New Delhi: Shahzad Ali Idrisi, 37, was actively involved in protests against the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at southern Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh which began in December 2019 and lasted over a hundred days. Just months later, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Idrisi is now busy campaigning in the area and other Muslim neighbourhoods in eastern Delhi for the Lok Sabha polls and is all praise for the prime minister. “We can’t get a better leader than Prime Minister Narendra Modi,’’ he said, listing achievements of the BJP government and explaining how Muslims benefited from various central schemes such as the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
Idrisi said he had a change of heart just months after the protest site at Shaheen Bagh was vacated following the nationwide lockdown triggered by the Covid-19 outbreak. “Initially, there was not much clarity about the law and the Muslim community was agitated. I joined the protest as I wanted a dialogue with the government, but it didn’t happen due to the political interests of those involved,” he said.
In December 2019, Parliament passed the CAA, which makes provisions to grant Indian citizenship to undocumented migrants from the Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Parsi and Christian communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
The exclusion of Muslims from this list of communities had led to nationwide protest with Shaheen Bagh emerging as its epicentre as hundreds camped there for more than three months, blocking both carriageways of the arterial road passing through the colony.
‘CAA a non-issue’
More than four years have passed and not every resident has had a change of heart like Idrisi, but for most, CAA is now a “non-issue”.
“It is a non-issue for us,” said Pervez Mohammad, an engineer by profession and resident of Shaheen Bagh since 1985.
The area falls under the East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency where the BJP’s Harsh Malhotra is contesting against AAP’s Kuldeep Kumar, who is the candidate for the INDIA bloc from this seat.
Okhla, Shaheen Bagh, Jamia Nagar and Zakir Nagar, among others, are areas in this constituency with a sizable Muslim population.
But in the bustling lanes of Shaheen Bagh and adjoining Muslim-dominated areas, there is no discussion about CAA, rules for which were notified last month by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
According to residents, the anti-CAA protest only brought “negative publicity” to the peaceful residential neighbourhood. “A majority of Shaheen Bagh residents were not involved in the protest, but the area got a negative image. Some of the locals like the ‘Dadis of Shaheen Bagh’ were made the face of the protest, but those who led the protest have disappeared,” Pervez Mohammad said.
Pervez was referring to octogenarian Bilkis Bano and her two friends who were regulars at the protest site and came to be known as the “Dadis of Shaheen Bagh”. In 2020, Bilkis Bano featured in TIME Magazine’s list of the hundred most influential people in the world.
Idrisi said that there were no protests when the Centre notified the rules for CAA last month. “The community now understands that no Indian Muslim will lose his or her citizenship due to CAA.”
Though there was heavy police deployment that day, it was a regular business for people, said Mujahid Rasool, who works at a perfume store in the area. “When the law was brought in, people didn’t have much clarity. Now there is not much talk about it,” he said.
Shazia Nawaz, a homemaker, told ThePrint, “In the 2019 protests, people came from all over Delhi and neighbouring areas. There was a lot of miscommunication at that time. Now, people have a better understanding of the CAA and have lost interest.”
Numan Ullah, a resident who works at a store in the main market, added, “A large section of the people have realised there was no point protesting. People have families here. We don’t want our kids to get into any trouble. It is better to voice our opinion through the electoral process.”
Modi’s ‘infiltrator’ remark
Muslims in the area, however, are very cut up about Modi’s campaign speech at Rajasthan’s Banswara last week where he alleged if the Congress came to power, it would distribute the country’s wealth to “infiltrators” and to “those who have more children”.
Opposition parties termed this “hate speech” and also filed complaints to the Election Commission of India (ECI) which in turn, sought a response from BJP chief J.P. Nadda in this regard.
Fatima, a resident of Shaheen Bagh who is employed with a private firm, said Modi was the prime minister of the country and represented “people from all religious communities”.
“It was disappointing to hear the PM say all this,” she added.
Locals contended that Modi’s speech was a sign that the BJP was hassled after the first round of voting. “They have been in power for the past 10 years. Instead of showcasing work done by his government, the PM made controversial comments. This shows they are hassled about the outcome of this election,” said Wasim Ahmed, a shop owner.
As political parties step up their campaign in the national capital where AAP is contesting on four seats and its ally the Congress on the remaining three, Congress leaders argued the anti-Muslim rhetoric could emerge as an important issue among voters.
“It is not just with Muslim community, the PM’s comment has not gone down well even with those who support the BJP. No PM in the past has used such a language. Yeh unki bokhalahat dikhata hai (this shows they are hassled),” said former Congress MLA from Okhla, Asif Mohammad Khan.
“Muslims have presented a good example by making no statement on this issue. Earlier, Muslims used to be vocal about such things, but now they want their votes to speak,” he added.
The BJP is reaching out to the Muslim community, especially women, for support in the Lok Sabha elections.
A section of Muslims in these areas felt the community needed to learn how to deal with the BJP. “In the past few years, the BJP has emerged as the major political party; we can’t ignore them. BJP knows that Muslims don’t vote for them. Muslims must understand that instead of treating BJP as their enemy, treat it as just another political party. BJP is going to stay in politics, and Muslims can’t ignore this fact,” said Pervez Mohammad.
BJP candidate Harsh Malhotra said he was explaining to them key decisions taken by the Modi government. “We are speaking to professors of the Jamia Millia Islamia University and important people in these residential localities. We are telling them about the work done by PM Modi, for the welfare of all communities. We are also reaching out to women and telling them about the triple talaq law.”
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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