Is NaMo reaching out to the Muslims? Not in Uttar Pradesh

Rajnath Singh (left) and Narendra Modi

The importance of Uttar Pradesh in India’s electoral politics needs no elaboration. With 80 Lok Sabha seats, no party that wants to form a government at the Centre can ignore the state. Elections over the decades, with a few exceptions, have shown that the party which wins UP either forms the government at the Centre or becomes a major ally in a coalition running the government in New Delhi. Another reason that keeps UP in the spotlight is that it is home to many high-profile constituencies, like Rae Bareli, Amethi, Varanasi, Lucknow, etc. Varanasi, in UP, will probably be the most-talked about constituency as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal are contesting from here. That Mr Modi chose Varanasi as one of the two seats he is contesting from reflects the state’s importance to the BJP.

Narendra Modi with Muslim leaders

With Muslims forming about 18% of the state’s population, their importance cannot be overlooked. Given this, it is surprising that of the 75 candidates the BJP has announced in UP, there is not even one candidate from the Muslim community. On the face of it an analysis on religious lines is not always the right approach, but, for a party that is claiming to be more ‘inclusive’ and keeping a distance from the hardline Hindutva it has been associated with, this void is glaring. The BJP, especially under Mr Modi, has made an effort — or it seems — to reach out to the Muslim community. Party president Rajnath Singh’s “try us once…” comment was widely perceived as an effort to bring the minority community closer to the BJP and thereby boost its chances in the elections. The party was quick to clarify that Mr Singh’s comment was not an apology for the 2002 riots in Gujarat, but an assurance that it will not shy away from apologising for any future mistake. Its list of candidates from UP, however, tell a different story.
The BJP is counting on the upper caste votes and is building on the support of the OBCs. Back-of-the-envelope estimates predict around 40 seats for the party in the state. In the state’s crowded electoral pool this is a commanding figure. But the party will have to put its money where its mouth is. This also gives other parties, especially the Congress that has fielded 11 Muslims from the state, a stick to beat the BJP. This is a criticism the BJP cannot wish away.

Khalid Mujahid: Custodial deaths and terror suspects

The death of terror suspect Khalid Mujahid, on Saturday, while being escorted by police from court to Lucknow jail has turned the heat on the state police and administration by a few notches. Mujahid, along with Tariq Qasmi, was arrested for allegedly being involved in the bomb blasts that took place in the Lucknow and Faizabad courts in 2007 and in the Gorakhpur blasts the same year. Right from the time of the arrests there has been allegations of police highhandedness and targeting of the minority community. The Samajwadi Party had promised in its election manifesto to review the cases against ‘innocent’ Muslim youth lodged in jails on terror charges. Accordingly it moved the Barabanki court in April seeking a withdrawal of the cases against Mujahid and Qasmi. The court rejected the plea.
While an FIR has been filed blaming 42 police personnel for the death of Mujahid, including a former DGP of Uttar Pradesh, the state has asked for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death. Relatives have alleged that there were signs of torture on Mujahid’s body. One of the things the death of Khalid Mujahid points to is the indifferent attitude shown by the Akilesh Yadav government to the RD Nimesh Commission report. The commission, constituted by the Mayawati government, had submitted its report in August and is believed to have found a lot of discrepancies with the police version of the arrests of Mujahid and Qasmi. It still isn’t clear as to why has the state government not acted upon the suggestions by the commission. This also leads to the greater question of why do governments fail to act on the recommendations put forward by enquiry commissions. Such inaction leads to public discontent and loss of faith in the government’s commitment towards the people.
Khalid Mujahid’s death is not the first instance of custodial death and unless there are serious changes in the way the police function and in the way cases are handled this might not be the last. All cases, especially terror-related, need to be handled swiftly and the officials investigating the case need to be held responsible for undue delays.