Participation in Electoral Process is Minimal

The participation of Muslims in political process is minimal. According to a study by Honnurali earlier this year conducted in DK and Gulbarga districts, the Muslim participation in electoral process is much lower than the national average. Honnurali classifies 15 stages of political participation and examines to what extent Muslims in the above mentioned districts participated in the process. He further classifies the 15 stages into three categories viz., minimum, middle and maximum. According to him seeking these 15 stages are:
1- Seeking political information
2- Voting,
3- Taking interest in politics
4- Informal discussion on politics
5- Canvassing
6- Donation to political party/candidate
7- Participation in meeting of political party
8- Participation in protests and
demonstrations
9- Meeting with political leaders and officers
10- Canvassing for a specific political party
11- Membership of a semi-political organisation.
12- Membership of a political organisation
13- Contesting for party position
14- Securing political power.
(Dr. Abdul Aziz’s recent study mentions 15 stages of political participation but has listed only 14 of them.)
The conclusion of this study is, Muslims’ participation in the political and electoral process is much lower than the national average. Secondly, in these districts, Muslim participation is found to be only in the first category of participation and as one moves up
from first to second and from second to third, the degree of participation tapers off. If what is found in these districts is a general reflection of the pattern of political participation in Karnataka as a whole, one gets a clue as to why the national political parties are not generous enough in offering tickets to Muslim candidates, why not many Muslim candidates do not get elected and also not obtain positions of political power. (Extracted from Dr. Abdul Aziz’s recent study on Karnataka Muslim sponsored by the Centre of Study
of Exclusion and Inclusive Policy of the National Law School of India University, Bangalore)