New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seems to be doubling down on what the Opposition calls its “anti-Muslim” politics, regardless of the common perception that the ruling party’s polarising narrative failed to resonate with the voters in the last Lok Sabha polls.
The Waqf Amendment Bill, 2024, sent to a joint committee of Parliament following Opposition’s charge of it being unconstitutional and anti-Muslim in the Lok Sabha Thursday, was only the latest in a series of announcements targeted at Muslims by BJP-led governments in states.
On 4 August, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that a law would be brought against the so-called ‘love jihad’ providing for life imprisonment. He also vowed to deal with alleged ‘land jihad’ by controlling inter-religious transfer of land. On 7 August, Sarma took to X, and raised concerns over the future of Assam in 2041 when the state, as he said earlier, would become Muslim-majority.
Last month, Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, while addressing a World Population Day function, said that one “category” of people is not paying heed to the government’s population control efforts. The state also announced bringing in a bill for enactment of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC).
The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly on 30 July passed the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2024, making its provisions more stringent, including a maximum sentence of life imprisonment in cases of fraudulent or forced conversions. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has also stated that his state will implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) before Foundation Day (November 9).
Political analysts say that what is being played out is a fight between two axes — caste and religion. “While it would not be possible to comment on specific policy level changes that are being proposed by the government, these policies in themselves indicate a continuity of the BJP’s mobilisation of the axis on religion. With some issues, this axis becomes muted, and other times more pronounced,” said Rahul Verma, fellow at the Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research (CPR).
“In fact, it has been a constant battle over the last 35-40 years between the two axes of mobilisation in Indian politics — religion and caste. So, you have an axis of caste mobilisation which has been pursued by the Opposition, mainly regional parties, and now the Congress. The BJP uses the religion axis to ensure a shift away from caste,” Verma added.
Multiple BJP leaders ThePrint spoke to said that the proposed amendment to the Waqf Act is not ‘anti-Muslim’, as is being portrayed by the Opposition, and rather puts the spotlight on the appeasement politics being pursued by them and the BJP has always countered it. “When we had taken steps for doing away with Triple Talaq, we had received the same response. Now that we are trying to bring in transparency within the board, we are being called anti-Muslim. In fact, the demand for this had come from a section of the Muslim community itself,” said a senior BJP leader.
However, a section in the BJP also claims that the move is, in fact, a “natural corollary to what is being pursued by the Congress” — their demand for caste census and running a ‘fake narrative’ against the government of doing away with reservation or making changes to the Constitution.
“The Lok Sabha elections made it clear that the Opposition was successful in running a fake campaign with regard to the Constitution and how the Modi government would do away with reservation. We managed to form the government and it became important to take strong decisions which can blunt the Opposition’s attack. The appeasement politics that they have been playing for years became clear the moment it was decided to make certain necessary amendments to the Waqf board and the reaction it elicited from them,” said a senior BJP leader.
Also read: RSS welcomes govt lifting ban on employees taking part in Sangh activities, Congress pans move
‘Not anti-minority, we’re anti-appeasement’
The Cabinet had Friday approved 40 amendments to the Waqf Act. Waqf Boards manage approximately 8,70,000 properties covering around 9,40,000 acres, ranging from graveyards and mosques to orchards and educational institutions. Waqf properties are lands or assets donated for religious or charitable causes per Islamic law, and managed by boards to ensure appropriate use and deployment of proceeds for the greater good.
Experts further point out that the development can be viewed in terms of immediate and long-term strategy of the party.
“There could be two ways to look at these developments — one is the immediate one, which is the upcoming assembly elections, so the party after the Lok Sabha debacle has decided to go back to the drawing board and make certain changes to its strategy,” said Hilal Ahmed, associate professor at the CSDS who works on political Islam and Muslim politics.
“However, the larger question is now we should look at BJP’s self-assessment of 2024 and what is its strategy for the future. The idea of Amrit Kaal is a long-term imagination which has been given to us by the BJP. We have to put that into perspective and understand that these things are coming from a larger position,” he said.
“Hindutva nationalism, which has evolved as the BJP’s main narrative, was somehow challenged by the Opposition this time and they were able to pose a counter narrative, which is called the discourse of justice (caste, reservation etc). The narrative of justice is very powerful but it does not have a principled position with regard to the Muslim community. The non-BJP parties have not yet formed that and that’s why the non-BJP party won’t be able to counter it,” he added.
“The nature of contemporary BJP politics has always been aggressive and not defensive. It also goes well with the image of a decisive leader and will contribute to the futuristic imagination which they are proposing — the Amrit Kaal. Therefore, some kind of aggression is needed which the BJP is doing in defining India in Hindu terms,” he said.
“While the BJP’s tally went down in the LS elections, the vote share was not reduced, which means there was anxiety among the voters with its policy but they weren’t really affected by their Hindutva politics. The fact that the Opposition also didn’t counter the BJP as such on these issues gives encouragement to the BJP to go back to the basics and go ahead with their Amrit Kaal vision,” he said.
Another BJP leader said that the party is not anti-minority but is critical of the ‘appeasement politics’ of the Opposition.
“They have been using a certain community as their vote bank and because of that they have taken certain decisions in the past to appease them,” said another leader.
“Aggressive Hindutva is the need of the hour as many have raised questions over Waqf having so much land under them in the form of place of worship while Hindus who form the majority community hardly enjoy such benefits. Most of the land on which Hindu temples are built still belongs to the government,” he said. The Waqf Act was last amended in 2013.
Speaking to ThePrint, national spokesperson of the BJP, R.P. Singh also said the party is not ‘anti-Muslim’ and, in fact, follows the mantra of ‘sabka saath, sabka vishwaas’.
“The proposed amendments in the Waqf board are aimed at greater transparency and in ensuring the poor and needy benefit from it. Why is the Opposition creating a hue and cry over this? They follow appeasement politics and are scared of losing their vote-bank. As far as UCC is concerned, it is, in fact, pro-women so the Muslim women will gain from it. Love jihad on the other hand is a reality and many women are victims of such marriages,” he said.
“There is no denying the fact that we are a pro-nationalist and pro-Hindu party and safeguarding their interests is paramount. Just see the situation of Hindus in Bangladesh and compare it to how the minorities are treated in India,” he said.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
JUST SHUT UP U WOKE PAPER….No sane Bharatwasi wants Ur filthy opinion
Such a ridiculous article. You don’t say a word about what the actual amendments are and how might they be anti-muslim.