The Indian online newspaper “The Print” mentioned in its special editorial about the important political role of Shia Muslims in India, that the largest political entity in the country represented by the ruling Hindu party “Bharatiya Janata” has maintained traditional communication with the Shia community for decades through their religious leaders.
The newspaper stated at the beginning of its article, translated by Shia Waves Agency,” that “one of the most prominent of these leaders is the distinguished scholar (Kalbe Jawad), who is widely believed to be the pivot around which Shia politics revolves in the country,” adding that “the scholar Jawad, who lives in the city of Lucknow, received his religious education in the holy city of Qom in the 1980s.”
The writer of the article, “Sania Dinkra,” pointed out that “the shift of the Bharatiya Janata Party towards the Western-looking Shia businessman (Wafa Abbas) differs from the party’s traditional policy in its relationship with Shia religious leadership, which has been ongoing since the late 1990s,” noting that “Abbas” has claimed on several occasions that he does not pay any attention to sectarian or class differences among Muslims, but rather seeks to fill the modern Islamic political void by making Muslims vote as thinking citizens, not as a religious minority.”
“Dinkra” also highlighted that what she described as the “voting attractiveness” of this new Shia figure among Muslims lies in three aspects: firstly, that the Bharatiya Janata Party will be in power regardless, and its constant emphasis that “Muslims should avoid their fears about the party as they are unfounded,” in addition to the fact that successive governments stemming from this party at all levels and regions have been completely non-discriminatory in their social welfare plans, from which poor Muslims have also benefited.”
