At the Bharatiya Janata Party’s recently concluded national executive meet in Hyderabad, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked party leaders to work for Pasmanda Muslims, while exhorting them to learn right lessons from the results of the Uttar Pradesh assembly election. His comments assume relevance in light of BJP’s victory in the recent Lok Sabha by-election in Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur and Azamgarh constituencies.
In the run-up to the bypolls, it was speculated that the issues of caste, racial discrimination and social justice within Muslim society might emerge as decisive factors. And so, the BJP sent its minister Danish Azad Ansari, a Pasmanda Muslim, to woo the electorate. The swelling crowds of indigenous Pasmanda youth in this young minister’s electoral meetings compelled opposition parties to think in this direction, especially in Azamgarh, where the Pasmanda movement is considered to be robust. Hence, Samajwadi Party (SP) put its Meerut MLA Rafiq Ansari and Sitapur MLC Jasmir Ansari on the campaign field to rescue its sinking ship in Azamgarh. Similarly, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) also appointed former Rajya Sabha MP Saalim Ansari, who belongs to the same area, to neutralise any adverse effect on its vote bank.
Ashraaf strategy for Rampur and Azamgarh
In Rampur, where the Pasmanda movement is not too strong, no major Pasmanda leader was active during the campaign. However, the ever-increasing influence of the Pasmanda movement brought their hopes for social justice to the fore—hopes that were buried deep inside Pasmanda society till now. And growing discussions around internal caste discrimination among Muslims, in the middle of peak election campaigning, exacerbated Azam Khan’s woes.
For starters, it is important to know that the SP had fielded an Ashraaf, Asim Raza, considered close to Azam Khan, in Rampur. Pasmandas weren’t happy with the decision. Sensing the tide, members of Rampur’s Sayyid Nawab family, considered arch-rivals of Azam Khan, fuelled the growing resentment against him. So, unlike the past, there was no “bhajpa harao (defeat BJP)” frenzy among Muslim voters, which led to an extremely low turnout. While many Pasmandas did not even cast their votes, many among those who did voted against the SP. This had a visible impact on the electoral outcome in Rampur.
However, in Azamgarh, Ashraafs’ political acumen and the short-sighted policy adopted by some senior Pasmanda activists provided more impetus to the fading force of Ashraafism in UP. The strategy adopted by the Ashraaf class for Azamgarh Lok Sabha bypoll was to defeat Akhilesh Yadav in his former bastion while telling him, in strong words, that he is ‘nothing’ without their support. For this cause, a successful attempt was made to polarise Muslims behind the BSP’s Ashraaf candidate, Shah Alaim alias Guddu Jamali (who polled 29 per cent votes as against SP’s 33 per cent and BJP’s 34 per cent). In response, Ashraaf-led political parties like All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and Ulema Council instantly announced their support to the BSP candidate. Influenced by these endorsements, the Pasmanda-led Peace Party also opted to support BSP. Apart from this, this BSP candidate was also supported by major Ashraaf social organisations and intellectuals. Some of them did it openly, while others adopted a more clandestine approach.
On the other hand, Pasmanda society and its activists were mobilised to oppose—they were told how the SP only took their votes and never bothered to give them proper representation. And the Pasmandas agreed on teaching the SP a lesson. ‘Propaganda’ gave way to confusion, and some senior Pasmanda activists began to openly oppose the SP. Some of them even got involved in an ‘all-out’ campaign for BSP’s Ashraaf candidate by promoting it as a prestige issue for Saalim Ansari. However, the Pasmanda activist failed to understand that BSP, too, has always taken unfair advantage of their voting strength while depriving them of any major participation. On the other hand, BJP provided a ministerial position to a Pasmanda representative without getting any votes from it. By this logic, BJP ought to have got Pasmanda votes.
Pasmanda activists failed to realise the conspiracy at hand—if the BSP fielded Saalim Ansari as a candidate, would the Ashraafs even support the party so openly? As far as my understanding goes, they would have never done this and instead lobbied for an SP victory by raising their evergreen slogan of “bhajpa harao, kaum bachao (defeat BJP, save community.)” And their stature within the SP would’ve only increased after that victory.
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Pasmandas strengthened their exploiters
Pasmanda activists got their timing absolutely wrong and, albeit unknowingly, have only strengthened the hands of their exploiters. They might have to endure far-reaching consequences of this strategic blunder in the Azamgarh and Mau region, which already has a history of handing out electoral successes to Ashraaf outsiders even after being heavily dominated by Pasmandas.
The strategy of reaping Muslim votes by wooing Pasmanda voters with the help of a Pasmanda minister and leaders failed big time during the Azamgarh bypoll. And the Ashraafs succeeded in their strategy to achieve ‘desired’ results. This is clearly a major defeat for the Pasmanda movement and despite BJP’s victory in Azamgarh, Ashraafism will emerge stronger than ever.
The results of Rampur and Azamgarh Lok Sabha bypoll have two important messages for the Pasmanda community. First, if Pasmanda Muslims want, things can be done according to their will and can potentially provide excellent results. BJP has already understood this nuance and will try to encash it in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Second, Pasmandas are now faced with the growing Ashraaf challenge—who are slowly realising that the rise of Pasmandas might damage their interests, as they (Ashraafs) have occupied almost each and every space in the name of Islam and Muslims.
In the coming days, the Ashraaf class, which is endowed with all kinds of resources, will work aggressively to protect its own interests. It will also try to mislead Pasmanda activists in the name of religion, which is already being witnessed these days. Many Pasmanda activists are not able to comprehend this and they have started to speak in the same language used by the Ashraafs. As of now, the biggest challenge before Pasmandas is to continuously expose this Ashraaf strategy while increasing communal awareness.
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)