Shafeeq Rahman,
Security with development remains the clear concern of Muslim in Uttar Pradesh at the time of taking decision to vote for any particular party in the upcoming Assembly Election 2017. Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have been their preferable alternative choices for the last four assembly elections in the state. However, these two parties haven’t so far satisfied the Muslim in respect to their concern about safety with development. Muslims have rotated their choices towards SP and BSP in hope to resolve their concern.
BSP led by Mayawati was of course successful in ensuring security to all by maintaining the law and order and keeping the state free from communal violence during her regime (2007-2012). But she was not able to show any notable achievement for the welfare of Muslims except some extension of central government schemes in education. While Akhilesh government (2012-2017) has increased the budget for welfare of minorities manifold in comparison to the BSP government, but his tenure is full of incidents of communal violence that have created the sense of insecurity among Muslims.
Spending of the state government for welfare of Muslims was higher during the SP government. It allocated 3056 crore rupees in current state budget of 2016-2017 for the welfare of minorities. It was merely Rs 1144 crore during the last budget of Mayawati government in year 2011-2012. The SP government has also initiated many schemes specially for the welfare of Muslims like boundaries of graveyards, Muslim girl marriage, Jauhar University, IAS coaching centre, Hajj house in Ghaziabad and also specification of Muslim share in other welfare schemes.
Budget Allocation for Welfare of Minorities in Uttar Pradesh
Year
Rs. in Crore
Growth %
Ruling Party
2010-2011
1042
BSP
2011-2012
1144
9.70
BSP
2012-2013
2074
81.36
SP
2013-2014
2687
29.54
SP
2014-2015
2695
0.30
SP
2015-2016
2776
2.99
SP
2016-2017
3056
10.10
SP
Source: State Budget Documents
Mayawati was successful in curbing the communal incidences and no major outbreak of violence was reported during her government. During the five years of her government tenure 2007-2012, total communal incidences were 268 which took 60 lives and injured 873 persons. But the Akhilesh-led SP government failed to curb the communal violence. During the four years of his ruling period 2012-2015, communal incidences sharply increased to a total of 637 taking 152 lives and injuring 1458 persons. Famous Dadri incidence ad communal violence in Muzaffarnagar occurred during the Akhilesh government.
Number of Communal Incidents, Persons Killed and Injured in Uttar Pradesh 2007-2015
Year
Incident
Killed
Injured
2007
138
37
397
2008
114
18
408
2009
4
0
0
2010
8
0
24
2011
4
5
44
2007-2011
268
60
873
2012
118
39
500
2013
247
77
360
2014
133
26
374
2015 (upto Oct.)
139
10
224
2012-2015
637
152
1458
Source: M/O Home Affairs
In the ongoing election campaign, Mayawati is seeking Muslim votes by showing the fear card of communal violence but without giving any clear roadmap of her plan to the welfare of Muslims. On the other hand, SP is highlighting its developmental achievements of boundaries around graveyards, Hajj house, scholarships etc but in fact the Akhilesh government has also failed to fulfil the majority of promises made in the 2012 election manifesto like reservation for Muslims, implementation of Sachar and Mishra committee reports, special provision for recruitment of Muslims in security forces etc.
Muslims like other fellow communities in Uttar Pradesh have the equal right to ask for their share in development with the assurance of their security – and it should be the responsibility of all parties, specifically those they have voted to. Without an ideal combination of safety with development, this election also comes with similar confusion among Muslim voters.
—
Shafeeq Rahman is a Delhi based researcher. He can be contacted at [email protected]
