India Tomorrow
Saharanpur/Varanasi/New Delhi–Mohammad Saleem had voted in the 2019 general elections with the intention to help form a government in the Centre that ensures a life of dignity and justice and forbids the lynching of Muslims in the name of cow protection and arrests of young men of the community on “concocted” charges. In a nutshell, he wanted a change of guard in New Delhi.
Why so?
“None of these are feasible under the Hindu supremacist BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) government,” the 35-year-old told India Tomorrow in a shabby colony of displaced Muslims that sprang up in Shahpur village post 2013 communal violence between Muslims and Hindu Jats in western Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar and surrounding regions. The district belongs to Saharanpur subdivision.
The riots left 62 people (42 Muslims and 20 Hindus) dead, 93 injured and over 50,000 displaced. As a result, the 2014 Lok Sabha elections witnessed highly polarised voters, with the minority Muslims voting for multiple Opposition parties and majority Hindus primarily supporting the right-wing BJP, led by strongman Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The BJP garnered support from the state’s consolidated Hindu majority even though Muslim votes were split even then. Consequently, the saffron party won 71 of 80 seats — eliminating the Opposition (the Samajwadi Party or SP, the Bahujan Samaj Party or BSP and the Congress) and registering a landslide victory in the national election.
Voting ‘for survival’
Highly communally sensitive Uttar Pradesh is a politically significant state with a population of at least 200 million people. It has given the country nine prime ministers since 1947. Modi is running for his third consecutive term in office from Varanasi, from where he first contested in 2014.
Even after 10 years, Modi is still seen as the front-runner for the April 19-June 1 elections, with his party (the BJP) predicted to get a clear majority it needs to take power.
The state sends 80 MPs (highest in the nation) to the Parliament, thanks to complex caste relations between the predominantly Hindu population and the politically significant Muslim minority. The party, which wins UP, significantly contributes to the formation of the federal government.
“While others may see the election as about jobs, development and prosperity, for us, it’s about survival and justice. And we will be voting for that only,” stated 28-year-old driver Muhammad Aftab, whose family got displaced in the sectarian violence from Kakra village in Muzaffarnagar Shahpur block.
He claimed he sold his properties to the same people who had allegedly forced them to flee when the disturbances subsided. “We only got Rs 2 lakh for our house, which was valued at Rs 12 lakhs. BJP officials never paid us a visit. Without mincing words, they often state that they don’t need Muslim votes,” he added.
However, the BJP disputes any prejudice towards Muslims, who make up 14% of India’s 142.86 crore people, and claims it has only challenged the principal Opposition, the Congress, because it has “catered to specific groups”, including Muslims, in order to win their support.
In contemporary Indian politics, it might be hazardous for a political party to identify as a “pro-Muslim” even though the community is the most impoverished, jobless and underdeveloped minority. Without bringing minorities into mainstream politics, the Opposition parties have always banked on their support.
“It’s testing time, which we hope will change soon. We will keep fighting back. We are equal citizens of the country; if we are denied our rights, we will snatch it,” said optimist Saleem.
Zahida, a resident of the same colony, who uses only her first name, when asked how Muslims should vote in the upcoming elections, inquired, “You tell me — what should we Muslims do?”
“Modi has made life more difficult for us. We had riots first, demonetisation next and now unemployment,” she remarked.
She said Muslims in Uttar Pradesh are “helpless”. “While New Delhi has Modi government, Lucknow has Yogi government. Both have problems with Muslims. They want to eliminate us by bulldozing our houses, killing our men in fake encounters and snatching away our places of worship and cultural heritage. These are the days of testing,” she said, adding with confidence that “it would be over as injustices and bigotry always have a shelf-life”.
For Muslims, according to her, every election is very important. “It is necessary to vote tactically. We must also understand that secular parties too demand sacrifices from Muslims without offering any of their own,” she concluded.
Hope amid despair
Following a Varanasi Court’s decision last month to permit Hindus to pray in the basement of the 17th-century Gyanvapi mosque, the Muslim population in the city is apparently experiencing a strong sense of hopelessness and despair.
The ruling was enthusiastically welcomed by Hindus, but Muslims, including 53-year-old Muqeem Ahmad, were deeply frustrated.
Ahmad expressed his concern that if the BJP managed to win again for the third time in a row, it would further embolden right-wing Hindus. After they managed to get Ram Mandir in Ayodhya where the historic Babri mosque once stood, the unjust ruling gave them a boost and now they want to take possession of two other ancient mosques — Shahi Eidgah mosque in Mathura and the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi.
“This alerts Muslims to possible danger and puts our religious structures at risk. Attacks on mosques have increased since the BJP gained more influence in 2019 by registering an impressive win for the second term and increasing its tally in the Lok Sabha,” he narrated.
Abrogating Article 370 in Indian-administered Kashmir and constructing the Ram temple on the site of the Babri mosque were two important election pledges of BJP. Both of these goals have been achieved.
The country’s Hindu majority has expressed delight with these steps, which might potentially secure the party’s hold on power for a third term in the approaching election.
“There has not been much room for protecting these places because of the judiciary’s decisions and actions, even in the face of criticism from Muslim organizations,” he speculated.
Twenty-seven percent of Indians are Muslims.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath made a clear statement in the state assembly earlier this month about the goals of the Hindu right. He spoke about his ambitious plans for the two mosques that remain on the Hindutva agenda.
Hindu claimants contend that prior to their alleged destruction by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, these mosques were magnificent temples devoted to “Lord” Shiva and “Lord” Krishna.
The state has recently witnessed some high-profile demolitions of mosques.
As part of a road-widening project in Prayagraj city, the historic Shahi mosque was razed to the ground in January last year. The committee of the mosque filed a petition in a local court to stop the city’s plans, but this demolition nevertheless went ahead.
In Muzaffarnagar, a 300-year-old mosque was demolished in November 2022 to create space for a highway.
Meanwhile, in 2022, a local Hindu farmer brought a lawsuit against the Shamsi Jama mosque in Budaun, which attracted the attention of the right-wing nationalist outfit Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha (ABHM).
They asserted that an illegal building was constructed on the site of a destroyed temple to build the 800-year-old mosque, which is recognized as a national heritage site. The mosque’s future is still up in the air while the legal matter is pending resolution.
The attack on shrines and mosques in Uttar Pradesh is a part of a larger pattern that has also been noticed in the capital of India. The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) destroyed a 600-year-old mosque in the Mehrauli neighborhood recently, citing encroachment. This decision garnered harsh criticism from activists as well as cultural preservationists. Many questioned how an important historical structure could be considered an incursion.
Hindutva organizations are attacking Sufi shrines and mosques in other states, including Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
Following an order of the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on March 11, a “scientific survey” by the Archaeological Survey (ASI) is underway at the Kamal Maula mosque-Bhojshala temple complex in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh.
Muslims refer to Bhojshala, an ASI-protected 11th-century structure, as the Kamal Maula Mosque, while Hindus believe it to be a temple dedicated to Vagdevi — Goddess Saraswati.
“The Muslim community at present is suffering from emotional trauma because of such actions. Therefore, we must take it into account while using our right to franchise,” he said.
Ahmad said the community’s fundamental right to profess its religion is protected by law, but the current state of the judiciary appears to undermine the efforts to protect the monuments. He went to the extent of describing the alleged unilateral decisions a “genocide”.
But he is not ready to give up. “There is still democracy left in the country. We will continue to take legal recourse to protect our religious places and identities, and we will succeed,” he concluded.
