speech after speech saying that the secret candidate of the Congress for the CM post was Ahmed-miyan (Ahmed Patel, political secretary of the Congress president). Similarly, Modi also repeatedly called former Pakistan pres- ident Pervez Musharraf as miyan-Musharraf in the 2007 election. In that election, he was highlighting the threat of Islamic terror in Gujarat emanating from Pakistan. By attaching the miyan-suffix to Musharraf in 2007 and to Ahmed Patel in 2012, Modi was referring to the larger Muslim population of the state for mobilising support from his Hindutva supporters. It is true that after the Gujarat riot, Modi has been success- ful in propagating the myth of "development" in Gujarat. In his campaign for the 2014 general election, though the dom- inant perception has been that he fought on the issue of development, the truth is that he also played the communal card quite effectively. While he left his Man Friday Amit Shah to brag about taking revenge for the Muzaffarnagar riot, Modi himself accused the Congress for promoting the “pink revolution”, referring to the flourishing beef industry in the country and linking it to the Muslim community. He also openly threat- ened to deport Bangla-speaking Muslims from Assam. After Modi became PM in May 2014, the Hindutva forces have been regularly mocking at India’s secular Constitution. Muslims have witnessed increased attacks on their places of worship, state patronage has been given for the large-scale ghar wapsi programme and vigilantism has risen against the so-called love-jihad along with Modi him- self talking about banning the so-called "triple talaq". Across India, there have been increasing reports of vio- lence involving gau rakshaks. In September 2015, a Muslim in Dadri village near Delhi was lynched to death for allegedly storing beef in his freezer. In the summer months of 2016, the growing barbaric acts of these cow vigilantes drew international condemnation and that forced Modi to rebuke them. While doing so, the ever pracharak Modi, to keep his core-support base happy, also managed to invoke a Hindutva version of history, of how Muslim rulers in the past (badshahs) cunningly used cowherds in front of their invading army to win against cow-worshipping Hindu rulers (rajas). As PM of his country, it was expected that Modi will respect his constitutional obligations and to do whatever he can to protect all faiths in a "secular" India. But, time and again he makes statements that directly or indirectly make the Muslim community nervous.
He left no stone unturned to communalise the Bihar election in 2015, while accusing the opposition without any foundation that they had been trying to “steal” 5 per cent quota to give to a religious minority (read Muslims). This kabirstaan-shamshaan and Ramzan-Diwali provo- cation in UP follows the same pattern that Modi has been following since his first entry into electoral politics in 2002. Modi’s mantra of communal polarisation, which helps him electorally, is at the same time dangerously widening the gulf between India’s Muslims and their PM. Many were expecting Modi to change his "Hindutva" spots after becoming PM of a diverse country like India, but RSS teach- ings seem to be more powerful than the demands of the country’s Constitution. Unfortunately, Prime Minister Modi’s repeated barb against Muslims has strengthened Hindutva forces in the country and anti-Muslim frenzy has captured the majority imagination.
75 indiaparentmagazine.org
School Special 2017
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker