Communal tension and violence persist in western UP as the BJP seeks to
advance its reactionary agenda (sourced and edited from EPW)
The victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh (UP) was facilitated by a number of factors, but these varied region wise in the state. In western UP, the reasons were crystal clear – the BJP had not just won emphatically in Muzaffarnagar and other surrounding districts of the area, but had also managed to polarise votes on a communal basis to a significant extent. A close look at the voting records at the polling booth level in the Muzaffarnagar constituency alone (provided in the Form 20A data released by the Election Commission) reveals that there is a significantly high proportion – close to 30% of the overall number of booths – which polled more than 90% for a single party (in most cases, the BJP). This is evident in comparison with the 2009 Lok Sabha elections where such polling booths were far lower in number (only around 15-20 booths overall). Communal polarisation, in other words, was the main reason for the BJP recording its most emphatic victory in India’s largest state. The party had successfully replicated its “Gujarat electoral model” in western UP. The spurt of communal incidents following the elections, especially after July (during the Ramzan celebrations) – tabulated and investigated in a special report in the Indian Express – reveals that the polarisation strategy is sought to be replicated for the upcoming by-elections to various assembly constituencies in that area and beyond in UP. Nearly every minor/trivial incident featuring a Hindu and a Muslim, or a Sikh and a Muslim, or a dalit and a Muslim has been a trigger for a “communal incident”, the investigation reveals. The BJP, of course, has tried its best to bring about this situation, but the other main political parties – a desperate Samajwadi Party (SP) and a weakened Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) – have also been responsible for the politicisation of minor incidents. Be it Saharanpur, where riots pitting Sikhs against Muslims have taken place in a city that has had amicable relations between the communities for long, or parts of Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Meerut, and Sambhal, the story is similar. In Saharanpur, for example, the BJP sought to consolidate the Sikh vote by posturing as a protector of the Sikh community, while Muslim political leaders attempted to rake up dormant religious demands to polarise votes in their favour. Muzaffarnagar and Shamli continue to reel from communal hatred months after the riots of last year, fanned by the BJP’s local leaders for political benefit. The BJP’s current President Amit Shah had cut his teeth as a first-time organiser in UP by playing the communal card in Muzaffarnagar during the Lok Sabha campaign as well. It is clear that the “Muzaffarnagar model” is now being applied in other parts of UP to keep the cauldron burning. Meanwhile reports point to new fissures between dalits and Muslims in places such as Azamgarh, again with the BJP seeking to consolidate its “dalit” vote share before scheduled by-elections in the area and the BSP being unable to hold on to its reputation as a party that “catered” to the interests of the dalits and the Congress as a party that catered to the members of both communities. In many ways, it is the failure of SP and BSP to move beyond the narrow confines of being parties patronising social interests restricted to particular castes and communities that has given the BJP a chance to consolidate itself as a party representing “Hindu interests”. The SP and its government did little to ease the tension in Muzaffarnagar last year, partly because the party did not have a strong political base in the region and partly because of its cynical approach. The SP thought the communal polarisation could work in its favour as well. Post the riots, with communal tension not subsiding, the enduring feeling of isolation among the Muslim community bodes ill for the state, which already has the highest incidence of communal violence in the country. Some political scientists believe that ethnic riots have mostly occurred due to the electoral compulsions of political outfits. In other words, the democratic system and electoral politics, which is supposed to ease contradictions in society and resolve differences, have instead turned out to be responsible for the deterioration of communal relations. The same story seems to be unfolding in UP. The persisting narrow outlook of the three main political parties (the BJP, the SP and the BSP), the decline of the Congress Party as a unifying force and the absence of the Left as a political force to counteract polarisation on religious lines – all these have played their part in the creation of the dismal state of communal relations in UP today. In western UP, peasant unity fostered by organisations such as the Bharatiya Kisan Union or by Rashtriya Lok Dal (seeking to preserve the legacy of erstwhile peasant leader Chaudhary Charan Singh) has dissipated. Muslim peasants have been displaced and are no longer keen on returning to their homes. The resulting lull in agricultural activities in the region could have given cause for peasants, cutting across religious lines, to come together. Many Jat farmers and landowners, for example, have lost farm labour from the Muslim community. Yet, expectations of unity have been belied as festering communal relations have been taken advantage of by parties like the BJP to advance their narrow agenda. Perhaps after the electoral battles are settled, post the by-elections, social forces in the region could work together and rebuild amity. With an ineffective state administration and an apathetic ruling government, however, there is little hope that the polity alone could help heal the situation in western UP.
The victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh (UP) was facilitated by a number of factors, but these varied region wise in the state. In western UP, the reasons were crystal clear – the BJP had not just won emphatically in Muzaffarnagar and other surrounding districts of the area, but had also managed to polarise votes on a communal basis to a significant extent. A close look at the voting records at the polling booth level in the Muzaffarnagar constituency alone (provided in the Form 20A data released by the Election Commission) reveals that there is a significantly high proportion – close to 30% of the overall number of booths – which polled more than 90% for a single party (in most cases, the BJP). This is evident in comparison with the 2009 Lok Sabha elections where such polling booths were far lower in number (only around 15-20 booths overall). Communal polarisation, in other words, was the main reason for the BJP recording its most emphatic victory in India’s largest state. The party had successfully replicated its “Gujarat electoral model” in western UP. The spurt of communal incidents following the elections, especially after July (during the Ramzan celebrations) – tabulated and investigated in a special report in the Indian Express – reveals that the polarisation strategy is sought to be replicated for the upcoming by-elections to various assembly constituencies in that area and beyond in UP. Nearly every minor/trivial incident featuring a Hindu and a Muslim, or a Sikh and a Muslim, or a dalit and a Muslim has been a trigger for a “communal incident”, the investigation reveals. The BJP, of course, has tried its best to bring about this situation, but the other main political parties – a desperate Samajwadi Party (SP) and a weakened Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) – have also been responsible for the politicisation of minor incidents. Be it Saharanpur, where riots pitting Sikhs against Muslims have taken place in a city that has had amicable relations between the communities for long, or parts of Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Meerut, and Sambhal, the story is similar. In Saharanpur, for example, the BJP sought to consolidate the Sikh vote by posturing as a protector of the Sikh community, while Muslim political leaders attempted to rake up dormant religious demands to polarise votes in their favour. Muzaffarnagar and Shamli continue to reel from communal hatred months after the riots of last year, fanned by the BJP’s local leaders for political benefit. The BJP’s current President Amit Shah had cut his teeth as a first-time organiser in UP by playing the communal card in Muzaffarnagar during the Lok Sabha campaign as well. It is clear that the “Muzaffarnagar model” is now being applied in other parts of UP to keep the cauldron burning. Meanwhile reports point to new fissures between dalits and Muslims in places such as Azamgarh, again with the BJP seeking to consolidate its “dalit” vote share before scheduled by-elections in the area and the BSP being unable to hold on to its reputation as a party that “catered” to the interests of the dalits and the Congress as a party that catered to the members of both communities. In many ways, it is the failure of SP and BSP to move beyond the narrow confines of being parties patronising social interests restricted to particular castes and communities that has given the BJP a chance to consolidate itself as a party representing “Hindu interests”. The SP and its government did little to ease the tension in Muzaffarnagar last year, partly because the party did not have a strong political base in the region and partly because of its cynical approach. The SP thought the communal polarisation could work in its favour as well. Post the riots, with communal tension not subsiding, the enduring feeling of isolation among the Muslim community bodes ill for the state, which already has the highest incidence of communal violence in the country. Some political scientists believe that ethnic riots have mostly occurred due to the electoral compulsions of political outfits. In other words, the democratic system and electoral politics, which is supposed to ease contradictions in society and resolve differences, have instead turned out to be responsible for the deterioration of communal relations. The same story seems to be unfolding in UP. The persisting narrow outlook of the three main political parties (the BJP, the SP and the BSP), the decline of the Congress Party as a unifying force and the absence of the Left as a political force to counteract polarisation on religious lines – all these have played their part in the creation of the dismal state of communal relations in UP today. In western UP, peasant unity fostered by organisations such as the Bharatiya Kisan Union or by Rashtriya Lok Dal (seeking to preserve the legacy of erstwhile peasant leader Chaudhary Charan Singh) has dissipated. Muslim peasants have been displaced and are no longer keen on returning to their homes. The resulting lull in agricultural activities in the region could have given cause for peasants, cutting across religious lines, to come together. Many Jat farmers and landowners, for example, have lost farm labour from the Muslim community. Yet, expectations of unity have been belied as festering communal relations have been taken advantage of by parties like the BJP to advance their narrow agenda. Perhaps after the electoral battles are settled, post the by-elections, social forces in the region could work together and rebuild amity. With an ineffective state administration and an apathetic ruling government, however, there is little hope that the polity alone could help heal the situation in western UP.
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