Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
By Anand Prakash Pandey
25 May, 2015
(Interview with Anand Prakash Pandey, India TV, April 27, 2014)
Q: How do you think Muslims should vote? On what lines?
A: Muslims, like other citizens of India, should vote according to national interests, according to the interests of the country. They should take care of their own community interests themselves and should not drag these interests into the elections. People have to educate their own children, take care of their own homes, and run their own businesses. These are things that every person or community must take care of, on its own. On the other hand, elections are linked to the future of a country, and so people should vote according to the national interests, not according to the perceived sectional interests of the community to which they belong.
Q: Some parties are trying to frighten Muslims to vote for them by scaring them of Narendra Modi, saying that if Muslims don’t vote for them, Mr. Modi might come to power.
A: People will say what they like. Everyone speaks his own language. You can’t stop their tongues. We should have the intelligence to see what will benefit the country and act accordingly.
Q: Are Muslims still angry with Mr. Modi because of the violence that happened in Gujarat more than a decade ago?
A: The past is past, and people should think in terms of the future. If we think in terms of the past, our thinking can’t progress. I’ve been making this point for a long time now. I keep stressing, “Don’t think of the past. Think of the future.” I am not against or in favour of any political party, and here I am talking of a principle—that one must be future-oriented in one’s thinking, not past-oriented.
Q: Do you think that while voting, Muslims should consider which parties might work for their development?
A: I believe that no political party can cause an individual to develop. Parties are there only to govern the country, to run the country’s administration. A community’s development is something for that community to take care of. It is the community’s task to set up institutions, to educate its children, to help the members of the community that are economically poor. So, a community’s development is its own problem, its own concern. It should not be linked to elections.
Q: India is a very diverse country. There have been many Hindu-Muslim riots over the years, but yet Hindus and Muslims seem to be living in reasonable harmony in much of the country. In this context, do you think Muslims need to fear Mr. Modi?
A: Why should we fear anyone? One should fear only oneself. If I do something wrong, I will have to face the consequences of my action. We pay for our own errors. We don’t face any harm from anyone else. You benefit yourself as well as harm yourself through your own actions, not because of other people’s actions.
So, I’ve been all along telling Muslims that they have to build their own future. No one else can do it for them. It is not possible in this world. The Quran says: “Man shall have only that for which he strives.” (53:39)
Therefore, it is totally wrong to think that someone else can harm us.
10:38 PM
Moderate Islamist here
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