‘Upper caste consolidation based on hatred by BJP aims to turn Muslims into new untouchable class’

Upper caste liberals need to understand that Bharatiya Janata Party has been winning uninterrupted from 2002 onwards on the politics of hatred, Hartosh Singh Bal, political editor of The Caravan magazine said on Saturday.

“For 20 years it is the same pattern of win and this is a challenge to the idea of India. This is a failure of the broader Left to include many more in their ranks,” he said while speaking at an event organized by Janhastakshep, a campaign against fascist designs, at the Press Club in the national capital.

“Just take a look at what BJP has done in Uttar Pradesh. They have appointed a Pasmanda Muslim (Danish Azad Ansari) as the lone minister in the Yogi Adityanath Cabinet. They are appointing several Pasmanda Muslims in Waqf Boards in the state. Who was stopping the Liberals from being inclusive? If we don’t acknowledge this, we can’t challenge them,” underscored Bal.

The BJP had not fielded a single Muslim candidate in the UP Assembly polls.

The event by Janhastakshep was held against the rising culture of hate in the country and how the promotion of a ‘culture of hate’ in everyday life by the Sangh Parivar, at the helm of which is Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, has sanctified it.

From the 2002 win of Modi in Gujarat to the 2022 win of Yogi in Uttar Pradesh, it was all based on Hindu majoritarianism and the hatred of Muslims. BJP has a strong unbreakable votebank in the north of Vindhyas, which is the upper castes, including Brahmins and Baniyas.

“To most of these upper castes, it is evident that Congress has not risen to the challenge. Aam Aadmi Party is not a challenge to BJP. The upper caste consolidation based on hatred is well thought out and directed at the construction of a new untouchable class – the Muslims,” said Bal.

With the rise of Kanshi Ram’s Bahujan Samaj Party, Bahujans had a party, Samajwadi Party represented Yadavs and a few other OBCs, so it was evident that the upper caste vote bank would go to BJP.

The BJP is working towards the permanent untouchability of Muslims, underscored Bal, and pointed out that ‘Hindu Rashtra’ cannot exist without the creation of this class. “The dissenters of this project are Punjab, West Bengal, where there is 30% Muslims; Tamil Nadu, which is culturally strong roots, and Kerala,” said Bal.

He said we need to understand that the numbers are with BJP. The population of Uttar Pradesh is growing fast and that is their voter base growing. Bal observed that this was worrisome.

Former Delhi University professor Shamsul Islam said the Hindutva project aimed to make Muslims the new Shudras. “Muslims are hardly represented anywhere, yet the hatred against them is growing,” he said.

He remarked that it should be understood that RSS is against Hindus too, not just Muslims and Christians, who are in minority anyway. “RSS is against the fight for equality. When the Constitution was adopted, RSS reiterated that they wanted Manusmriti, which is against most Hindus and women,” added Islam.

Instead of understanding this, Islam contended, the Muslim leadership is getting embroiled in the Hijab dialogue. “We are now fighting cases stating that Hijab is an integral part of Islam. We are playing the RSS game. We have to fight the disease and not just the symptoms,” asserted Islam.

Pointing towards the use of violence in a decentralised way, editor and co-founder of the news website The Wire, Siddharth Varadarajan said BJP realised that there was limited utility and consequences for large scale riots.

“However, the cumulative impact of the lynching, hatred, and creation of doubts about each other has much more of an effect,” he said.

Underscoring this point, author and activist Sanjay Kak said the rationale for the killing and dispossession of Muslims is being cooked up and the film The Kashmir Files aids this project.

The erasure of Muslims from everyday life as a policy is being carried out. “They are trying several things – love jihad, hijab issue, conversion, land jihad, triple talaq, Babri Masjid verdict. They are bleeding Muslims with several small cuts. They are trying to normalise many things,” Varadarajan said.

Politics of violence is growing in the country and the media has been playing a role in keeping this cycle on. “Newsrooms where there are a majority of upper castes employed are doing what they actually believe in. They have always embraced the BJP and they want to do it. So, when one sees newsrooms overtly supporting BJP, there is nothing to be surprised about,” pointed out Bal.