In Uttar Pradesh, real issues remain on the backburner

On the pre-poll journey through Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Uttarakhand, I decided I will leave the stories of party politics and caste alliances to the efficient team Hindustan though, clearly, these issues merit deep discussion and thought.

Let us begin the journey with Mathura. Mathura, Varanasi and Amritsar are three north Indian cities that I consider siblings as it were. They are imbued with a bygone charm and a deep religiosity. In them, tradition meets modernity, and not always in a pleasant manner. The story of the widows of Vrindavan is a disturbing example. Owing to cruel traditions, when women become widows, in some parts of India, some of them are banished to Kashi or Mathura, stripped of all right to live free lives.

One woman told me that when she came to Vrindavan 50 years ago, there was no support for widows. They had to wake up at 3:30 am, have a bath and then sing bhajans in temples. There she and others like her would get a morning meal and some money. Getting an evening meal was a tough task. With the unrelenting support of some voluntary organisations and the backing of the Supreme Court, the trials and tribulations of the widows have lessened today.

But, in the run-up to this election, be sure that you will not hear any discourse on the welfare of women, the elderly and children.

When I reached the birthplace of Lord Krishna, temples and mosques were being heavily guarded by the police and paramilitary forces. But such tight security arrangements cannot stop the conflict of views. I met Gopeshwarnath Chaturvedi, a senior member of the Shri Krishna Janmasthan Trust, and advocate Tanveer Ahmed, a member of the Shahi Masjid Idgah Committee, on the terrace of Shanti Dharamshala. From here, the temple stupa and the dome of the mosque can be seen together as they have been for the last 350 years.

This is important in the context of Mathura being raised as an issue after Varanasi and Ayodhya in some quarters. Gopeshwarnath Chaturvedi was extremely aggressive. He said words to the effect that Hindus were the real owners of the land on which this mosque stands and that they would free it. Tanveer Ahmed was far more polite and argued that his community had legal rights over the mosque.

Years ago, in the 1980s, when the Ayodhya movement had gathered steam, many people felt that it was not a big issue. The results of that short-sighted thinking are there for all to see.

In Mathura, there are no visible tensions. The idols of Radha are dressed in clothes handstitched by Muslim tailors and artisans from this community also fashion some of the items used in worship. Both the communities have a lot in common even in the Ayodhya of today. The divisions were caused largely by those from outside the region. Will this happen in Mathura too? It is really too early to say.

I asked well-known people in civil society this question. Some were convinced that efforts were being made to change the atmosphere and voiced their apprehensions. While leaving the holy city, I was deeply disturbed that even as polls were drawing close, the people of Mathura were not debating on the many civic and governance issues in the city.

The same is the case with Agra. Agra is famous for the Taj Mahal and the delicious sweet called petha. I decided to take a look at the flagging petha business at Noori Darwaza. This is the place where Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev had planned to explode a bomb in the Central Assembly. No politician has even referred to this. Instead, all the debate and discussion are over who can or will win from which seat. With bleak markets, a despondent middle class, and a historic city desperate to keep up with the narratives of the times, why are the youth absent from the electoral discourse?

Things are not very different in the Karhal constituency where Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and the main challenger to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Akhilesh Yadav, is contesting. The BJP has fielded Union minister of state for law and justice, Satya Pal Singh Baghel, against him. Baghel was once a leader in the SP. SP workers say that Yadav is above any competition and new records will be set in this election. Baghel counters this saying the only record will be the margin of defeat of the SP. The one reason for cheer is the greenery of the crops in the area. Mainpuri district was largely barren until proper irrigation began in 2007.

Today, the results of this are visible. The smooth roads within villages and the wide highways in the outer regions suggest that at least three chief ministers in the past have done good work in the public interest.

But, as of now, such issues and achievements seem to be on the back burner.