Marathi, non-Marathi Muslims back Uddhav’s inclusive Hindutva

“Ever since we met Uddhav Thackeray last week, I’ve been besieged with calls from Muslims from all over Maharashtra welcoming our decision to support the (Uddhav) Shiv Sena,’’ said Faqir Thakur, head of the Marathi Muslim Seva Sangh (MMSS)

“Ever since we met Uddhav Thackeray last week, I’ve been besieged with calls from Muslims from all over Maharashtra welcoming our decision to support the (Uddhav) Shiv Sena,’’ said Faqir Thakur, head of the Marathi Muslim Seva Sangh (MMSS). “These include Marathi Muslims belonging to the Congress and NCP,” he added.

Marathi, non-Marathi Muslims back Uddhav’s inclusive Hindutva

The MMSS comprises 180 organizations working among Muslims of all sections, from fisherfolk to teachers, across Maharashtra.

Last Friday, a 22-member delegation of the Sangh, representing all the regions of Maharashtra, met former CM Uddhav Thackeray to assure him of their support in the forthcoming municipal elections in the state. They also told him that “As Maharashtrians, we too are hurt at the way you were betrayed. Together, we must teach these traitors a lesson.”

The next day, Sena newspaper Saamna reported the meeting on Page 1 with the headline: “Marathi aahot..ekatra kaam karu!” (”We are Marathis...we shall work together!”).

The MMSS has always emphasized its Marathi identity and distanced itself from the Urdu-speaking North Indian Muslim bloc that has for decades dominated Muslim politics in Maharashtra. Despite these Muslim leaders knowing nothing about the lives of Muslims in Maharashtra, they have been cultivated by the Congress and NCP, and even the BJP, says the Sangh, that also accuses them of pursuing the UP-Bihar brand of identity politics. Former CM A R Antulay was an exception to this rule.

Yet, said Thakur, after their meeting with Thackeray became news, even non-Marathi Muslims began calling him to welcome this initiative.

“That’s because of the personality of Uddhav Thackeray,” said Thakur. “Muslims see in him not just someone who broke away from the BJP and took on the powerful ruling party, but also as a genuine individual, whose attitude towards Muslims is open and welcoming.”

The meeting with Thackeray, arranged by former Sena MP and Union Minister Anant Geete, lasted half-an-hour, said Thakur. The delegation told Thackeray that having worked with Muslims at the grassroots in the interiors, they knew that their problems were no different from those of Hindus and Dalits: roads, water, electricity.

Thackeray told them that the BJP was sure to make an issue about his meeting Muslims, but he added that “our Hindutva remains steadfast; it does not mean opposing other religions.”

Interestingly, the MMSS comes to the Sena after having supported the BJP in the 2014 Assembly elections. “At that time, we decided to give Narendra Modi’s ‘Sab ka saath Sab ka vikas’ a try,” said Thakur. “We were tired of the false promises and inaction of the Congress and the NCP.”

The Maharashtra BJP had at the time accepted the MMSS’ demand of recovery of encroached Wakf lands, and then revenue minister Eknath Khadse had started acting on it. He had also increased the scholarships for Muslim students under the Maulana Azad Financial Corporation. However, after he resigned in 2016, then CM Devendra Fadnavis ignored the Sangh, said Thakur.

In 2018, the Sangh approached Prakash Ambedkar, but his alliance with Asaduddin Owaisi put paid to that relationship. Despite their disappointment with the Congress and NCP, in the 2019 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, the Sangh campaigned for the two parties.

Thakur didn’t give much importance to the Shinde-Fadnavis government’s announcement of a panel to study the condition of Muslims in the state. “They want to lure Muslims; the announcement is as meaningless as Mohan Bhagwat’s visit to a mosque,” he said.