Jamaat may enter electoral politics, says state president

Ahmedabad, Nov 6 (UNI) Muhammad Shafi Madni, who heads the Gujarat unit of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind today said, his organisation may soon enter electoral politics in the state to be the representative voice of its followers in policy-making.

''Initially, we will be putting up our representatives at the local bodies' elections and may move to contest other elections later,'' he said, while interacting with mediapersons.

He, however, ruled out the possibility of contesting the 2007 Assembly elections in the state.

In reply to a query he denied that, the Muslims have remained backward as they are too rigid about their religion. ''In fact it is the other way round. They have not progressed because they have moved away from the basic tenets of Islam. People are alienated from the religion,'' he said.

On the burqa issue, he said the Koran has specified that the women should wear the veil and has spelt out the reasons too. ''On how people interpret the clause is upto them and there should be a debate on it,'' he said.

Asked about the Jamaat's stand on reservation issue, Mr Madni said the organisation did not approve of reservations on the lines of caste or religion. ''But today, it is India's 'majboori' (compulsion) to go for reservations.'' Stressing on the need to improve educational facilities for Muslims, he said it is a pity that Muslims who had comprised 23 per cent of the bureaucracy at the time of Independence are no longer at the helm of affairs. ''The education level in the community is abysmal. But in Islam, education is compulsory for all.'' He said the overall development of the country would not be possible unless all communities get equal opportunities. ''The country is like a human body. If its one arm is polio-affected, the whole body's progress will not be optimal,'' he pointed out.

He said it is regrettable that Muslims and Hindus are the two major communities of this country but remain alienated due to prejudices and misconceptions about each other.

''Now it's our duty to combat this menace of disharmony and work for peace and harmony,'' he added.

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