2014.04.15

Radio Islam’s umm Abdillah chatted to Yawar Baig about South African Muslim’s and their sense of entitlement; our over-ostentatious masajid; keeping the seats of governance warm by not squandering our apartheid legacy; voter apathy; and not following in the footsteps of India by dividing the Muslim vote.

Mirza Yawar Baig is no stranger to the South African Muslim audience. Founder of Yawar Baig & Associates, the International Speaker, Life coach, Corporate Consultant and prolific author is passionate about change and it shows.  In a recent visit to South Africa, the India-born polyglot addressed the waning influence and extent of involvement of Muslims in government and politics. He presents the case for greater activism in the political process for both leadership and the general citizenry. His core message: Don’t lose what you already have.

He cites the example of India where strategically wrong decisions led to abiding hostility and squandering the gains of the Freedom Struggle. He cites among other reasons for this:

·      Overall Muslim apathy led to filling the vacuum of Muslim seats in Parliament by those hostile to Islam.

·      Divided voting lead to a lost advantage.

·      No strategic long-term focus, game plan or action.

·      Internal conflicts leading to collective weakness.

He offers as immediate strategy:

·      Retain and build on the legacy of the Freedom Struggle, not squander it away.

·      Be perceived as highly beneficial, even an essential part of society, not just the bling factor.

·      Building and strengthening bridges with the current government, who are here to stay by most estimates.

·      Participate in politics as workers, because only workers one day become decision makers, and this is our life insurance premium. Set up trust funds for future politicians if they feel civil service pays too little. Try as a community to understand the difference between investment and expenditure.

·      Consolidate our vote – then demand attention to our needs based on our vote.

·      Start spending on primary health care, food sufficiency, education andhousing.

·      Open our Muslim schools to black children and pay for their education.

·      Create a Department of Islamic Studies in every university with your person as the Chair.

·      Treat our employees fairly and respectfully.

 umm Abdillah:

One could ask to begin with what makes you an authority on such matters?

India is a failed state beset with the highest levels of corruption. In a recent poll 96% of Indians said corruption was holding their country back, and 92% thought it has got worse in the past five years. According to Transparency International, an organisation that tracks corruption, 54% of Indians say they’ve paid a bribe in the last year. Illegal party funding is at the heart of corruption. Parties have arms-length treasurers who act as their bankers. Those handling bribes take a cut for themselves. Privatisation and public-private partnerships have become common, and so prone to manipulation. The offshore assets of Indian residents held in global banks are between $100 billion and $150 billion and yet her majority populace grovels in poverty.

And yet here you are telling us not to divide our vote, show thanks to the ANC government by joining them and supporting them for what they’ve done to augment our Freedom of Religion, and if I understand you correctly, ensure they stay in power? The parallels between corruption in the ANC-led government and Congress (in India) are blatant if not terrifying! And our alternative the DA – well, they carry a flimsy shadow of the BJP in India for their support of Israel and in that they were the former driving force of apartheid.

Muslims in India have always perceived the BJP as an anti-Muslim party because  they espouse Hindutva, an ideology that regards India as a Hindu nation, and Muslims and Christians as populations to be violently  suppressed or assimilated into the nation, or else expunged as foreign elements.

Now, conveniently, the BJP has avoided harping on the Hindutva agenda. Circumstantially, as Muslims are apprehensive of a BJP victory, as are South African Muslims hesitant to vote for the DA, given their far-reaching neocon hues.

Yawar Baig:

To answer the first question: 16 years in Corporate General Management, 28 years in Training & Organizational Development and membership at the Center for Conflict Resolution & Human Security India and the Indian Society for Applied Behavioural Science, including my travels to South Africa for the last 8 years, sometimes twice in one year, has given me intimate insight into the South African Muslim situation, struggle and psyche.

Secondly, I’m not campaigning for the ANC. I’m saying that SA Muslims need to understand what happens if you divide your vote. Appreciate what your current government has done for you and is prepared to do for you, a mere 2% of the population. And more so, I’m saying participate in politics because only those who participate in the process can participate in the decisions. In a democracy the only thing that counts, is the vote.

In India people believe in karma –  that their  lives  in poverty and squalor are because of the sins of their past lives. However here in South Africa it’s different. You Muslims are seen as a highly visible, enviable, resource rich, ostentatious, insensitive, inward looking and a non-beneficial minority. Further, you are any propagandist’s dream – a soft target to provide fuel that can be used to further his or her own ends. Has it already been forgotten by our entitled cushy-lifestyle Muslim dreamers, the Phumlani Mfeka’s of SA, claiming that South Africans of Indian origin are racist and have no right to citizenship and property in South Africa? Have we already forgotten the Mazibuye African Forum that wants Indians to be excluded from affirmative action and black economic empowerment programmes? Who will save you from these forums and ideologies if not your strong ties with the ruling party and an ability to influence their decisions where they matter in your best interests?

As for the potholes and the Nkandla-gates and Etolls? Well, I’m not condoning them. This is a direct result of entitlement within government too. Something that you have to be part of to root out!

Let’s look at the Indian example today:

Roughly 13% of India’s 814 million voters are Muslims. Muslims are vulnerable and confused as they brace for the most important election in independent India.

It’s a measure of Muslim helplessness that to stop the Bharatiya Janata Party from grabbing power they have no option but to vote for the Congress Party, although Congress-ruled states have witnessed some of the worst anti-Muslim violence in living memory — Kokrajhar 2012 (Assam), Gopalgarh 2011 (Rajasthan), Mumbai 1992-93 (Maharashtra), Bhagalpur 1989 (Bihar) and Hashimpura 1987 (Uttar Pradesh).

Financial scandals are an albatross around the Congress neck much to the delight of the BJP; its prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, constantly harps on the ill-begotten wealth of Congress leaders.

I’m saying avoid all this. Don’t squander the legacy of your past as dynamic Muslims who struggled and fought to have the freedoms you have today. Keep the seats of parliament warm where your predecessors are leaving or have left. Don’t let it become like India where we squandered our influence and vote, thereby having no say, nor protection today.