THE Machiavellian principle of "divide and rule" (or divide and conquer, from Latin dīvide et īmpera) still reigns supreme. In an interesting analysis in Hindustan Times, Sunita Aron explains how the BJP successfully breached the Muslim vote bank in Uttar Pradesh by luring away the Shiites. Many Shiites voted for the BJP during the recent UP polls, she claims noting "the Shiites came on board first and now some Sunnis may also explore the saffron party despite its Hindutva agenda." Aron writes that the Shiites have broken with the Sunni majority to support the three controversial moves of the new BJP government led by Yogi Adityanath: A negotiated settlement of the Ayodhya dispute, a ban on triple talaq and cow slaughter — the third literally breaking the financial backbone of the Muslim community. Although the Shiites form only 8 percent of 200-million strong Indian Muslim community and have generally toed a different line from that of the mainstream, their flirting with the BJP is nonetheless disturbing. After all, this is a party that did not field a single Muslim candidate in the recent UP polls even for appearance sake. Its approach to minorities in general and the largest minority in particular is little different from that of the Nazis toward the Jews. By preying on the so-called Muslims vote bank, the BJP hit two birds with one stone: One, it neutralized the power of Muslim vote which has been the biggest single hurdle in its quest to return to power in the country's largest and most important state. Two, by making the Muslim vote irrelevant, the BJP has deprived the secular parties of their crucial constituency — the dependable Muslim vote bank that has, in the words of Asaduddin Owaisi, the leader of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, acted as the "coolie of Indian secularism" — silently carrying its backbreaking burden. It's not just Shiites that the BJP and its hydra-headed Parivar is targeting in order to undermine the unity of Muslim society. The party has also been relentlessly targeting Muslim women, repeatedly raising the issue of triple talaq and demanding the imposition of Uniform Civil Code. The party claims that many Muslim women voted for it in UP because it "champions" their rights. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself has been shedding copious tears over the "plight of Muslim mothers and sisters." In the typical saffron doublespeak, he has cautioned against "politicizing" the issue of talaq, while he and his party miss no opportunity or platform to rake up the issue again and again. Someone who deserted his wife and still refuses to acknowledge her existence sees no irony in pontificating about the rights of Muslim women. Where were these tears when Muslim women were being raped and burned alive en masse in Gujarat under the BJP? A pregnant Bilkis Bano, in whose case the Bombay High Court pronounced its verdict last week, was gang-raped and her young baby along with 11 of her family were butchered right before her eyes during the 2002 pogrom. The Bombay HC gave the killers life imprisonment whereas a day later the rapists and killers of Jyoti Singh aka Nirbhaya in the infamous Delhi rape case were granted death by the Supreme Court. Two crimes of similar nature yet such dissimilar verdicts! But what's new? From Afzal Guru to Yaqub Memon and from Swami Aseemanand to Sadhvi Pragya, there are clearly two standards of justice. Some are more equal. The BJP is also targeting the Muslim society from yet another quarter, by wooing the substantial constituency of backward Muslims in the North. Sabir Ali, former MP and once the Janata Dal's Muslim face in Bihar, is leading these calibrated efforts to target this constituency, majority of whom remain concentrated in UP and Bihar and are desperately poor, illiterate and thus vulnerable. They toil for peanuts in industries and crafts that had once been India's pride. Ali convened one such conference for his new masters under the aegis of "Bharatiya Muslim Pichchda Warga Sammelan" in Delhi this week. The BJP has planned at least 100 such "outreach" programs and two major rallies across the country in the next few months to drive home the message that it is the messiah of backward Muslims. Clearly, the party is looking to outdo its performance in the 2014 polls wiping out what remains of the Congress and other opposition parties. Nothing and no one would stand then in the Parivar's way from enforcing its fascist agenda of one religion and one culture at the expense of everyone else. What is most disturbing about this whole situation is that few people, including other minorities like Christians, Sikhs and Buddhists and oppressed communities such as Dalits, seem to be aware of the existential threat these forces represent and what it would mean for the future of secular democracy and the idea of an inclusive India with myriad identities, cultures and faiths that we inherited. As Jawaharlal Nehru, the visionary first prime minister, repeatedly cautioned, the majoritarian communalism as represented by Hindutva would be the end of India. If the country becomes a Hindu Rashtra of Golwalkar's and Savarkar's dreams, it would not just be a catastrophe for Muslims and other religious minorities. It would be an epic tragedy and great injustice to the followers of Hinduism too, which is a great, peaceful and all-embracing religion that celebrates the diversity of life. Hindutva's idea of Hinduism is what happened to Mahatma Gandhi and what we have been witnessing over the past few years across the country — in the rising attacks on minorities and Dalits and the reign of terror unleashed in the name of all that is holy. If merely having their party in power could do this to the foot soldiers of the Parivar, imagine what they could unleash if India is declared a Hindu Rashtra. What makes no sense is that more and more Dalits and other backward communities are backing the same forces that have sanctioned their centuries of unimaginable oppression and dehumanization. The BJP won in UP and elsewhere in the country largely using this improbable coalition of upper caste Hindus, backwards and Dalits, something that the Congress once managed. This is, doubtless, the success of the BJP and Modi's massive propaganda blitz and clever tactics. This is not just a battle of survival for Muslims who are its primary victims. This is an all-out war on the very idea of a democratic and secular India. And this will not stop with Muslims. They would come for the Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Dalits and everyone else who is seen and dares to be different. It is unfortunate therefore that other minorities and even moderate, reasonable Hindus should remain silent spectators in the face of the unfolding witch hunt and terrorizing of Muslims. The time to speak up and act is now before the mob comes for them. Before it is too late. Aijaz Zaka Syed is an award-winning journalist. Email: [email protected]
