Bihar Elections: How Sharjeel Imam Can Help Understand Muslims' Dilemma
Bihar's Muslims may persist with RJD due to safety concerns but bigger question is: how to find political voice?
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Security or representation/voice - the dilemma for Bihar's Muslims in the ongoing 20225 Bihar Assembly elections comes down to these two needs. While the final voting may be shaped by the first factor (security) much more than the second, Muslims' challenges to find a political voice cannot be ignored.
Very few have articulated this as effectively as Sharjeel Imam, a scholar and activist who has been in jail under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act for nearly six years now.
But before we get to Sharjeel Imam, let's get one thing out of the way.
A Majority of Muslims Likely to Go With Mahagathbandhan
An overwhelming majority of Muslims are likely to vote for the Mahagathbandhan. In 2020, the RJD-led alliance secured 76 percent votes among Muslims (CSDS survey), followed by the GDSF at 11 percent, mainly due to the presence of the AIMIM in it.
The support for the Mahagathbandhan isn't likely to reduce in any significant way in the 2025 Bihar elections. There are three reasons for this.
1. Five years ago there was an assurance that even if the NDA comes to power, Nitish Kumar would still be in control. Despite the BJP's rise, Nitish Kumar did manage to keep Bihar relatively immune from targeted anti-Muslim acts and legislations of the kind we have seen in states like Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh. Unlike five years ago, there is real speculation that the BJP may replace Nitish Kumar or at least take over key ministries like Home, which may have a direct impact on the safety of Muslims.
2. The AIMIM, too, has weakened a bit due to defections and it may not get the windfall of support it got in Seemanchal in 2020.
3. The Special Intensive Revision further strengthened the perception that the long term aim of the BJP is to disenfranchise Muslims.
Except independents like Mashkoor Usmani in Jale and Mohammad Kamran in Gobindpur, AIMIM and Jan Suraj candidates in a few pockets, there isn't any real alternative to the Mahagathbandhan for Muslims. It is an entirely different matter whether or not the Mahagathbandhan has done enough or taken effective positions for Muslims to deserve this support.
The Need for a Voice
When Sharjeel Imam decided to contest the ongoing elections in Bihar, his position was that Muslims shouldn't become "slaves" to any party.
Imam's father was a politician from the Janata Dal (United) and held some influence in Jehanabad district. Referring to his father, Imam writes in his article for the Polis Project, "It’s not a democracy if we have only one side to vote for. That is why he said that both the JDU and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) should be strong and competing forces. Otherwise, if one side was left open for the BJP with no strong leaders and parties to keep it in check, then however good the RJD alliances may be, Muslims will not be their voters but their 'slaves.'"
Bihari Muslims' support for the RJD, and earlier Janata Dal, needs to be seen in a context.
Lalu Prasad Yadav rode to power on the support of OBCs, Dalits and Muslims in 1990. For Muslims, the Lalu years brought in a welcome period of security, a complete contrast to the Congress rule of the 1980s. Even when Nitish Kumar came to power in 2005, this absence of communal violence continued.
Even though these three and a half decades have been characterised by a relative sense of safety, in terms of development Bihar's Muslims remained neglected.
According to the 2011 Census, the literacy among Muslims in Bihar is 56.3 percent, lesser than the state average of 61.8 percent, which itself is around 13 points below the national average. Less than 10 percent Muslims in Bihar manage to complete Class 12.
Muslims constitute 17% of Bihar’s population, yet hold only around 7% of government jobs.
In Seemanchal, the neglect of Muslims is further intensified by the neglect of the region in terms of critical infrastructure and services.
Read this comprehensive piece by Abid Faheem in Nous Network to know more.
It is this neglect and lack of representation, which Imam calls 'slavery'.
The 2025 Election
Even in the ongoing election, the Mahagathbandhan has been accused of not giving adequate representation to Muslim candidates or Muslim voices. About 12 percent of Mahagathbandhan's candidates are Muslims, less than the community's share of the population (17 percent).
It's not just a question of numbers but also voice. Take for instance, Jale seat in Darbhanga district. Here the Congress denied a ticket to former Aligarh Muslim University Students' Union president Mashkoor Usmani who had performed decently even in defeat in 2020. Instead, the party picked Rishi Mishra who in the 2020 elections had made communal slurs against Usmani, calling him "Jinnahwadi".
In Gobindpur seat of Nawada, RJD dropped a reasonably popular Muslim MLA Mohammad Kamran and replaced him with a Yadav candidate. Both Usmani and Kamran are contesting as Independents in this election.
On the NDA side, the BJP has, predictably, made anti-Muslims slurs central to its campaign. Read this piece by The Quint's Aliza Noor to know more.
This campaign came on the heels of the Special Intensive Revision, which was seen by many Muslims as an attempt to disenfranchise them.
The bigger question is, in circumstances, what happens to the agency of Muslims, not just in Bihar, but nationally?
Shrinking Agency of Muslims
Here we come back to Sharjeel Imam.
He writes, "Muslims have lost political agency in almost all of India, except probably Tamil Nadu and Kerala and to a lesser extent Andhra and Bihar. Even in Bengal, the emergence of the BJP means we cannot be picky".
Imam sees this as a culmination of the marginalsation hat took place during the constituent assembly itself, in which the proposals by Muslim leaders like Hasrat Mohani (UP) and Tajamul Hussain (Bihar) for proportional representation were rejected in favour of the First Past the Post System. According to Imam, this system hasn't just led to exclusion of Muslims but also a force like the Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh, which secures 10 percent votes but has no seats.
In every election, the BJP is setting the narrative when it comes to Muslims. It puts hate against Muslims at the heart of their campaigns and this compels secular parties, be it the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Samajwadi Party, RJD or Trinamool Congress to reduce the number of Muslim candidates and side-step issues concerning the community. Then we have individuals like Sharjeel Imam, Umar Khalid, Meeran Haider and others who could have shaped the narrative for the community, but have been jailed without bail for their political views.
These are all slow steps towards disenfranchisement. It's not that this cannot be countered. Read this piece which offers some suggestions for regaining political voice, even in the face of overwhelming hate.