Aafreen Hussain
Every election in Bihar opens with familiar promises — “inclusive politics,” “equal representation,” “development for all.” But behind the flood of slogans lies an ugly, consistent truth: Muslims, who make up nearly 18% of the state’s electorate, remain considered outsiders.
All major political formation — the NDA, the Mahagathbandhan, and now the self-styled reformist Jan Swaraj — claims to represent “every section of society.” Yet, when the lists of candidates are released, the statistics are unforgiving. Muslim names vanish like a guilty secret. So let us ask — not politely, but pointedly.
To the JD(U): What Happened to Your Moral Compass? Once you claimed to be the voice of social justice. You spoke of “inclusive governance,” of “sabke saath, sabka vikas.” But where are the Muslims in your ticket list? Four names — out of hundreds.
Did your idea of inclusivity shrink with your seat count? Or have you decided that justice stops where the majority’s patience begins?
You boast of stability and balance — but at what cost? What balance is this, when one-fifth of the population has been reduced to tokenism? When representation becomes arithmetic instead of ethics, what remains of politics?
To the BJP: Do You Even Pretend Anymore? You at least have the honesty of your exclusion. No Muslim candidates, no pretense of inclusion. But should that honesty be applauded — or condemned? How do you justify building an entire national narrative on “New India,” while ensuring old prejudices remain intact in Bihar? You speak of vikas, of youth empowerment — are Muslim youths not part of that future?
If nationalism includes everyone, why does your candidate list look like a census from a single community? Or is the silence around Muslim representation your proudest political achievement?
To the RJD: What Happened to the “Secular Legacy”? You inherited the slogan of social justice from Lalu Prasad Yadav — the man who once claimed to protect Bihar’s minorities from communal polarization.
And yet, your current candidate list tells another story: minimal Muslim representation, maximum calculation. Do you think secularism is a slogan to be dusted off only at the time of rallies?
Is the loyalty of Muslim voters so guaranteed that you no longer feel the need to earn it?
If you are truly the party of the oppressed, why are the oppressed missing from your own leadership table? Or has “secular politics” become a convenient brand — to be used for votes, not for justice?
To the Congress: What Moral Right Do You Still Claim? You still drape yourself in the flag of pluralism, but where is your courage? Where are your Muslim leaders, your youth voices, your strong candidates? You speak eloquently of harmony, but your silence on exclusion is deafening.
Is your version of secularism now reduced to press statements and symbolic visits to madrassas? If the Congress cannot even stand up for representation, what does it stand for anymore?
For a party that once claimed to defend India’s composite identity — is Bihar now too inconvenient to represent honestly? To the Left: Has the Revolution Forgotten Equality?
You organize protests for farmers, laborers, and students — but when it comes to minorities, you too count heads before hearts. You preach justice in theory, yet practice exclusion in strategy.
Where is your ideological integrity when your candidate lists mirror the same bias you condemn in others?
If representation of the marginalized is your banner, why are Muslims — one of India’s most economically and politically marginalized communities — still missing from your frontlines?
Can the Left still claim to fight for equality when it quietly excludes 17% of the population? And Finally, To the New “Reformists” — Jan Swaraj, AIMIM, and the Rest:
You speak of “new politics,” “clean representation,” and “people’s movements.” But are you solving the crisis — or multiplying it?
Is your fight for Muslim rights real, or just a performance to carve a niche in a fractured vote bank? Are you building unity — or dividing an already divided community for short-term visibility?
If your politics begins and ends with identity, where is the agenda for education, jobs, and dignity? Are you truly leading — or just repeating the same slogans that once fooled the very people you now claim to represent?
The Uncomfortable Mirror
Let’s turn the lens back to the community itself. Why do Muslims still trust parties that treat them as expendable? Why do they continue to accept crumbs instead of demanding their due share?
Where are the independent platforms, the civil movements, the intellectual forums that could have shaped a new direction? Have decades of dependency eroded political imagination?
Has fear become stronger than hope? Beyond the Ballot — The Real Crisis
This is not merely a crisis of representation. It is a crisis of democracy itself. What does it say about our political culture when a population of nearly two crore can be sidelined without outrage?
When silence becomes strategy and exclusion becomes tradition? Can Bihar truly call itself democratic when 18% of its people remain invisible in power, voiceless in policymaking, and forgotten in governance?
How long will politicians sell the dream of inclusion while writing exclusion into the fine print of democracy? Bihar’s Muslims do not need sympathy — they need space.
They do not need token candidates — they need political power. They do not need empty slogans — they need structural change. Until that happens, the haunting question will remain:
If 18% of Bihar can be erased from politics today, who will be next tomorrow? And if every party is complicit in that erasure — then what remains of democracy, except the illusion of choice?