India, April 23 -- Uttar Pradesh has just finished its first phase of Lok Sabha elections and several recent reports have shown that Muslims have observed a "tactical silence" in this election. This includes maintaining silence in the face of provocation to prevent polarisation, voting strategically according to local candidature to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seat-by-seat, and voting in large numbers with as much coherence as possible.

This phenomenon should concern the democratic world at large. First, it tells us that Muslim voters have accepted the fact that their political participation is only limited to staying safe from majoritarian politics: Muslims will vote for candidates who appear to be able challengers to the BJ...