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Why should only Muslims be responsible for defending secularism? TMC’s Bengal loss isn’t on us

Why does a party that presents itself as secular begin to feel a sense of entitlement over Muslim votes? And why do they not have the same sentiment toward Hindu voters?

Seeing the results in West Bengal and Assam, social media has raised questions about democracy, especially the SIR controversy.

I asked my own question online: Can we now say that India has entered the era of Hindutva?

And, unsurprisingly, the responses were mixed. Some answered with pride, saying that Hindutva is now the dominant force in Indian politics. Others sounded more defensive—as if they supported the Bharatiya Janata Party politically, but did not want to associate themselves too directly with the idea of Hindutva, or at least with what they believed that term represented

But what caught my attention amid all the debates around SIR, Hindutva, incumbency, nationalism, and development was something else entirely, the discussion around the “Muslim vote bank.”

Mahua Moitra, in a now-deleted X post, pointed out how Muslim-majority areas did not ensure victory for certain All India Trinamool Congress candidates. And to be fair, I understand where that sentiment comes from. It reflects a feeling of political betrayal.

But it also made me pause. Why betrayal? Why does a party that presents itself as secular begin to feel a sense of entitlement over Muslim votes? And why do they not have the same sentiment toward Hindu voters who chose not to vote for TMC?

In an earlier column, I wrote about the voting patterns in my family—there were none. There is no single Muslim political mind, no unified instruction, and honestly, it would be impossible for that to exist in a........

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