Votebankin바카라� Ghostwalk: Muslims Are Out of Reckoning in Poll-Bound States

Not far behind, Congress president Rahul Gandhi is making the rounds of temples, even as senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad recently lamented that he isn바카라�t called for campaigning as the Congress fears it would cause the loss of Hindu votes. While his party members have contradicted his statement, Azad has surely managed to highlight the feeling of alienation among Muslims in an increasingly polarised political scenario.

In Rajasthan, Muslims have never had much political significance, perhaps because of their share in the state바카라�s population바카라�nine per cent, according to the 2011 census바카라�quite less than their share in Uttar Pradesh (19.2%) and Bihar (16.8%). No wonder the first palpable assertion of the 바카라�Modi wave바카라� was in Rajasthan, when the BJP won 163 seats out of 200 in the 2013 assembly polls. The representation of Muslims in the assembly plummeted to a measly two바카라�both from the BJP. And Muslim morale was dealt a body blow by a spate of hate crimes and mob lynchings.

Three Muslim men were killed by cow vigilantes in Alwar district alone바카라�the first was Pehlu Khan, a dairy farmer whose lynching in April 2017 sparked nationwide outrage. Five months later, in Jaisalmer district, a Muslim folk singer was beaten to death, allegedly because a substandard performance had 바카라�displeased a goddess바카라�. Then, in December 2017, a Muslim man was axed to death and burnt in Rajsamand district. The assailant got the act filmed and released it on social media, followed by more videos invoking Hindu pride and inciting hatred against Muslims.

What the Muslims of Rajasthan seem to rue the most is that the Congress, the main opposition party, has been largely indifferent to their concerns. Pointing out that it was usual for negotiations between the Congress and the Muslims to begin two-three months before every assembly election, Shifat Khan, a retired bank manager from Alwar, says it바카라�s different this time. 바카라�There have been no dialogues and I don바카라�t think there will be any in future as the Congress is eager to tell people, 바카라�See, we have no truck with Muslims바카라�,바카라� says Shifat, who contested the unsu­cc­essfully from the Kishangarh Bas ass­embly constituency in Alwar on a Bahujan Samaj Party ticket in 2013.

At the Ghous-e-Azam madrasa in Piproli village of Alwar, a group of kids, no more than 10 in age, are performing ablutions for the evening prayer. Mohammed Faizan, one of their teachers at the bare and dusty seminary with the Aravallis in the backdrop, says the rising prices of diesel and petrol have caused great distress to the people. 바카라�The farmer is in despair. Demon­e­tisation has pushed the country 50 years back. People are tired of this government and yearn for change,바카라� he adds. Asked about the communal rhetoric by local politicians, he says, 바카라�Yeh Hindos­taan hai. Shiddatpasandi yahaan ke logon ke khoon mein nahin. (This is India. The DNA of its people doesn바카라�t have extremism).바카라�

At a press conference in Jaipur on October 22, former Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot of the Congress attacked the Vasundhararaje government on a number of issues바카라�from the agrarian crisis and unemployment to the law and order situation바카라�but did not mention the lynchings of Muslims. But state Congress spokesperson Archana Sharma tells Outlook that her party has always spoken up whenever such cases happened. 바카라�If people from any human rights organisation can go to these places and fight for the victims, it is because they know the Congress has got their back,바카라� says Sharma.

In Jaipur바카라�s Muslim-dominated Ramganj area, the dominant feeling is one of disinterest towards politics. 바카라�All that a person wants is to be happy with two square meals. This government robbed us of that,바카라� says Mohammed Sameer, 24, who is engaged in the gemstone business. 바카라�It바카라�s a slump. If you put your notebook aside and try to find work, you won바카라�t get any. The government has introduced 10 different kinds of bills. We spent these five years filling bills and forms, getting Xeroxes done, and standing in queues.바카라�

A few Muslim organisations held a joint press conference earlier this month and urged the community to vote for a secular party. 바카라�We gave a clear message to the Congress that we need tickets in proportion to our population. If Muslims are not treated with respect, we might as well go for a third front,바카라� says Jamaat-e-Islami Hind바카라�s Rajasthan media secretary Iqbal Siddiqui. How­ever, a Muslim member of the Con­gress requesting anonymity says that the community is so anguished with the BJP that many will vote Congress even if the party does not field a single Muslim candidate. 바카라�There are five pillars of Islam, shahada (faith), namaz (prayer), zakat (charity), roza (fast) and hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca). Today, in Rajasthan, there is a sixth pillar바카라�the Congress,바카라� he says.

In neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, Muslims are an even smaller percentage (6.57) of the population. There has been only one Muslim MLA in the 230-seat assembly in the past 15 years, not a single Muslim among the 29 Lok Sabha members from the state, and only one among the 11 Rajya Sabha members바카라�that too someone not from the state. With assembly elections weeks away, the Congress is visibly aboard the Hindu plank and ardently wearing the Hindu identity on the sleeve.

바카라�Muslims have become a liability for the Congress,바카라� says hockey Olympian Aslam Sher Khan, also a former Congress MP. 바카라�For the first time, the Congress is trying to project itself as a 바카라�better Hindu바카라� by sidelining Muslims. And this is indeed benefitting them to an extent. In doing away with its pro-Muslim image, the party is expecting a rise of 5-10 per cent in its votes.바카라�

Curiously, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan is not known for taking strident Hindutva positions. He has no problems in donning the skull cap and can be seen greeting Muslims at Bhopal바카라�s Idgah on Eid. He makes it a point to host iftar during Ramzan. 바카라�This is one of the reasons the party has increased its Muslim votebank to 20 per cent, registering a four-fold increase over two decades,바카라� claims a local BJP leader.

Arif Aqueel, the lone Muslim MLA in the Madhya Pradesh assembly, feels Muslims are being ignored and given a stepmotherly treatment. 바카라�They even come to see what is being cooked in the kitchens of Muslims and on the ­slightest pretext they lynch Muslims. The community is living under constant fear,바카라� says Aqueel, who represents the Congress. 바카라�Muslims today would be satisfied if they are just allowed to live in peace. Getting their due share in power is not on the list of their current priorities.바카라�

Political analyst Rasheed Kidwai says the bargaining power of Muslims is at its lowest. 바카라�While a section of the community is despondent, others think they should maintain a low profile when there is a duststorm. Seeking political representation at this time would be counterproductive and benefit only the BJP as it would lead to a division of the non-BJP votes,바카라� says Kidwai.

There are 23 Muslim MPs in the Lok Sabha. All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asadu­ddin Owaisi, three-time MP for Hyde­rabad, a constituency with over 60 per cent Muslim voters, believes most of them have been elected because of Muslim votes. 바카라�There is hardly any Muslim representation left in most states and the Lok Sabha,바카라� says Owaisi, one of the most vocal political voices from the community. 바카라�The community has been systematically marginalised and alienated, and the alienation is growing with every assembly election. The number of seats given to Muslim candidates is coming down and an even lesser number are being elected.바카라�

Owaisi believes Muslims will not vote for the Congress and its allies in the Telangana assembly polls. 바카라�The community will vote for the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the regional party in power. There have been no communal riots. The government has started several schemes for the welfare of Muslims, including residential schools, scholarships to study overseas and Shaadi Mubarak,바카라� he says. 바카라�For its part, the Congress has done nothing for the Muslims. It was the Congress-led United Progressive Allia­nce ­government that brought in the dra­conian Unlawful Activities (Prev­ention) Act. Maharashtra under the Congress saw the most communal riots. Muslims should stop voting for the Congress. The leaders are arrogant, while their politics reeks of hypocrisy and a sense of entitlement.바카라�

By Salik Ahmed in Jaipur and K.S. Shaini in Bhopal