Ameena Majid Siddiqui

The Indian Islamic Cultural Centre (IICC) election scheduled for August 11 promises to be the most hotly contested one in its history. Several biggies including former Indian External Affairs Minister and a senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid are in the race for the President’s post of this young organization Awaz-the Voice caught up with Khurshid to know about his campaign and purpose for contesting the IICC election. Excerpts from the conversation:

What made you contest the Indian Islamic Centre elections?

I didn't think much of it till some members approached me. I was busy with issues related to my party (Congress). I also felt that I could contribute to keeping the center (IICC) free. The (NDA) government wants to control most of such institutions. I felt such institutions could leave our (Community’s) hands. This made me contest the election.

This time all the candidates are working hard to woo the voters. Contestants are visiting different cities to canvass...

Look, my experience is that people often go to places where our members are in good numbers. Why should we go only during elections? The relationship should be maintained all through five years of one’s tenure. Also, it’s important to hear the views of everyone to carry on in a democratic system. An understanding of what people want and think will be the beginning of new moves by those elected to the IICC. The elected body will have to work on all the suggestions in the next 5 years.

What do you think is the major change that should happen at IICC?

Many members have dreams. Many believe this should become a training center, probably we should teach the Urdu language at IICC. We can also work on setting up more centers of IICC in different cities. However, most importantly, we must understand the purpose of this center. Its purpose was to show the world the best face of the Muslims of India; that good face should also include people from different parts of India.

It is not that people from only one religion are members of IICC; they are from different religions. However, we want to show how Islam projects Indian culture and civilization and its Ganga-Jamuni (Syncretism) culture. We want to show our contribution towards national development to the world.

The center was started with a secular mindset, is it still intact?

Secular thinking can have two aspects, one is that you are not communal and the second aspect is that you project that thing with a lot of effort and hard work, either you sit and believe in something or you try to convey that belief to the people. Every organisation has a huge responsibility. It is not that it is only our responsibility, it is the responsibility of every organisation that a wall should not be built where it is said that this is only ours and not yours. We all live together in this country and we all are residents of this country and we have the right that we should live together like a family, like a single clan.

India Islamic Cultural Center, New Delhi

How much is the need for inter-faith dialogue in today's time?

There is a great need. Inter-faith dialogue is not just needed in India but in the world. Religions and beliefs are spread all over the world. It cannot be that the Islam of India is one,the Islam of Saudi Arabia is something else and the Islam in England or America is something else. So, we should project the best picture of every religion and work on how we can live together. This is the projection of the Islamic Center; no one believes that the Islamic Center is limited to Islam. The Islamic Center projects the true culture of India.

It’s perhaps for the first time that there is a competition in the elections to IICC. What do you say?

Competition is good. The winners will be decided on the day of the election but more important is that good people fought. Everyone should remember just one basic thing this is not for us; not for a political party. This is not for anyone or any organization. This is ours, when we say it, then all of us who are members in it. It is the right of all of us that we can see the interpretation of our dreams here, we can fulfill them and we all went there.

What things should the Muslim community give importance to?

If the Muslim community accords importance to Islam it’s good. Sufism is an important aspect of Islam and the culture of India. If we look at it from one perspective, it is a Bhakti movement. If we understand the relationship between the two, then we will be a very successful country.

Given your engagements, how will you find time for the Islamic Centre?

The President has to use his brainless. He has to make policies, think, and take good people along. A team of good people with a president would lead to the optimum utilization of time and resources. If one is a lawyer, then he has to practice law as well. If one is a political person, then he has to do politics as well and if one is a social worker, then he has to do social work as well. So it is not possible that a social worker is a better social worker than a politician or that a public figure is just a public figure. He doesn't care about anyone else. It is not that a doctor is a senior doctor. A doctor can also be a social worker. A social worker can also be an educationist. An educationist can also be a scholar and a scholar can also be a public figure and time will tell who has how much talent and who can do all these things.

What is the reason for staying away from mainstream politics?

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I am not staying away; holding a protest is not politics, using the brain is mainstream politics. You cannot represent your constituency only by staying in the parliament. It happens outside the parliament as well. So I believe that what happens outside the parliament is important and if we are not in the parliament, it does not mean that we are away from politics. We go to the working committee. We work there. Whatever responsibility is given to us by the party, we work in that and whether we get the responsibility from the party or not. It remains in the mind that we have to work for the common people. That is politics. Politics is not just about fighting elections. Politics is about translating the decisions made by the people and their intentions. How do you do this? Do it by writing a book or by giving an interview. Do it by sending someone to school. Do it by sending someone to the hospital. All those things are done for publicity. Do good, throw it in the well, and forget it. Goodness should be done and whatever reform can be done in the society, whatever we can do for the betterment of the society, keep doing that.