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Indian Muslims, AAP and a lost opportunity

Many Muslims in Delhi are very happy with the arrival of Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on the political scene. But Muslims, who always had a representation in the Sheila Dikshit cabinet,

A political organization like the AAP can be trusted to bring the people of all faiths together and work for making people accept one another as fellow human beings, and not on caste or religion basis. There is no doubt that but for the AAP and Kejriwal's charisma, Shazia Ilmi couldn't have got 27,691 votes from R.K. Puram where there are hardly any Muslim voters. She lost by just 300 votes. Ishrat Ali Ansari of the AAP got more than 15,000 votes from Krishna Nagar from where Harsh Vardhan, BJP's chief ministerial candidate, contested. In this constituency too there are hardly any Muslim voters.

The rise of the AAP seems to be a triumph for secularism and Indianness. Muslim groups that have a huge influence over the Indian Muslim community shouldn't ask him to speak out on contentious issues like riots and communalism. There are common issues for all Indians, and Kejriwal and his AAP are trying to bring the whole nation together.

Ordinary Muslims have the same issues and problems confronting them in their daily lives like ordinary Hindus, Sikhs and Christians. Poverty, illiteracy, corruption and lack of employment avenues are common concerns. The AAP promises to work on all these issues. Let's give it a chance.