THE DIVISIVE BJP GAMBIT
The Modi-led BJP had no qualms about being seen as an anti-Muslim party, but now that it is in power, it wants to woo the Muslims and loosen the opposition’s stronghold on Muslim votes
THE hug hogged media headlines, television grabs went viral on cyberspace and sent everyone into a tizzy. Since it happened in the Lok Sabha, analysts rushed to make political sense of it, with parliamentary polls not far off.
Congress Party chief Rahul Gandhi, at the end of an attacking, impassioned speech levelling serious charges against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, suddenly turned a dove. He walked up to him and hugged him, to spread “love and compassion” and to “take away hatred against me from your heart”.
Surprised and visibly uncomfortable, Modi soon recovered, shook hands and gave him an elderly pat. However, he was unforgiving in his response later and is unlikely to forget it soon. He complained of an unwanted hug and that Gandhi had forced himself upon him.
In my four decades’ watching of India’s Parliament, of high dramatics when governments form and fall, this love-hate hug is unique.
Arguments persist whether this was spontaneous or scripted. Rahul’s legion of critics insists it was staged, citing television grabs of Rahul winking at colleagues in an impish “howwas-that” manner..
The speaker disapproved. Many thought he went overboard. In political terms, it doesn’t matter. “Modi Wins Vote: Rahul Wins Hearts”, said newspaper headlines. In popular perception, David scored over Goliath.
Rejecting his message of love, Modi declared that Rahul was “in a hurry to grab” his chair. The Congress wondered if Modi, who famously hugs foreign leaders he meets, hates being hugged by a fellow Indian.
The new reality is that oncereticent Rahul, two decades Modi’s junior, and although having none of his political acumen and governance skills (disputed) and cunning and oratory (undisputed), has pitched himself as his principal political rival.
And, this is when Modi’s charisma is perceived as weakening. The no-confidence motion was the first in 15 years. The government used it to shock an unprepared opposition trying to form an anti-Modi “federal front”.
Modi challenged Rahul: “You can bring such a motion again in 2024.” With that, he blew the trumpet for the polls.
Abjectly short of numbers, the outcome of the opposition’s motion was foregone. Its gambit was to make Modi answer questions he doesn’t. But Modi responded by listing his “achievements” with a scathing, derisive, counter-attack.
He did not respond to sectarian violence by vigilantes close to his party who routinely target Muslims, Christians and Dalits, the oppressed Hindus. Critics say these men provide muscle-power to his party’s majoritarian agenda and to election campaign.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh barely acknowledged it and pro forma, condemned it, but maintained that responsibility for policing rests with the states.
For good measure, he reminded the congress that the “worst mob lynching” took place in 1984 against members of the Sikh community after then prime minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards.
Now, leaving hug and huffing behind, it is essential to view the emerging scenario in the shape of a serious poser for the 2019 polls: Are you a Hindu or a Muslim?
This divisive Hindu-versus-Muslim gambit is a far cry from the development-for-all plank that won Modi the 2014 mandate. It threatens to overawe the two communities that have largely lived in harmony for centuries, unless when some sections become cannon fodder for political battles.
Three ministers of Team Modi recently lauded sectarian attacks, even garlanded convicted vigilantes when released on bail.
BJP lawmakers have publicly endorsed sectarian violence against Muslims who trade in cattle and Dalits who skin the carcass for leather. The government maintains no statistics.
A federal minister dismissed the latest attack, last Saturday, as “a conspiracy to thwart the growing popularity of Modi”.
Frequent assaults on minorities since 2015 by what media calls “cow vigilantes”, combined with diktats on what people should wear and eat, have caused what Nobel laureate Amartya Sen would say, “an atmosphere of fear”.
This “fear” triggered mob action with WhatsApp messages spreading rumours. A score of innocents have been lynched.
The Supreme Court has set a three-week deadline for state governments and police administrations to enact a special law to deal with both, lynching incidents and vigilantism along with “preventive, remedial and punitive” measures.
But the ball is squarely in the court of India’s political class that engages in competitive communalism to gain votes and power. Most parties, certainly, the Congress and the BJP, are responsible.
While in the past the BJP had no qualms about being seen as an anti-Muslim party, now that it is in power, it wants to woo the Muslims and loosen the opposition, particularly the Congress’ stranglehold on Muslim votes.
The BJP seeks to win over the Shias and pits itself against the majority Sunni orthodoxy, which claims to be puritanical. It has also sought to divide the community on man-woman line after it piloted a bill to abolish the practice of a Muslim husband divorcing wife by pronouncing “talaq” thrice.
Analysts say this measure won the BJP Muslim women’s votes, especially in Uttar Pradesh state that has 40 million Muslims. Simultaneously, the BJP ideologues insist that the majority must prevail and that minorities must fall in line. It has also been trying to unite Hindus, cutting across language and caste lines, but much to the frustration of the party’s ideologues, this unity is proving a mirage.
BJP brands the Congress proHindu or pro-Muslim; whichever is expedient at the moment. Modi has alluded to the divorce bill and asked whether the Congress is only “a party of Muslim men”.
The Congress dislikes both the labels with which the BJP has somehow succeeded in branding it. It is worried that it could fall between the two stools. Perhaps it already has. This is the biggest challenge that the Congress and the entire opposition face.
The BJP seeks to win over the Shias and pits itself against the majority Sunni orthodoxy, which claims to be puritanical. It has also sought to divide the community on man-woman line after it piloted a bill to abolish the practice of a Muslim husband divorcing wife by pronouncing ‘talaq’ thrice.
mahendraved07@gmail.com
The writer is president of the Commonwealth Journalists Association (2016-2018) and a Consultant with Power Politics monthly magazine