion was naturally echoed by junior party leaders at these gatherings.
The move was interpreted by analysts as one more example of the TMC’s known penchant for supporting hard-line Islamists on most issues, ranging from the expulsion of writer Taslima Nasreen, the banning of Salman Rushdie’s Kolkata programmes or Mamata’s criticism of the National Investigative Agency (NIA) for its arrest of Muslim extremists connected with the Khagragarh explosion in Burdwan. Her critics alleged that, as usual, she was pandering to her Muslim vote bank for narrow political gains even if her moves endangered national security.
Naturally the TMC’s present and total reticence on the talaq issue has surprised most– especially conservative– Muslims in the state. Used as their leaders are to remind Mamata at public meetings that they have brought her to power, they would certainly demand a public explanation from her on the matter. And obviously, the explanation would have to be on their terms — demonising the Centre and ‘upholding religious freedom’ as defined by the mullahs.
The fire-eating Choudhury, clearly under instructions, has not spoken to the media about triple talaq this time, let alone hold a rally! However, most observers do not doubt where his private sympathies would lie, regardless of the new party line. TMC insiders say he has little choice other than obeying his leaders. His earlier efforts to win an Assembly election, heading a small outfit against the TMC and other parties, had not succeeded. He won a major election only after joining the TMC.
The TMC’s switchover to the taciturn mode has naturally spawned a number of theories. One is that Mamata, perhaps the sharpest analyser in India of possible shifts in voting preferences, realises that the TMC would lose the votes of Muslim women if it supported triple talaq. Therefore, the message to the Choudhurys and other hardliners is – move over, for now.
The other explanation is more complex. The TMC, fearing the possibility of an imminent damaging exposure over the Sarada chit fund and Narada bribery scams, is distancing itself from joining an all India front against the ruling BJP. It is doing this by keeping away from the Opposition, unlike in the past, and sparing the BJP even on issues on which the right wing party is vulnerable. Therefore, it is going it alone in Parliament for the moment and not choosing to react on Muslim-related matters. (IPA Service)
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