Jamaat-e-Islami to play active role
in 2004 election

Jamaat-e-Islami, the biggest Muslim religious organisation in India, has decided to campaign for political parties committed to safeguard secular and democratic character of the country in the upcoming general election in 2004.

It has yet to decide, though, whether to contest the election directly or to form its own political party, according to Amir-e-Jamaat-e-Islami Dr Mohammed Abdul Haq Ansari.

Briefing newsmen on the major decisions taken at the five-day Central advisory council, Markazi Majlis-e-Shoora, meeting of the Jamaat in Hyderabad on Saturday, Dr Ansari said the Jamaat has constituted a five-member panel to identify the parties it wants to support.

"So far, we have had some restrictions on our members participating in the electoral process. Now we are thinking of relaxing them so that we could effectively influence the election process," he said.

He said it was too early to talk of directly contesting the elections as Jamaat has not reached that stage. "It needs preparations and internal cadre has to be educated and there are various issues to be taken up," he added.

The Harvard-educated, 72-year-old Dr Ansari, who is an authority on comparative study of religions, was elected as the Amir of the 62-year-old Jamaat in April this year. 

He said the Majlis-e-Shoora assessed the political situation and concluded that there was need for Jamaat to go beyond its past role of supporting only individual candidates with clean record and image and actively support the parties to stop the Rashtirya Swyamsevak Sangh-sponsored parties from coming back to power.

He felt that any single party was unlikely to emerge as an alternative. "The single party idea has been creating problems and will continue to do so in future. So, we do not want single party rule", he said and pointed out that the Jamaat would support those parties, which could maintain the democratic and secular character of India.

They should give the Muslims their constitutional rights and their manifestoes should define this clearly.

"We can support the Congress in one state, socialists in another states, and communists in some other states. In Andhra Pradesh, we can support some other force," he said. "The Jamaat will identify such parties and talk to them, offering its support on certain conditions to ensure that the constitutional rights of the minorities are respected and safeguarded."

He admitted that Congress rule in the past was also not up to the expectations of Muslims and was in fact more disastrous in some aspects.