Arif Mohammed Khan became a hero for liberals when he defended the Supreme Court's decision in the Shah Bano alimony case in 1986 which angered conservatives in the community, and he walked out of the Congress party along with V.P. Singh and Arun Nehru.

After being in the political wilderness since the fall of V.P. Singh's government in 1990, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party last week. It has caused a minor quake in the liberal and secular political circles in the country. Sonia Gandhi made a last-ditch attempt to dissuade him from joining the BJP, but he had made up his mind.

In an interview with Gulf News, Khan explains his reasons for joining the BJP, a party whose communal politics he had opposed for years.

Excerpts from the interview:

GULF NEWS: Why did you decide to join the BJP?
ARIF MOHAMMED KHAN: For more than 10 years now, I had offered my services to the Congress. But I was turned down. It was only when I decided to join the BJP that the Congress leaders came calling at my home. On the other hand, the BJP had invited me to join them some years back. But I refused. And I had remained one of their most vocal critics. What really changed my attitude towards the BJP was the riots in Gujarat in 2002. Please remember that not one Congress leader went to offer condolence to the family members of Ahsan Jaffri, the Gujarat Congress legislator, who was killed most brutally during the riots. And at the time of the Gujarat assembly elections later that year, the Congress played the soft Hindutva card. I am not blaming the Congress. The party was only being sensitive to the ground reality. Why then single out the BJP? The communal virus is in the society, and political parties only reflect it. There is need to fight the virus in society.

How will it help Muslims if you join the BJP?
Let me explain. The Muslim community is being kept out of the political mainstream. They do not want to touch the BJP with a barge pole. That is a dangerous attitude. You cannot keep away from somebody in a democratic society. You may differ from them, but you must deal with them. On the other hand, the Congress party does not much care for the Muslims because they know that the community can never go the BJP way. It is not good for Muslims. Democracy means freedom of choice, and the Muslims are without a choice. By joining the BJP, I have shown that Muslims can exercise their choice.

The general perception has been that it is the political parties which engineer communalism, and that people are not communal. But you seem to feel that the problem lies with the society?
You are right that political parties are responsible for exploiting the communal divide. But it cannot be fought by treating a political party as an untouchable. The BJP is a political party which has been winning elections. Muslims cannot afford to turn away from it completely. And also, the problems that Muslims face is not confined to the question whether they should have the right to marry four wives. Muslims want roads, electricity, education, jobs. It is this whole process of reducing Muslims' concerns to their personal law which is dangerous. Muslims must learn to make their political demands as citizens with every party.

But don't you think that the RSS and other extreme groups in the BJP political family still hold harsh views about the Muslims?
Do not underestimate the RSS. It knows that India is on the verge of becoming a global power of the 21st century. But India cannot assume its rightful position if there are internal disunity. India cannot be strong if Muslims are neglected. The BJP and the RSS know this. When you are placed in a position of power you feel responsible. The BJP has been in power and it knows that it is responsible for Muslims as well. It is time for Muslims to deal with the BJP.