New Delhi: There is an apprehension that the situation in western UP will become explosive in next few days. The right wing elements will show their ugly ‘pride’ on street over the proposed victory of Narendra Modi. In the last two years or say since the formation of Samajwadi Party government in state, the western Uttar Pradesh, which is known as sugar bowl of India, has become riot-prone zone. After the horrific Muzaffarnagar riots last year, smaller incidents of rioting took place in several other parts. Recently, communal riots broke out in Meerut on a trivial issue. In fact, the society in the region seems to be divided on communal lines thanks to communal forces.
In Meerut, however, responsible members of both the communities – Hindu and Muslim – together made an appeal for peace. The positive approaches by the peace-loving people from both the communities saved the city from turning into a battlefield. The administration too has taken proactive stand and brought the situation under control soon. It is clear that if there is a will, communal riots can be checked. However, the government needs to take some preemptive steps to stop communal riots. Besides, the established conventional practice to keep law and order, the administration needs to weave in community leaders. Since rumours play destructive role in such situations, a check on social networking sites is must. Strong action should be taken against those who spread rumour, post sacrilegious contents and photographs.
The BJP must be held responsible for communal flare-up in Meerut, and other parts of the nation. After the Muzaffarnagar riots, the party got the opportunity to revive itself in western UP. It tried to trigger riots in other parts also for electoral benefit. The BJP’s hate campaign by the divisive figure – read Narendra Modi – in the poll has created a rift in the society. The animosity between the Hindus and Muslims in several parts of the country, particularly in Hindi heartland, has grown manifold. In western UP, the situation is very alarming. Even a small incident may spark widespread communal riots in the region.
It is said that the BJP thrived on ‘development’ issues in the early phase of elections, but it returned to ‘core anti-Muslim agenda’ after the saffron outfit feared it might lose its hardcore constituency. That, the edifice of Gujarat model of development started falling to ground and people began drifting away from the goody goody world showed by media which has been favouring Narendra Modi.
Before the first round of polling, Narendra Modi and RSS were exuding confidence that BJP would get absolute majority in the 16th Lok Sabha polls. As the mere presence of Modi was enough to spread the communal agenda, the saffron party emphasised on developmental issues in early phases of elections. But the party assessed its declining graph. Sensing the mood of the country, Modi resorted to below the belt campaign. He even hurled abuses against those who are not alive. In Amethi, he attacked late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi for admonishing then Andhra Pradesh chief minister T Anjaiya. People do not know why Rajiv Gandhi admonished Anjaiya when he arrived at the Begumpet airport in Hyderabad. Modi is a habitual liar. In short, he and his colleagues stooped to a new low in the campaign. The incessant attack on Gandhi family, the use of words against institutions, against Muslims, against opponents shows the ‘fascist’ mindset of Sangh Parivar.
Desperate BJP turned to communal agenda as several leaders spew venom against Muslims. Modi too raised archaic issues by using Hindu symbols. He showed photographs of proposed Ram Mandir on his stage and photo of Lord Ram in the back. Amit Shah’s revenge remark in Muzaffarnagar and describing Azamgarh a hub of terrorists besides VHP appealing Hindus to grab Muslim properties have vitiated communal atmosphere.
In Varanasi, when Modi’s programme was banned due to law and order situation, the entire leadership came to street. Many leaders used disrespectful words against Election Commission. It is believed that Arvind Kejriwal’s popularity had disturbed the BJP to the extent that the rightwing elements hatched plan to vitiate communal atmosphere of Varanasi. After all, the plan to hold an event in a Muslim locality, which was very sensitive, was intended to trigger communal riots as such tactics had proved ‘profitable’ in the past for the party.
Furthermore, Shah has also warned that the governments in UP and Bihar will fall after the results on May 16. RSS is well aware of the fact that the social structure of the country is so complex that ideological politics will never survive long and the plurality which is the intrinsic value of India cannot be diluted easily. No political party will survive long if it ignores these values. Also, only flexible leadership will be able to provide sustainable government. Despite all this, there is grave apprehension that the Hindu nationalist party may create a communal situation after the election results are declared on May 16. In this is backdrop, the state governments of UP and Bihar need to be extra vigilant as well as the secular and peace- loving people of this country should be watchful to foil evil designs of communal forces.
Article of this nature continue to create sense of siege within the Muslim community. It is time that we (Indian Muslims) also admit our own failures in being passive and avoiding proactive measures to mitigate the hatred by a section of Hindu community.
For e.g. instead of waiting for a communal disturbance, active efforts should be made in each areas to form “peace” or “interfaith” organizations that are able to communicate difficult issues within the two communities. We should take Muslim political leaders to task for their inflammatory comments that makes the job of Hindu right easier by worsening the existing polarizations. Finally, we should get advise our religious leaders to focus on their religious leadership and do not project their own political views to the community.
Allah has endowed as with numerous resources, chief being the ability to think, and we should use that to pursue our communal interests. Of course, Allah is the ultimate protector!!