By Naushad Ansari
After two phases of Bihar voting, the NDA is
finding itself in choppy waters. The Hindustan Times, a leading English daily
of Patna, reports that an internal assessment by the BJP has the party worried
about its prospects in the crucial Bihar election with two phases of polling out
of the way. (H.T., Oct. 18) In phase – 1, the BJP was expecting a difficult
battle in JD (U) strongholds. But a seat-by-seat analysis suggests the party
fared worse than expected with the Grand Alliance firmly in the lead. The phase
– 2 was considered Majhi’s stronghold, but report suggests that the BJP faces a
tight race even there. Alarmed by this report the BJP has completely changed
its strategy, starting with replacing hoardings and banners with the pictures of
the PM and Amit Shah with local leaders.
Using a different card the PM, at a public
meeting in Buxar on October 26, alleged that the Grand Alliance is plotting to
deprive SCs, STs and OBCs of their job quota and give it to ‘a particular
community’. Unveiling a new strategy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi further
stated that ‘this son (himself) of a poor EBC tea-seller will put his life on
the line to protect your job quota’. Rebutting this Chief Minister Nitish Kumar
accused Prime Minister of changing his caste profile to suit BJP’s electoral
needs. “From a development driver, he became OBC and now he is calling himself
an EBC. We don’t know if Gujarat has EBCs. Don’t be surprised if he becomes a
Dalit also in course of polls,” Kumar added.
On the other hand Muslim named leaders of the BJP
are campaigning in Muslim localities on war footing. They are appealing,
through personal contacts and also using Urdu dailies, to come out of the vote
bank era and to vote for the BJP. They are trying to convince that Muslims have
equitable share in the development and are quite safe in Gujarat, and that India
had thousands of communal riots and why should one remember only 2002 Gujarat
riot!
But there are few takers of such statements and
appeals and it will hardly affect a single secular-justice-loving voter, Muslim
or non-Muslim. Today the voters know the clear line of demarcation between
secularism and communalism, between Hinduism and Hindutva. They will never
betray the country’s ethos of communal harmony. They are aware that the secular
parties are, more or less, governed by the Constitution. But for the
communalists, Gujarat pogrom is what the Muslims deserved; Babri Masjid
demolition is moral and a matter of belief; no democratic rights but
majoritarianism, law or no law. The PM’s long time silence on lynching
incidents is very fresh in their mind. They can foresee major changes in the
Constitution suiting to the whims of the parivar.
The BJP leadership shed tears on how powerless
the Muslims have been treated as mere vote banks by the secular parties. But
the same party opposes implementation of Prime Minister’s 15 points program on
the development of Muslims. Even the government of Gujarat has challenged the
legality of ‘Sachar Committee’ report. This confirms that they have no real
interest in the welfare of Muslims. Indeed, the scale of killings, rapes,
physical loss and property destruction in Gujarat pogrom was so huge, in terms
of time and geographical spread, that this could never have been occurred
without the collusion of the Government machinery.
As for the development, the CAG reports and data
on economic and social development from various sources make it evident that the
much-touted “Gujarat model” of development is non-inclusive, socially divisive
and highly ineffective in key areas.
Representations made to Sachar committee reveal
what issues the Muslims think are important to them. For no other state,
security was such an important issue as Muslims of Gujarat, they ranked it as
their third most important issue while the all India level this issues was
placed fifth out of the nine categories. Again, poverty incidence is 34 for
Muslims of Gujarat residing in urban areas, which is better than many states but
almost double the state (Gujarat) average of 18.
Unfortunately, by stages, the communal extremist
forces have come to challenge the very fabric of secularism. The Bihar election
shall be a test of the political maturity and wisdom of the people of Bihar.
(Author is the President of Peace Foundation, Patna)
http://beyondheadlines.in/2015/10/muslims-in-bihar-election-2015/
http://muslimmirror.com/eng/muslims-in-bihar-elections-2015/
