PRAGUE — When communist leader M.K. Pandhe warned that Muslims would desert the Samajwadi Party if its leader Mulayam Singh Yadav supported the nuclear deal with the United States, a long-held taboo was broken. The Politburo member of India's largest communist party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), was saying that India's Muslim minority had a different take on the nuclear deal and would not take too kindly if their sentiments were ignored.
Although Pandhe immediately went into hibernation thereafter, his remarks brought into the open what has become common knowledge among serious observers of Indian foreign policy. While timing of Pandhe's remarks raised many eyebrows, he was merely saying the obvious. Till that day, with the sole exception of former President APJ Abdul Kalam, no leading Muslim personality had spoken in favor of the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal. Admired by millions of Indians, young and old alike, Kalam was never seen as a "Muslim leader," but a scientist who accidently became president due to the vagaries of the Indian political system.
Following Pandhe's unexpected remarks, all the political parties quickly took refuge under the traditional umbrella of secularism; the critics argued that even Hindus were opposed to the nuclear deal, while supporters looked for those Muslims who would support the government especially during the crucial confidence vote on July 22.