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The Imam of Delhi´s Jama Masjid, Ahmad Bukhari has said that Muslims are drifting closer to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). His assertion indicates that Muslims at long last have realised that they cannot keep away from a national party. The BJP has given secularism its real meaning. Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani equated this with rashtrahit and said whosoever would think of the nation, would rule the nation (jo rashtrahit ki baat karega wohi Bharat me raj karega). The thinking process cannot be a fruitful exercise if the nation continues to follow what the Congress has been doing of dividing communities and fragmenting them on caste lines.
Bukhari and other eminent Muslim leaders have realised this. A large number of Muslims recently joined the BJP at a function at the residence of Advani. During his Bharat Uday Yatra too, a large number of Muslims came to listen to him. The BJP has also given tickets to nine Muslim leaders. The change in Muslim psyche is a welcome sign for the democracy. Political untouchability as practised by the Congress has done enormous harm to the minorities and Dalits. The Congress used them as mere vote banks by creating a fear psychosis. The six years of Atal Behari Vajpayee´s government have shown that all citizens are equal and they are treated with the same level of respect. The change in the approach of Muslims reflects the confidence instilled by the Vajpayee government and would certainly have a beneficial impact in curbing further fragmentation of the society.
