BJP respects minorities and welcomes Muslim leaders, says party candidate from Kerala (2024)

Malappuram (Kerala) Despite catching nationwide attention following the denial of permission to accompany Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an open jeep during the election campaign roadshow in Kerala’s Palakkad two days ago, the BJP’s lone Muslim face so far in the fray said he continues to be a hardcore believer in the teachings of Prophet Muhammad but places patriotism and national interests above all religious preferences.

In an exclusive interaction with Hindustan Times at his constituency Malappuram, which is otherwise a traditional citadel of Congress alliance partner Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), academic turned politician M Abdul Salam said Muslim politicians in the country must end their existing practice of finding the BJP and Narendra Modi as their enemies and acting as a `walkout opposition’ in the parliament.

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The 71-year-old agronomist, who has over 70 international research papers to his credit and is one of the most controversial vice-chancellors of Kerala’s prestigious Calicut University, Salam, claimed he was not disheartened by the SPG’s refusal to accommodate Modi in the open jeep, as reported by a section of the media.

“Before the beginning of the roadshow, I met the prime minister, and he offered me good luck. I took a selfie with him as well. I reached Palakkad only to invite him to campaign in my Malappuram constituency, and the prime minister has yet to accept or reject that invitation,” he said.

When asked why a former vice chancellor chosen by the IUML to lead one of the universities with high Muslim stakes chose to prefer a Hindutva party later, Salam claimed the BJP was never a Hindutva or communal party, and he wishes to call it a collective of nationalists who place all of their other priorities below the patriotic goals.

“I have no personal animosity with Congress, IUML, or CPI (M). My question is why they are not placing national interests first. Religion and faith are important but should not be placed above the country. To me, the country is the top priority. So I found Modi’s dedication to the country and its overall growth to be matchless,” he said.

“What are the Congress and CPI (M) pursuing in Kerala other than simply appeasing fanatic Muslim leaders? All 20 Lok Sabha constituencies in Kerala will go to the polls on April 26, a Friday. Kerala’s ruling and opposition parties are now requesting the Election Commission of India (ECI) to reschedule the polling date in the state as it coincides with a Friday, a significant day for the Muslim faith. If the country is the priority, any Muslim can vote on that day before or after prayers at the mosque. If this is the mentality, how would the community achieve progress and its youngsters occupy top slots?” he asked.

He said the adamant attitude of Muslim Orthodoxy towards trivial matters makes things complex for the community in the country.

“I feel honoured as the lone Muslim face so far among the BJP candidates at the national level. But it is also a limitation. The BJP respects minorities and welcomes Muslim leaders. But why are they not ready to join the party and help Modiji achieve his vision for the country? As an educated Muslim, I found it my duty to join Modi in this mission to make India a world power. Muslim leaders must not be puppets at the hands of those elements that are jealous of India’s growth,” he said.

“It’s true that IUML, which handled the education portfolio of the Ommen Chandy-led Congress government, made me the vice-chancellor. But it was not a concession to an unqualified person on religious grounds. If they had chosen me, I would have performed better than their expectations. But they must not anticipate that I would be a prisoner of them for my whole life. I started watching Modi and his unique abilities even while being the vice chancellor. As a researcher with a clinical perspective, I used my methodology to follow Modi, and I found him the answer to the larger questions India faced,” he said.

He said the BJP is not communal, and it would be happy to accommodate even IUML, the largest minority party in India, in the NDA if it approves Modi’s leadership and shares his national vision.

“Goa governor and former BJP Kerala unit president P. S. Sreedharan Pillai brought me to the BJP in 2019 and chose me as the party candidate in the state assembly election in 2019 at Tirur in Malappuram. Though I lost to IUML’s Kurukkoli Moideen and managed hardly 5.33 percent of the votes, the party has now deputed me to contest the Lok Sabha election. I never canvassed for the seat and learned only about my candidature through television news. That is the kind of preference and quality prevailing in the BJP. Even if I lose this election, I will not demand anything from the party. Instead, I will work as a disciplined functionary at the grassroots level,” he said.

When asked about Ayodhya and Babri Masjid, he said Muslims are not attaching so much importance to any geographical locality other than Mecca, and they can worship at any place by shifting mosques to convenient localities.

He said the Gyanvapi and other contentious issues can be easily solved if Muslim clergy shift the disputed mosques to more spacious and convenient locations identified by fellow Hindus.

He claimed that the protests against CAA in Kerala are false and that the law would not affect any Indian Muslims.

“We, the Muslims, must evolve as a constructive force, taking a bold position against terrorism and obscurantism. Those who chopped off the hands and heads must be singled out and handed over to the investigating agencies. The priority must be overall growth,” he said.

Salam said he has high faith in the Muslim women voters of Malappuram who are clad in `black burqa’ and are continuously victimised by triple talaq.

“They may be silent and unorganised. But they would vote for me en masse as a mark of solidarity to Modi, who improved their positions,” he said.

When reminded about the controversial days at Calicut University, including the infamous board outside his chamber preventing women’s entry to meet him, Salam said he had never been against women. “That time, the CPI (M) student wing of SFI was creating enormous hurdles for me. There were police and intelligence reports of the possible implicating of me in sexual harassment cases. So I installed a board just saying that women who wish to meet me must not come alone to the chamber; if they are alone, they must seek accompaniment from a senior lady staff in my office. I had even created a special facility outside my office to address requests from women who wished to meet me,” he said.

When asked about his controversial decisions, including the bid to sell off varsity land and to admit students for degree courses without a plus-two qualification, Salam said all those were the propaganda of the CPI (M) cyber goons.

“They registered 19 cases against me with police and anti-corruption embellishments. Please verify the present position of all those cases. In many cases, the investigators failed to charge me in the absence of any evidence. The courts absolved me of the need for evidence in the rest of the cases. They brutally chased me and levelled heinous allegations against me for attempting to make the university the best in the country,” he claimed.

Asked why even Congress and IUML, which appointed him to the post, turned his enemies by the end of his tenure, Salam said that in his tenure between 2011 and 2015, he attempted to end political interference and collective bargaining by employee unions.

“Such actions irritated both the UDF and the LDF,” he said.

Salam said the Malappuram district was constituted 65 years ago as the lone Muslim-majority district of the South. Still, it remains backward by unquestioningly supporting the Congress and IUML.

He claimed that only the BJP could ensure a new breath of life for Malappuram.

A native of Chadayamangalam in the Southern Kollam district, resides in Thiruvananthapuram.

Before retiring as vice chancellor of Calicut University, he was the head of the regional research station of Kerala Agriculture University at Vellayani in Thiruvananthapuram. In Malappuram, he is fighting IUML veteran E T Muhammed Basheer, who represented the nearby Ponanni Lok Sabha constituency in the outgoing Lok Sabha, and V Vaseef, the young leader of the CPI (M) youth wing DYFI.