On 5 May 2019, bang in the middle of the Lok Sabha elections, PM Narendra Modi held a rally in Bhadohi, Uttar Pradesh, where he appealed to his “Muslim sisters” for votes. He wanted to be a benevolent brother who had taken it upon himself to give the same rights to Muslim women in India that have been given to “sisters” in other Muslim countries by making triple talaq null and void.
I appreciate Modi’s concern about Muslim “sisters” when it comes to the ‘way’ they get divorced. But what about those Muslim “sisters” who are happy with their husbands and are going about their daily lives, which come to a tragic halt when they get to know that their husbands have been beaten to death in the name of ‘gauraksha’ (cow protection), the very brand of ultra-Right Hindutva that the Modi wave rode on?
Go to a Muslim dominated area, like Bhadohi, and out comes Modi, the saviour of Muslim women. Go to a Hindu dominated area, like Nanded, and out comes the ‘Hindu Hriday Samrat’ who accuses Rahul Gandhi of being a wimp for contesting from a Muslim dominated area – Wayanad in Kerala – to win.
I’m sure Muslims would even fall for this double standard because double standards are all we’ve been dealt with. Be it Rajiv Gandhi trying to damage control the Shah Bano backlash with the Ram Janmabhoomi Shilanyas or Akhilesh Yadav having a Bollywood night in the aftermath of the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots.
It’s really a choice between the devil and the sea for Indian Muslims. Modi has not only nurtured but also encouraged ministers who have unabashedly spoken against Muslims. This anti-Muslim rhetoric in the BJP is glaring.
Take, for example, Karnataka’s blue-eyed boy Anant Kumar Hegde who has said that “polarising is the real democracy”. In 2016, he reportedly said that “as long as there is Islam in the world, there will be terrorism. Until we uproot Islam, we can’t remove terrorism.” Hegde is now a Union minister.
Has the BJP completely forgotten the ‘insaniyat (humanity)’ that Atal Bihari Vajpayee spoke of when he tried to tackle the Kashmir problem?
When Tathagata Roy, governor of Meghalaya and a senior leader of the BJP, wanted to boycott Kashmiris and Kashmiri products after the Pulwama attack, did PM Modi think about this ‘insaniyat’ towards Kashmiris?
Kashmiri vendors and traders were beaten up mercilessly in Lucknow and Patna. PM Modi’s silence then was louder and more effective than Tathagata Roy’s hate.
Also read: Are Muslims nationalists? What is their problem with Modi? 12 FAQs about Muslims answered
What about Raj Dharma?
Who can forget Atal Bihari Vajpayee reminding a fuming Narendra Modi, then Gujarat’s chief minister, of his “Raj Dharma” after the 2002 riots?
When Vinay Katiyar, Rajya Sabha MP and founding member of Bajrang Dal, questioned why Muslims live in India at all, did Modi think of his “Raj Dharma” oftreating citizens equally at all?
Bringing up Atal Bihari Vajpayee is also tricky, considering it immediately reminds a Muslim of “zameen ko samtal karna padega (we have to make the land even in Ayodhya),” soon after which the Babri Masjid was demolished.
But, it’s important to remind the current lot of the BJP that one can remain a Hindu hardliner and still be humane. Something BJP MLA T. Raja Singh doesn’t understand. He has on several occasions said that Rohingyas and Bangladeshis will be shot if they don’t leave, that those opposing the proposed Ram temple in Ayodhya will be beheaded while having even called for a ban on the Quran.
Also read: Why many Muslims in Gujarat publicly supported Modi’s BJP after 2002
Rewarding bigotry
During the last five years of the Modi government, Muslims have not only suffered physically (in mob lynchings), but psychologically as well. The trauma of humiliation and the fear of being reduced to a second-class citizen in India has weighed heavily on the Muslim psyche.
When BJP minister Giriraj Singh comments on Muslims producing too many children or when Union minister Anupriya Patel tweets that “Our own traitors have destroyed us otherwise have you ever heard of 100 crores (Hindus) getting scared of 20 crore mullahs (Muslims)?”, the Muslims of India look to PM Modi, not as the big brother, but perhaps the stepbrother.
Giriraj Singh is now the BJP candidate from Begusarai in Bihar. That’s rewarding bigotry. Pragya Singh Thakur, the Malegaon terror blast accused out on bail, is contesting the election from Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. How can you expect any Muslim to take Modi as their well-wisher who wishes for equality?
What’s more, the BJP has openly resorted to harassing Muslims if they don’t vote for them. Maneka Gandhi, just a few weeks ago, was seen harassing Muslims in a rally in Uttar Pradesh’s Sultanpur. In a viral video, she’s seen telling Muslims that she is already winning the election but if Muslims don’t vote for her, they should not expect her to work for them because “dil khatta ho jayega (the heart will become sour)”.
The BJP is aware of the anti-Muslim rhetoric of its members and isn’t really bothered about it. That’s why Sambit Patra calling Muslims as ‘katmullahs (circumcised men)’ in news channels has become the new normal.
Also read: The journey of BJP’s Sambit Patra from a trained surgeon to a nasty TV star
No love lost
A lot of Muslims in Uttar Pradesh would tell you that they voted for Modi in the 2017 assembly election thinking that he will usher in “vikas” since Muslims saw no development either under the SP or the BSP government. However, when Ajay Singh Bisht was made the chief minister of the state, the image of PM Modi’s “Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas” came crashing down.
Bisht, instead of allaying Muslims’ fears, proved them right by inventing concepts like ‘Love Jihad’ and ‘Anti-Romeo Squads’ through which his Hindu Yuva Vahini went about harassing young couples and divided the nation further on religious lines.
What’s worse? BJP netas justify this hate by talking about annihilating people who don’t love the country enough. Vikram Singh Saini, a BJP MLA, in January this year suggested in a matter-of-fact way that he would like to bomb people who say they feel unsafe in India.
India has seen acute social injustice when it comes to the Dalits and backward classes. Added to this, now, is a religious injustice where people are being vetted for citizenship according to the religion they profess. That’s the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill the Modi government wants to introduce where the only religious groups that become ineligible for citizenship are Muslims, Jews and atheists.
This isn’t equality.
It’s about time that PM Modi realises that Muslims have been demonised so thoroughly by his party that it’s an impossible feat to make Muslims trust him. None of his ministers propagating hate has been asked to resign. If anything, they have only risen in fame and power.
Modi’s Muslim “sisters” remain unconvinced.
The author is a political observer and writer.