BJP Shenanigans/Shahnawaz: Sid Harth
bademiyansubhanallah
In an exclusive chat with Zee News’ Swati Chaturvedi on Kahiye Janab,
BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain negates the party’s anti-Muslim image
post Varun Gandhi’s hate speech during the Lok Sabha election
campaign. Further, hailing the leadership of LK Advani and Rajnath
Singh, the MP expresses faith in the party and discusses the reasons
for the party’s defeat in the recent General Elections.
Swati: Hello and welcome to Kahiye Janaab. We had asked you in the
past as to whether you are a nazarbattu or bazarbattu of the BJP. Now,
post Varun Gandhi’s brand of Hindutva and BJP’s rout (in the Lok Sabha
polls), what does Shahnawaz Hussain has to say? Before that, let me
first congratulate you. A gag order has been passed by your party. But
you have come up to put forth your statements. All other BJP leaders
are escaping the media, but you have dared to make a statement. Thank
you so much.
Shahnawaz: The Bharatiya Janata Party has not committed any sin, for
which the party’s leaders will try to hide. And as you said, I am
neither nazarbattu or bazarbattu of the BJP. I am a BJP worker. I am
proud to be heard in the BJP; no one ignores my words. I am not a
showboy. I am a responsible worker of the party. I have full faith in
my leadership. The leadership of Rajnathji and Advaniji does not
preach hatred and is not anti-Muslim. Their leadership seeks to move
forward with everyone. That is my faith and that is why, I am a part
of this party.
Swati: In the election campaign, Varun Gandhi, whose hate speech CD
has been proved authentic scientifically and forensically, it was
proved that there was no interpolation and no cut. Rajnath Singh
carried clothes for him (Varun) in jail and did not participate in
your campaign. How can you say that to Muslims of the country and my
viewers that Rajnath Singh is with you?
Shahnawaz: See, I do not know if Rajnathji took clothes for Varun in
jail. He went to meet him and I do not know from where you got this
piece of news. He had to address a rally in my constituency. But,
since he had to attend a programme in Ghaziabad as well, his (Rajnath
Singh) visit to my constituency was cancelled. So, it is wrong to
claim that he cancelled the rally in my constituency purposely.
Swati: No big leader of the BJP, except Arun Jaitley, visited your
constituency.
Shahnawaz: I had not even demanded visits by any big leader. Arun
Jaitley did come. In Bihar, Nitish Kumar and Sushil Modi were in great
demand and the duo did visit my constituency.
Swati: Leave elections. What happened after losing elections? Rift in
the BJP emerged. After that, Maneka Gandhi – the honourable member of
your party – said that the party does not need Muslims. Is it right
for a leader of a national, responsible, and principal opposition
party of this country, to make such a comment? See the way you and
Naqvi were insulted. What do you have to say on this?
Shahnawaz: See, Manekaji is BJP’s Member of Parliament. We do not have
to comment on her. We will respond to her opinions in Parliament
itself.
Swati: It is recorded. She said that the BJP did not lose (elections)
because of Varun Gandhi and his hate speech. According to her, Muslims
anyways do not vote for the BJP. She also said that the party’s
Minority Cell, headed by you, does not exist on the ground and is
defunct. Give me an ideological and basic answer to this.
Shahnawaz: Rajnathji and Advaniji have already replied to this. I just
want to repeat it. There are many leaders in the Bharatiya Janata
Party who get votes and many who do not. Today, two situations have
arisen. We can run the party without Muslims. But it is impossible to
dream about ruling this country by excluding Muslims and all other
religions of this country (apart from Hindus). The party understands
this quite well. We want to take along all the members of the Indian
society, all citizens of this country with ourselves. No matter who
employs what method and manner to pray. It is the BJP’s ideology to
take everyone along. And if anyone says anything on personal level,
Shahnawaz Hussain does not care.
Swati: You do not care but at the party’s forum, when Maneka
interrupted you during your speech, didn’t you say that let her run
the party? Didn’t you threaten to leave the party and wanted the party
to let all Muslims go?
Shahnawaz: It is an internal matter of the party, Swatiji.
Swati: The party seems to have collapsed.
Shahnawaz: No. See, I speak in the party on the instructions of
Rajnathji. I speak only after party president permits me to do so. I
do not seek anybody else’s permission. I see myself just as a BJP
worker. But you people see me as a lone Muslim MP from the BJP. My
religion is my personal matter. And the party belongs as much as to
Shahnawaz Hussain and Naqvi as it does to Advaniji and Rajnathji.
Swati: You said religion is your personal matter. Tell me how did you
feel when you heard Varun’s speech, which has now been proved to be
authentic.
Shahnawaz: Any leader who speaks against Muslims does not exempt
Shahnawaz Hussain, APJ Abdul Kalam and Irfan Pathan. And if you are
abusing Muslims, then it offends Muslims working in the BJP as well.
That is why no BJP leader has backed Varun’s speech whose case is now
in court. He (Varun Gandhi) has already said that the voice in the CD
is not his. Though a forensic report has come, yet it has to be seen
by the court. I can say responsibly that the BJP is against offending
any community. The BJP will take everyone along as the party does not
believe in such speeches.
Swati: It seems that you and Naqvi are two sarkaari Muslims in the
party, who are suppressed by Varun Gandhi’s Hindutva brand. It seems,
you two have lost standing in the party. The whole Muslim community
looks at you and laughs. What are you doing?
Shahnawaz: There is no Varun Gandhi brand of Hindutva in the BJP. Pt
Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee’s teachings form the
party’s Hindutva. For the party, the ideology of Hindutva means
nationality, nationalism and Indianness. There is no scope of hate in
the party. We are not
sarkaari Muslims. We have won elections. It was my third consecutive
victory. I have been a minister in the NDA government. It is right
that we have to swim against the tide and suffer many taunts,
sometimes more bitter than yours. The general perception about the
party is wrong. People who come to BJP thinking it as an anti-Muslim
party will be disappointed. The Bharatiya Janata Party never was, is,
and will be communal.
Swati: This year’s defeat was BJP’s worst since 1989. You are an MP
from the BJP. What do you think is the reason behind the BJP’s
drubbing?
Shahnawaz: There could be a number of reasons behind the defeat of the
BJP. I feel and the party as well has already admitted that there were
cases of internal strife at many places. We failed to explain our
manifesto. Advaniji was the prime ministerial candidate. There were
fewer discussions about Advaniji and the manifesto, but more debates
regarding our own negatives. That is the reason voters got confused
whether we are talking about 2010, 2014 or 2020.
Swati: You talked about 2014. It means you are talking about Narendra
Modi. Take into account Narendra Modi’s projection as prime
ministerial candidate during the campaign and then support to Varun
Gandhi. Tell me, if the campaign had excluded Varun Gandhi, would the
situation have been different?
Shahnawaz: Now, what had to happen has already happened. There is no
point in thinking about it again and again. We won 116 seats in the
name of Advaniji. We cannot say that the BJP has been wiped out from
everywhere. The BJP has won a considerable number of seats. But, we
failed to communicate our agenda to voters. That is why voters did not
trust us and made us sit in the Opposition. Hence, we will ponder over
the reasons behind our defeat, analyse them and then discuss them. We
will think how to structure ourselves and work towards making our own
government (at the Centre).
Swati: Let’s look at three statements made by your senior party
members. Arun Shourie said six journalists were running the party.
Jaswant Singh said he would retire since he could not bear what was
going on in the party and that he did not know what Hindutva was. He
also alleged that the party leaders were refraining from introspection
of the defeat. Yashwant Sinha, who has resigned from all party posts,
said those responsible for the party’s defeat were rewarded in the
end.
Shahnawaz: Defeat or victory is a collective responsibility. It has
been decided in the party’s recent two-day national executive meet.
Swati: How can it be collective when all the decisions were taken by
Arun Jaitley in Delhi. In fact, all the BJP advertisements were
designed by Arunji.
Shahnawaz: When Yashwant Sinha, Jaswantji won, that was also due to
BJP’s strategy. You will try to blame Arunji for the defeat faced by
the party, but won’t credit him for the victory of our leaders. As far
as Yashwantji and Jaswantji are concerned, the duo has been senior
ministers in Vajpayeeji’s government. They have held charge of
important ministries such as Defence, Finance and Foreign Affairs.
Jaswantji is a member of party’s Parliamentary Board and core group.
And all the decisions of the party are taken by the parliamentary and
core group.
Swati: Who are those six journalists who have sidelined Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh and workers like you in running the party?
Shahnawaz: What I know is that party is not run by journalists, but by
leaders. There is democracy in the party. There is a Parliamentary
Board and above that is a core group, which takes all the decisions.
Now this can be a campaign to mislead that someone else is running the
party.
Swati: How can this be a campaign? Your own senior leaders are saying
this.
Shahnawaz: I have not seen that letter.
Swati: The leaders of the BJP are exchanging letters in the way
Panadavas and Kauravas used to exchange arrows in Mahabharata. Leaders
in the BJP do not communicate with each other, like over phone?
Shahnawaz: This is an era of communication technology like phone,
messaging etc. The party’s president is always available. Rajnathji
always takes out time, if requested. So, I feel if anyone has a
problem, then he can take time from Advaniji and Atalji, and discuss
his problems. Party is fully democratic and pays attention to
everyone.
Swati: A gag order has been issued in the BJP after its defeat. If the
party is democratic, then why are leaders writing letters to each
other and are not allowed to talk in public. And furthermore, there is
no discussion on the future strategy of the party.
Shahnawaz: There has been no gag order. And we all are partymen.
Swati: Addressing a press conference, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi had said
whatever Rajnath Singh did was wrong. He said when he was the party’s
president, the party was so disciplined that he never had to issue any
gag order.
Shahnawaz: Dr Joshi was party’s president quite a long time back. Now,
he is a senior leader of the party. He is a member of the
Parliamentary Board. The party runs collectively.
Swati: Tell me one more thing. Observers say that the BJP is full of
leaders but there is no leadership. Advaniji wants to leave the post,
but is forced by party workers to stay on. Chief strategist Arun
Jaitley has been appointed as Leader of Opposition (Rajya Sabha). He
has not contested any election except the Delhi University one. Is
this conveying the right message?
Shahnawaz: See, it is a blot on Arun Jaitley’s good qualities that he
has not contested any election. But if he does not contest an
election, he still does party’s work. He helps people in contesting
elections by making strategies. If everyone will contest, who will do
other significant jobs. A number of things have to be taken care of
during elections.
Swati: Maneka Gandhi says that Arun Jaitley is the one who creates
misunderstandings among party workers, gives off-the-press briefings,
and plants stories against partymen. She said it during a party
meeting.
Shahnawaz: I was not present at the meet when she gave this statement.
Arun Jaitley is a senior and honourable leader of the BJP. Party
workers respect him.
Swati: As a BJP leader, whom do you see as the next prime ministerial
candidate – Narendra Modi, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj?
Shahnawaz: There is nothing called options in the BJP. These options
are put forward by Swatiji. There can be a fourth as well as fifth
option.
Adapted by Kamna Arora
In an exclusive chat with Zee News’ Swati Chaturvedi on Kahiye Janab,
BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain negates the party’s anti-Muslim image
post Varun Gandhi’s hate speech during the Lok Sabha election
campaign. Further, hailing the leadership of LK Advani and Rajnath
Singh, the MP expresses faith in the party and discusses the reasons
for the party’s defeat in the recent General Elections.
Swati: Hello and welcome to Kahiye Janaab. We had asked you in the
past as to whether you are a nazarbattu or bazarbattu of the BJP. Now,
post Varun Gandhi’s brand of Hindutva and BJP’s rout (in the Lok Sabha
polls), what does Shahnawaz Hussain has to say? Before that, let me
first congratulate you. A gag order has been passed by your party. But
you have come up to put forth your statements. All other BJP leaders
are escaping the media, but you have dared to make a statement. Thank
you so much.
Shahnawaz: The Bharatiya Janata Party has not committed any sin, for
which the party’s leaders will try to hide. And as you said, I am
neither nazarbattu or bazarbattu of the BJP. I am a BJP worker. I am
proud to be heard in the BJP; no one ignores my words. I am not a
showboy. I am a responsible worker of the party. I have full faith in
my leadership. The leadership of Rajnathji and Advaniji does not
preach hatred and is not anti-Muslim. Their leadership seeks to move
forward with everyone. That is my faith and that is why, I am a part
of this party.
Swati: In the election campaign, Varun Gandhi, whose hate speech CD
has been proved authentic scientifically and forensically, it was
proved that there was no interpolation and no cut. Rajnath Singh
carried clothes for him (Varun) in jail and did not participate in
your campaign. How can you say that to Muslims of the country and my
viewers that Rajnath Singh is with you?
Shahnawaz: See, I do not know if Rajnathji took clothes for Varun in
jail. He went to meet him and I do not know from where you got this
piece of news. He had to address a rally in my constituency. But,
since he had to attend a programme in Ghaziabad as well, his (Rajnath
Singh) visit to my constituency was cancelled. So, it is wrong to
claim that he cancelled the rally in my constituency purposely.
Swati: No big leader of the BJP, except Arun Jaitley, visited your
constituency.
Shahnawaz: I had not even demanded visits by any big leader. Arun
Jaitley did come. In Bihar, Nitish Kumar and Sushil Modi were in great
demand and the duo did visit my constituency.
Swati: Leave elections. What happened after losing elections? Rift in
the BJP emerged. After that, Maneka Gandhi – the honourable member of
your party – said that the party does not need Muslims. Is it right
for a leader of a national, responsible, and principal opposition
party of this country, to make such a comment? See the way you and
Naqvi were insulted. What do you have to say on this?
Shahnawaz: See, Manekaji is BJP’s Member of Parliament. We do not have
to comment on her. We will respond to her opinions in Parliament
itself.
Swati: It is recorded. She said that the BJP did not lose (elections)
because of Varun Gandhi and his hate speech. According to her, Muslims
anyways do not vote for the BJP. She also said that the party’s
Minority Cell, headed by you, does not exist on the ground and is
defunct. Give me an ideological and basic answer to this.
Shahnawaz: Rajnathji and Advaniji have already replied to this. I just
want to repeat it. There are many leaders in the Bharatiya Janata
Party who get votes and many who do not. Today, two situations have
arisen. We can run the party without Muslims. But it is impossible to
dream about ruling this country by excluding Muslims and all other
religions of this country (apart from Hindus). The party understands
this quite well. We want to take along all the members of the Indian
society, all citizens of this country with ourselves. No matter who
employs what method and manner to pray. It is the BJP’s ideology to
take everyone along. And if anyone says anything on personal level,
Shahnawaz Hussain does not care.
Swati: You do not care but at the party’s forum, when Maneka
interrupted you during your speech, didn’t you say that let her run
the party? Didn’t you threaten to leave the party and wanted the party
to let all Muslims go?
Shahnawaz: It is an internal matter of the party, Swatiji.
Swati: The party seems to have collapsed.
Shahnawaz: No. See, I speak in the party on the instructions of
Rajnathji. I speak only after party president permits me to do so. I
do not seek anybody else’s permission. I see myself just as a BJP
worker. But you people see me as a lone Muslim MP from the BJP. My
religion is my personal matter. And the party belongs as much as to
Shahnawaz Hussain and Naqvi as it does to Advaniji and Rajnathji.
Swati: You said religion is your personal matter. Tell me how did you
feel when you heard Varun’s speech, which has now been proved to be
authentic.
Shahnawaz: Any leader who speaks against Muslims does not exempt
Shahnawaz Hussain, APJ Abdul Kalam and Irfan Pathan. And if you are
abusing Muslims, then it offends Muslims working in the BJP as well.
That is why no BJP leader has backed Varun’s speech whose case is now
in court. He (Varun Gandhi) has already said that the voice in the CD
is not his. Though a forensic report has come, yet it has to be seen
by the court. I can say responsibly that the BJP is against offending
any community. The BJP will take everyone along as the party does not
believe in such speeches.
Swati: It seems that you and Naqvi are two sarkaari Muslims in the
party, who are suppressed by Varun Gandhi’s Hindutva brand. It seems,
you two have lost standing in the party. The whole Muslim community
looks at you and laughs. What are you doing?
Shahnawaz: There is no Varun Gandhi brand of Hindutva in the BJP. Pt
Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee’s teachings form the
party’s Hindutva. For the party, the ideology of Hindutva means
nationality, nationalism and Indianness. There is no scope of hate in
the party. We are not sarkaari Muslims. We have won elections. It was
my third consecutive victory. I have been a minister in the NDA
government. It is right that we have to swim against the tide and
suffer many taunts, sometimes more bitter than yours. The general
perception about the party is wrong. People who come to BJP thinking
it as an anti-Muslim party will be disappointed. The Bharatiya Janata
Party never was, is, and will be communal.
Swati: This year’s defeat was BJP’s worst since 1989. You are an MP
from the BJP. What do you think is the reason behind the BJP’s
drubbing?
Shahnawaz: There could be a number of reasons behind the defeat of the
BJP. I feel and the party as well has already admitted that there were
cases of internal strife at many places. We failed to explain our
manifesto. Advaniji was the prime ministerial candidate. There were
fewer discussions about Advaniji and the manifesto, but more debates
regarding our own negatives. That is the reason voters got confused
whether we are talking about 2010, 2014 or 2020.
Swati: You talked about 2014. It means you are talking about Narendra
Modi. Take into account Narendra Modi’s projection as prime
ministerial candidate during the campaign and then support to Varun
Gandhi. Tell me, if the campaign had excluded Varun Gandhi, would the
situation have been different?
Shahnawaz: Now, what had to happen has already happened. There is no
point in thinking about it again and again. We won 116 seats in the
name of Advaniji. We cannot say that the BJP has been wiped out from
everywhere. The BJP has won a considerable number of seats. But, we
failed to communicate our agenda to voters. That is why voters did not
trust us and made us sit in the Opposition. Hence, we will ponder over
the reasons behind our defeat, analyse them and then discuss them. We
will think how to structure ourselves and work towards making our own
government (at the Centre).
Swati: Let’s look at three statements made by your senior party
members. Arun Shourie said six journalists were running the party.
Jaswant Singh said he would retire since he could not bear what was
going on in the party and that he did not know what Hindutva was. He
also alleged that the party leaders were refraining from introspection
of the defeat. Yashwant Sinha, who has resigned from all party posts,
said those responsible for the party’s defeat were rewarded in the
end.
Shahnawaz: Defeat or victory is a collective responsibility. It has
been decided in the party’s recent two-day national executive meet.
Swati: How can it be collective when all the decisions were taken by
Arun Jaitley in Delhi. In fact, all the BJP advertisements were
designed by Arunji.
Shahnawaz: When Yashwant Sinha, Jaswantji won, that was also due to
BJP’s strategy. You will try to blame Arunji for the defeat faced by
the party, but won’t credit him for the victory of our leaders. As far
as Yashwantji and Jaswantji are concerned, the duo has been senior
ministers in Vajpayeeji’s government. They have held charge of
important ministries such as Defence, Finance and Foreign Affairs.
Jaswantji is a member of party’s Parliamentary Board and core group.
And all the decisions of the party are taken by the parliamentary and
core group.
Swati: Who are those six journalists who have sidelined Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh and workers like you in running the party?
Shahnawaz: What I know is that party is not run by journalists, but by
leaders. There is democracy in the party. There is a Parliamentary
Board and above that is a core group, which takes all the decisions.
Now this can be a campaign to mislead that someone else is running the
party.
Swati: How can this be a campaign? Your own senior leaders are saying
this.
Shahnawaz: I have not seen that letter.
Swati: The leaders of the BJP are exchanging letters in the way
Panadavas and Kauravas used to exchange arrows in Mahabharata. Leaders
in the BJP do not communicate with each other, like over phone?
Shahnawaz: This is an era of communication technology like phone,
messaging etc. The party’s president is always available. Rajnathji
always takes out time, if requested. So, I feel if anyone has a
problem, then he can take time from Advaniji and Atalji, and discuss
his problems. Party is fully democratic and pays attention to
everyone.
Swati: A gag order has been issued in the BJP after its defeat. If the
party is democratic, then why are leaders writing letters to each
other and are not allowed to talk in public. And furthermore, there is
no discussion on the future strategy of the party.
Shahnawaz: There has been no gag order. And we all are partymen.
Swati: Addressing a press conference, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi had said
whatever Rajnath Singh did was wrong. He said when he was the party’s
president, the party was so disciplined that he never had to issue any
gag order.
Shahnawaz: Dr Joshi was party’s president quite a long time back. Now,
he is a senior leader of the party. He is a member of the
Parliamentary Board. The party runs collectively.
Swati: Tell me one more thing. Observers say that the BJP is full of
leaders but there is no leadership. Advaniji wants to leave the post,
but is forced by party workers to stay on. Chief strategist Arun
Jaitley has been appointed as Leader of Opposition (Rajya Sabha). He
has not contested any election except the Delhi University one. Is
this conveying the right message?
Shahnawaz: See, it is a blot on Arun Jaitley’s good qualities that he
has not contested any election. But if he does not contest an
election, he still does party’s work. He helps people in contesting
elections by making strategies. If everyone will contest, who will do
other significant jobs. A number of things have to be taken care of
during elections.
Swati: Maneka Gandhi says that Arun Jaitley is the one who creates
misunderstandings among party workers, gives off-the-press briefings,
and plants stories against partymen. She said it during a party
meeting.
Shahnawaz: I was not present at the meet when she gave this statement.
Arun Jaitley is a senior and honourable leader of the BJP. Party
workers respect him.
Swati: As a BJP leader, whom do you see as the next prime ministerial
candidate – Narendra Modi, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj?
Shahnawaz: There is nothing called options in the BJP. These options
are put forward by Swatiji. There can be a fourth as well as fifth
option.
Adapted by Kamna Arora
...and I am Sid Harth
fanabba
www.faithfreedom.org
www.islam-watch.org
www.jihadwatch.org
www.actforamerica.org
www.citizenwarrior.com
www.politicalislam.com
Al Ghazali, perhaps the greatest Muslim scholar and a Sufi wrote:
"One must go on jihad (i.e., warlike razzias or raids) at least once
a
year...one may use a catapult against them [non-Muslims] when they
are
in a fortress, even if among them are women and children. One may set
fire to them and/or drown them...If a person of the Ahl al-Kitab
[People of The Book - primarily Jews and Christians] is enslaved, his
marriage
is [automatically] revoked.One may cut down their trees...One must
destroy their useless books. Jihadists may take as booty whatever
they
decide...they may steal as much food as they need...
A NEW KORAN
Sharia (Islamic Law) advocates Islamic Supremacism and mandates the
subjugation, oppression and exploitation of non-Muslims and women. A
group of devout Muslims rejects the idea that Sharia is part of the
Religion of Islam. This group, which calls itself "Muslims Against
Sharia", has a web site: www.reformislam.org . This group is engaged
in producing a New Koran that omits the Sharia-related verses from the
Koran.