Ram Puniyani
Gujarat
is going to have the assembly elections in December 2012. As per the surveys
and the claims of BJP and Narendra Modi himself, the ruling Chief Minister,
will be winning with great majority. The media has created a larger than life
image for him, Modi’s own media management firm has been creating the image of
Modi as a man for ‘development’, and the big industrial houses are pitching for
his victory. The big industrialists are having a great time in Gujarat . Despite the claims of Modi and company, the
average people are facing a rough weather as indicated by different indices of
development, nutritional levels, hemoglobin levels of pregnant women etc. Still
the popular perception in large sections is that Mdoi will romp home and
thereby stake his claim to become the Prime Ministerial candidate from the BJP
side.
At the same time Modi has been
trying to win over sections of Muslims to his side, businessmen, affluent
Muslims in particular. Some of them have openly advocated for Modi. One thing
should be clear that till a decade ago, it was a myth that the whole community
votes in unison. In earlier riots the major victims of violence were poor
Muslims. Since Gujarat carnage the class
divide of victims has been abolished and now even if one is as affluent person
with reach, like Ahsan Jafri, he can also be the victim of violence. That’s the
logic of communal violence today. Accordingly majority of Muslims may evolve a
uniform policy of voting for a candidate, who can defeat BJP. This was
sometimes contemplated and exercised in practices.
There is also a dilemma or
confusion amongst some Muslims that since BJP and Congress both are equally
bad, how does it matter as to who comes to power. This unfortunate perception
of situation is due to the vacillations of Congress on communal front, its
opportunism at times and its collusion with communal forces at times. Its lack
of principled stand against communalism has given rise to this perception.
Still on deeper thinking large sections of Muslims do become clear about the
basic difference of BJP and Congress. The difference is that Congress is
‘pragmatically communal’ and BJP is ‘programmatically communal’. That BJP is
part of RSS combine whose agenda is Hindu nation and to bring in such a state
by working through the liberal space offered by Indian democracy, should be
well known by now. And in that sense Congress or no other party can be compared
with BJP. BJP is one of the vehicles of communalizing the society as far as
RSS, the patriarch of communal politics in India is concerned..
BJP has been propagating that
more communal riots have taken place in the rule of Congress so how come,
Congress is better than BJP as far as communal violence, communalism is
concerned. It is a clever use of the fact that though the Congress has been in
power, the real instigator of violence, by and large is the BJP and its
affiliates. Congress merely colludes or looks the other way around. Also here
the role of police becomes important, as large sections of police are not only very
communal; police force is also heavily infiltrated by those who have sympathies
with communal politics. In this complex situation, who do the Muslims vote for?
The noted Islamic scholar, the liberal face of Indian Islam, Asghar Ali
Engineer, points out that though the Bohra Muslims and their religious leader
Dai, has good links with Modi for business reasons, still most Bohras will not
vote for Modi due to the larger picture on political scene. Maulana Vastanvi,
who had earlier said that Muslims are doing better in Gujarat ,
has also said that Muslims should not vote for Modi.
Modi has been trying his best to
woo over the Muslim community by tying up with businessmen from Gujarat like Zafar Sareshwala. Still the larger section
of Muslim community remains fearful of Modi. Despite his Sadbhavna stage shows
the Muslim community knows that at root Modi has no sympathies with minorities.
Modi’s fasting and Sadbhavna meetings were well managed stage shows where many
with ‘beard and cap’ paid their obeisance to Modi, but at the same time Modi
got exposed as he refused to wear the skull cap offered by one of the clerics
who came to meet him. This at a time when he was putting on all sorts of caps
and pagadi’s (head gear) offered by Hindus and Jains. The Muslim community
knows that in this stage managed state show Modi has spent millions to project
his image of amity. But can the deeper wounds be done away by such attractive
coverings?
The Muslim community recalls that
the human Rights activist Dr. Bandookwala had asked of Modi to atone for his
role in Gujarat violence and the Muslims
community will forget the carnage and will move one. But that expression of
remorse never came. In contrast Modi went to have more sophisticated defense to
hide his crime in the carnage of Gujarat .
Now ex-MP Syed Shahabuddin has come out with an open letter to Modi (Nov 2012)
saying that if he wants Muslims to vote for him, he should apologize for the Gujarat genocide of 2002. Failing this Shahabuddin said
that, Muslims will vote massively and united for one candidate, irrespective of
party or religion who is likely to defeat the BJP in their constituency,”
Syed Shahabuddin landed up in
another controversy due to the tone and tenor of his letter and the letterhead,
but some of the points which he raises are very valid for the Muslim community
of Gujarat . Shahabuddin has asked Modi to give
full rehabilitation, reimburse medical expenses, suitable compensation,
rebuilding of the places of worship which were ruined due to the violence
amongst other demands. The basic flaw in Shahbuddin’s letter is that to presume
that Modi may be amenable to such suggestions and the very process of writing a
letter to Modi itself is a misplaced one. Some may call it optimism but it is
nothing short of a delusion about Modi.
The core question dodging the
Muslim community is that they have been effectively relegated to the status of
second class citizenship in Gujarat . It is a
part of their daily experience. Politically marginalized, economically pushed
back and facing the step motherly treatment from state, it is unlikely that
Muslims can even think of voting for Modi. Surely, there will be some like
Sareshwala, who will ask for the votes for Modi, but barring such elements,
average Muslim has suffered and travails of living in the ‘Hindu Rashtra of
Gujarat’, where the affiliates of BJP, the VHP, Bajrang Dal, Vanvasi Kalyan
ahshram and ABVP are making the picture complete by their brash ways of
imposing their will on minorities. While celebrations are already afoot for
Modi’s victory, it’s unlikely that he can have a cake walk in Gujarat
this time as apart from M factor the whole deprivation of dalits, Adivsis and
other poorer sections of community are too deep to be won over by the rhetoric
of Vibrant Gujarat. While psephologists are burning mid night oil to ratify
Modi’s victory, the real outcome of Gujarat 2012 elections may be a surprise to
many who are undermining the impact of social development indices and the scars
of 2002, which remain very much painful even now!
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