Prof. K N Panikkar’s call to observe History Week in India

April 2, 2018

Historiography appears to be under threat in India and there are concerns that this might be the result of alleged political patronage of right wing fundamentalist groups by the present ruling dispensation. Several media reports suggest that these right wing fundamentalist forces aim to assert their dominance over India by rewriting history, allegedly with the complete support of the government.

In the light of this increasing threat from the right wing, eminent historian K N Panikkar has appealed to the History organisations in the country to observe a History Week. Prof. Panikkar is known for his work on intellectual and cultural history of colonial India. He has taught in different prestigious universities in India and also served as the vice-chancellor of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kerala. He suggested it is the need of the hour to take history and history writing out of the seminar halls and present it to the common masses. This would bring much broader discussions and awareness among the young generation to counter the attacks on the History of India.

“We Don’t Need Women’s Rights, Child Rights, We Have the Shariat” : Dr Zehra

April 2, 2018

Mobilising women against the triple talaq bill

Image: Mumbai Mirror

Five lakh Muslim women are expected to converge at Azad Maidan today, to oppose the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill. The Bill, which makes instant triple talaq a non-bailable, cognisable offence, attracting a punishment of three years’ jail, has been passed by the Lok Sabha, but awaits Rajya Sabha assent.

However, these women have been told that the Bill criminalises talaq per se. Speaking at an 800-strong meeting of women at Oshiwara, Dr Asma Zehra, head of the women’s wing of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, made this statement without specifying that the Bill applies only to instant triple talaq. The same wrong claim was repeated by another speaker at a Madanpura rally.

The women have also been told that the Bill is the “first step’’ towards the BJP’s dream of a Uniform Civil Code. Once that was enacted, said Board member Monisa Bushra Abidi, Muslims would no longer be allowed to conduct nikaahs in masjids, and might even have to go through Hindu rituals such as saat phere.

Attending the rally was akin to waging “jehad’’ against the `kaafir’s attempts to destroy their religion, the women were told. They were exhorted to follow the examples of the Prophet’s daughter Fatima and the first female martyr Sumayya.

Describing the atrocities on Muslim women during the Gujarat 2002 violence, speakers pointed out that the perpetrators of those atrocities were now showing concern for Muslim women’s rights. “Gender justice, women’s and child rights – we don’t need any of these,’’ said Dr Zehra. “We have the Shariat.’’

Few in the audience knew anything about the Board or the Bill. A handful said the rally was aimed at opposing interference in their religion and their Shariat. Triple talaq was not allowed in Islam, they emphasized. But when told that the Bill too does not allow it, they faltered and directed this reporter to the organisers.

Today’s rally is being seen as the “grand finale’’ to the series of women’s rallies organised by the Board across the country, in a bid to show that the triple talaq Bill is being opposed not only by men, whose rights it curtails, but by women too, whom it is supposed to benefit. The who’s who of Mumbai’s Muslims gathered at Islam Gymkhana on Tuesday to work out the logistics of the rally. Among those present at the meet called by Congress MLA Yusuf Abrahani, were Dr Zahir Kazi, president, Anjuman I Islam group of educational institutions, ex-Congress minister Arif Naseem Khan, AIMIM MLA Waris Pathan, and Farid Shaikh of the Mumbai Aman Committee. Shakir Patni, Mumbai AIMIM president, announced a personal donation of Rs five lakh. The all-male gathering announced that schools and masjids would be used to mobilize women.

Similarly, male activists such as Arif Ghori of Lokanchi Shakti and Zubair Azmi, who runs the Bhendi Bazar festival, helped organize meetings of women across the city, making sure only women addressed them. Barring a few, the speakers were wives of activists. Dr Asma Zehra from Hyderabad, and Sumaiyya Nomani, daughter of Board spokesman Maulana Sajjad Nomani, were the star speakers.

Said Zubair Azmi, “This rally will be historic. I’ve seen meetings of Muslims stretching from Madanpura to Azad Maidan on two occasions, but those were all men.’’

The women were told that this was their chance to create history. “The beef ban ruined so many homes; so did TADA earlier. But did your husbands tell you to leave your home and protest?’’ asked activist Gazala Azad. Speakers emphasized that “Islam doesn’t like women to come out of their homes. But this time, you have to take to the streets, because Islam itself and the Sharia are in danger. If Mumbai’s women oppose this Bill, the government will have to listen. The country’s eyes are on you; if you shirk your responsibility, you will be a sinner in the eyes of Allah.’’

The Oshiwara meet ended with women sobbing as a long dua (by a man) bemoaned the fact that women’s tears had dried up and their hearts had hardened like those of men.

By the end of these preparatory meetings, the women were raring to go. Clear instructions were given: “Your menfolk will guide you to buses which will leave from the nearest masjid. Though exams are on, leave children at home. Let the men look after them. Carry water and Electral, but no plastic bags. Do not litter. Show the world that Muslims can be disciplined. Above all, wear your burqa. There will be no slogans because Islam does not like women’s voices to be raised. If the media asks why you are here, tell them this Bill is against our religion, Shariat and our rights.’’

(This is the unedited version of the story that appeared in Mumbai Mirror on March 31, and provide that link

https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/mumbai/other/muslim-men-mobilise-women-for-mass-rally-against-triple-talaq-bill/articleshow/63551916.cm)

Informal workers in the making of our cities

April 2, 2018

India’s unorganized sector forming over 80 percent of the total work force generates about 50 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. Over the years when the rights of workers in formal sectors have deteriorated and makes it difficult for them to organize themselves, the condition of workers in the informal sector has remained the worst. Hence, the plight of workers in the informal sector is unheard and never crosses the middle class imagination of the country. In this deplorable reality of large proportion of the country’s workforce, there is an urgent need for workers’ movements and larger civil society to initiate countrywide dialogues and advocacy with the government to transform the unorganized sector.

Dalit activists demonstrate in Canada in support of call for Bharat bandh

April 2, 2018

Dalit activists in Canada staged a rally at Holland Park in Surrey on Sunday, April 1, in support of the organisers of the Bharat bandh called for on Monday, April 2. The Bandh has been called in India against “attempts at rewriting criminal law through court directives.” More than two dozen people came out to demonstrate at the Holland Park rally, which was backed by the Ambedkar International Social Reform Organization (AISRO) of Canada.

AISRO has in recent months stepped up its efforts against the increasing atrocities taking place towards Dalits under the dispensation of the ruling regime Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP. Sunday’s demonstration in Holland Park was staged to oppose recent efforts to water down laws enacted to prevent violence against Dalits. Owing to large-scale discontent and protests from various progressive sections against the March 20 order alleging “misuse” of the Atrocities act, the central government has filed a review petition challenging the Supreme Court’s order just hours ago. In it, it is likely to have told the Supreme Court that its March 20 order prohibiting automatic arrests and registration of cases regarding crimes against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCs and STs) will weaken the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act of 1989. The SC’s order includes permitting anticipatory bail for those accused under the Act, and a mandatory “preliminary inquiry” to be carried out by a Deputy Superintendent of Police. The court’s order is purportedly an attempt at preventing public servants from supposedly being blackmailed by false cases under the Act.

Demonstrators at the Canada rally raised slogans against the BJP, and its affiliated Hindu nationalist organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and declared their support for Monday’s proposed Bharat bandh, pledging to bolster the Dalit movement in India. They also unanimously condemned attacks against other minorities in India under the BJP government. Speakers at the rally included AISRO co-founders Rashpal Singh Bhardwaj, Ratan Paul, and Surinder Singh Sandhu, along with Indian Rationalist Society leader Avtar Gill. Gurpreet Singh and Parshotam Dosanjh, members of Indians Abroad for Pluralist India, also attended the rally.

Numerous Dalit organisations have proposed a Bharat bandh on Monday, April 2, and a group of Dalit legislators is set to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the Supreme Court’s order, as well as other issues plaguing the SC/ST community. As of writing this, protests have taken place in Delhi, Punjab, Gujarat and Rajasthan, as well as in Odisha, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh.

Decide Now, Which Side You Are On!

April 2, 2018

Translated from Marathi by Ipista Gauri

Image Courtesy:Balu Sunil/facebook

Three years have passed since Comrade Pansare’s murder. I still remember the tremors of that morning’s violence. Sitting with his hand resting on the pavement, just across the house, Comrade Pansare was trying to say something in spite of the immense pain and bleeding that he was experiencing. I can still remember how warm his hands were as we—the children and I—held him with anguished cries. The bitter saga that followed is still not over. Resorting to the legal recourse to bring the murderers to justice is, undoubtedly, the right way to go. But, what is justice? Will it be truly served? Several such questions remain unanswered even today. Experiencing the murder of a close family member and accepting the journey thereon towards a larger, collective, intellectual, and political fight has proved to be most rational today.

The protests against the recent spate in the murders of rationalists, and the fight for justice, have not ended yet. Across the country, in various places and through various forums, people are now talking and deliberating overthe murders and the challenges faced by the rationalists. People who stand by the democratic ethos and values are coming together. It seems that only writers and intellectuals are wary of the regressive changes taking place in the country. They are able to gauge the possible challenges that these will bring and unrest that they will cause. This is why, after the murder of Professor Kalburgi, they started openly expressing their anxieties and dissent. The whole “award wapsi” movement, of returning the awards, was done to register their dissent. Recently, campaigns like “Not in My Name” have also come up. These socio-political developments in the country will only keep growing. It is when such movements and campaigns gain momentum that there will be a revolution.

Recently, there has been an increase in the number of threats, attacks, and killings of progressive writers, poets, thinkers, and anyone else who opposes religious bigotry and supports cultural diversity and multicultarism. There is an entire horde of people trolling them on social media platforms. There are large scale hate campaigns meant to divide people along the lines of caste, religion, language, and race. The Sangh Parivar and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and ministers openly make statements that go against the democratic and secular values of our Constitution. Interestingly, all this is being done under the garb of nationalism. On one side, geneology experts are stating that, today, no race is superior to the other; on the other side, slogans of “pure hindu” have become a political tool. There is no country today that can claim geographical integrity, racial and cultural unity, and common history. Because of years of colonialism, multiple wars, and migration most countries today comprise of multiple races and communities.

Geographical and economic unity and a common history are some of the factors that unify India as a nation. Our shared history, especially, is one of the strongest and the most powerful bonds. For the past 10,000 years, the Aryans, Mongolians, Christians, Shakas, Greeks, Huns, Arabs, Persians, and Turks; people from different continents like central and Western Asia, and Western Eurasia; from countries like Tibet and Burma, have migrated and settled here. People came here, got along and mixed with the people already living here. For years, saints and walis, Sufi saints created an atmosphere of tolerance, dialogue, and mutual understanding. While the Hindu and Muslim kings were fighting for political supremacy, the common people of the country were living together in harmony. While the Muslims were the last to rule the country before the British, under the colonial rulers, even Muslims were exploited and discriminated against under the colonial rule. In fact, Muslims were also a part of our freedom struggle. Our philosophy, painting, architecture, music, cuisine, dressing, festivals; people like Kabir, Guru Nanak, Akbar, Amir Khusro, Mirza Ghalib; the Bhakti and Sufi movement; the Urdu language, all these influenced and informed each other. They reflect our rich history of syncretic cultures, what some have called the Ganga-Jamuna culture. So, although they were unable to stop the Partition, our leaders decided to create a secular and democratic republic. The principals that guide the Constitution, in fact, are these very principals of democracy and secularism. For instance, religion and political structures were separated; special provisions were made to protect the rights of minority communities under Article 29.

This country has seen Muslim, Sikh, and Christrian terrorists and fundamentalists. We have seen several youth take part in the post-partition violence of 1947, in the Kashmir insurgency, in the Khalisthan movement, in Naxalism, in the insurgency in the North-Eastern states, and several other violent movements. It is important to look beyond mainstream view, which sees these movements as threats to the country’s integrity, or as disruptions in law and governance. Instead, we should see these movements through the lens of humanity. Such efforts, to a certain extent, have been made. One learning that has come out of this is that violence is not the answer to our problems. But, when most Hindus, on being provoked through these hate campaigns, become communalised and turn to violence, then humanity and compassion take a back seat And it is women, innocent minorities, dalits, and rationalists who have to bear the brunt of this. Innumerable Mohsin, Junaid, Akhlaq, dalit brothers and sisters, in Una and other states, have been subjected to this violence. While the majority, at 82%, of those killed by the gaurakhshaks were Muslims, we must remember that the rest 18% were Hindus. The situation in our country is so volatile that a rationalist writer, Sanal Edamaruku, has had to take refuge in Finland because his life is at threat here.

This is not just about the killings of those who dared to question the ideology of the ruling government. It is an attack on the constitutional values, secular ideology, and the democratic system that people like Dabholkar, Pansare, Kulburgi, and Lankesh were trying to protect. They dared to challenge the Sangh Parivar’s agenda of making India a Hindu nation. They were encouraging people to think, to question, and to dissent. It is important that, as rationalists and as those who stand against violence, we recognise and acknowledge that these murders were politically motivated.

What India’s first Home Minister, Sardar Vallabhai Patel, wrote in a letter to Shyama Prasad Mukherjee after Gandhi ji’s death remains relevant even today. He wrote, “Our reports on RSS and Hindu Mahasabha show the evidence that the actions of these organisations, especially those of the RSS, led to the creation of an atmosphere in the country that made such a terrible tragedy possible.” (18 July, 1948. Letters of Sardar Patel, Part 6, Durga Dass)

Sarveshwar Dayal Saxena, a famous hindi poet, in his poem, “Nation is not a Map Drawn on the Paper,” questions the indifferent people living in today’s restless and violent times.

यदि तुम्हारे घर के एक कमरे में आग लगी हो
तो क्या तुम दूसरे कमरे में सो सकते हो ?
यदि तुम्हारे घर के एक कमरे में लाशें सड़ रहीं हों
तो क्या तुम दूसरे कमरे में प्रार्थना कर सकते हो ?

If your house is on fire,
Can you sleep in the other room?
If bodies are rotting in one of the rooms of your house,
Can you pray in the other room?
We are also faced with the same questions today. Can we breathe freely in an environment filled with hatred and violence? Can we live happily as human beings? Violence or humanity; hatred or love and compassion; superstitions or rationality; these are the choices before us. Are we going to leave behind a rich, cultural life for our next generation or a monotonous one? Democracy or Hindu Pakistan? We need to choose.
To ask in poet Balli Singh Chima’s fashion,

तय करो किस ओर हो तुम, तय करो किस ओर हो ।
आदमी के पक्ष में हो, या कि आदमखोर हो ।।…
इससे पहले युद्ध शुरू हो, तय करो किस ओर हो ।
तय करो किस ओर हो तुम, तय करो किस ओर हो ।।

Decide which side you are on, decide your side.
Are you in favour of humanity or are you a murderer.
Before the war begins, decide which side you are on
Decide which side you are on, decide your side.

Megha Pansare is Assistant Professor in Russian language at the Shivaji University, Kolhapur. She is also an activist of CPI, now holds the position of President, Kolhapur District, National Federation of Indian Women ( NFIW).

The original was published in Sakal

Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum

Swords, CDs and Pen Drives: How Riots in 9 Bihar Districts Were Planned and Executed

April 2, 2018

People were called in from outside the state, and arms and inflammatory material was freely distributed, say sources.

Newsclick Image By Sumit

The spate of communal violence in Bihar that spread to nine out of 38 districts was “not at all spontaneous” but “pre-planned” and “manufactured” to achieve “political gains”. There were prior inputs, say those who are closely monitoring the situation, regarding this plan but the alerts were not acted upon to prevent the communal atmosphere from getting disturbed.

Sources said CDs and pen drives containing provocative songs were distributed ahead of Rama Navami apart from new swords, sticks and hockey sticks.

One person was killed and around 65 were injured in communal clashes that erupted after Ram Navami processions in nine districts – Bhagalpur, Munger, Samastipur, Siwan, Gaya, Aurangabad, Kaimur, Nawada and Nalanda. Several people have been arrested in connection with these riots and over a dozen of them are BJP workers, including two senior leaders – Mohan Patwa and Dinesh Kumar Jha. One of the primary suspects – Arijit Shashwat, the son of Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare in the Ashwini Kumar Choubey, is on the run.

“It was pre-planned and the aim was to polarise the society on communal lines. People from neighbouring states such as eastern Uttar Pradesh had been called in to take part in processions (to mark the birth anniversary of Lord Rama) and begin the violence. New and common faces have been spotted in different districts, leading the processions and instigating people to indulge in violence,” two high-ranking officials of the state police told Newsclick on condition of anonymity.

“Thankfully, locals understood the conspiracy and did not take part in the violence. Had their involvement been there, the situation would have been beyond imagination,” one of them said.

Asked about the lapses on part of the police, they said the places where the administration was alert, attempts to create tensions were either foiled or controlled. “Investigations are on, the culprits won’t be spared. They will be brought to book,” said the officers.

Two senior journalists, Newsclick spoke to, also said “it was a pre-planned attacks” and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had “inputs well in advance” that a conspiracy was being hatched to disrupt peace in the state. “Therefore, he (the CM) had appealed to people with folded hands during Bihar Diwas celebrations not to get misguided,” said veteran journalist Gyaneshwar, the editor of website LiveCities.

Asked if the chief minister – who is also the home minister of the state – had the information that something of this sort could happen, what steps did he take to prevent it from occurring, he said, “I can say it with conviction that Nitish Kumar did not want that to happen because of the fact that such violence would dent his image and damage his party’s (the Janata Dal United) prospects in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. It is the BJP (which is alliance partner of the Bihar government) that will enjoy the benefits of communal polarisation and therefore, its leaders actively participated in vitiating the atmosphere in the state.”

To establish his allegations, he said that the state had no tradition of organised processions on the occasion of Rama Navami.

“Of late, the festival has been completely politicised and is being celebrated as display of strength. With political patronage and backing of saffron outfits, people in large number – armed with swords and other weapons – make forced entry into Muslim concentration areas and raise provocative slogans. Surprisingly, we have seen active participation of BJP leaders in such events. We heard Aurangabad MP Sushil Kumar Singh who said that ‘there is a reaction to an action’ (on March 26, following which communal clashes erupted). He instigated the violence,” he added, asking “What kind of culture is this and where are we as a society heading to?”

He alleged that swords were being distributed in several subdivisions of Bihar along with CDs and pen drives containing objectionable songs. He claimed he too has such a pen drive in his possession that has an objectionable song ‘Topi Pahanne Wale Ko Bhi, Jai Shri Ram Kahna Hoga’.

“We are also Hindus. We never went to purchase swords ahead of Rama Navami. From where were such a huge number of swords and other weapons brought? I have information that they were brought from outside, stacked and distributed in a planned manner. A senior officer told me the number of swords sold this year ahead of Rama Navami had not been sold in the entire district for the past 10 years. The administration must investigate this as well,” he said.

“For festivals such as Dussehra, Saraswati Puja, etc., funds are collected from public donations. But in this case, no one came asking for donations required to organise Rama Navami processions. Who has funded the event and from where it came from? It should also be probed,” he concluded.

Another senior journalist Shailendra Dixit told Newsclick,“If you connect all dots, you will conclude that it was planned riots designed by vested interest. Bihar was tactically chosen this time because of its peaceful atmosphere. UP is volatile, one small ignition creates a huge fire. It exposes the people behind that. Creating low-scale violence, a particular party is trying to polarise the society to ensure large number of seats from Bihar where public sentiments are visibly in favour of the opposition party – the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).”

A senior JD(U) leader said the BJP wants to use Bihar as a laboratory of communal violence. “This is the only tool they use to win elections,” he said on condition of anonymity.

Asked why the CM is silent, the infuriated leader said, “Amit Shah had recently said that Nitish Kumar had come to us, we had not gone to him for alliance. We never compromised on secularism despite the fact that we had an alliance with the BJP for the past 10 years. This time, Amit Shah and Modi (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) are dictating the terms. They are in fact ruling the state and Nitishji is acting like a puppet. What maximum he can do is, he will dial Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and appeal to calm down the situation.”

Courtesy: Newsclick.in

The sceptical Dalit, Left Feminist : my dear friend, Rajni Tilak

March 31, 2018

The Rajni TIlak I knew was one who represented beautifully the critique of the left, the women (feminist) and the Dalit movement. She a dalit was married once to a leftist. Who had no time and patience for her questions as a woman and a dalit woman. It was best separating from him, a decision she took a long time ago. She was a part of the feminist movement of the 80s where she was trying to get across the message to the women’s movement that our diverse identities as women needed to be acknowledged and the Dalit woman’s identity had to be recognized for the strengthening of our women’s movement. She shared details of one women’s day celebrations of the 80s. When Dalit women particularly those of the Valmiki and manual scavenging community who came with their kachra basket and brooms, who were not allowed to carry or lead the rally. She felt that as a Dalit woman she could not do without a feminist movement, where her heart was but felt that there was rigidity in us as a movement in revising our positions. We feared our plurality from being highlighted as it called for contestations within us and outside with the State. And in the 80s perhaps we as a movement didnot have the confidence to raise these questions which wanted to exist on our commonality and not our differences. And finally she talked of the Dalit movement who didnot want the women’s questions raised at all. Most of the men were leaders who felt that the “ghar ki baat”should not be brought to the public platform and typically the women’s question could wait and it was a conspiracy of the upper caste to get the women to break the dalit movement.

So the Rajni who emerged in the late nineties to date was somebody who didnot give up on her understandings on the road map of change for the last woman. Her theory and praxis was a combination of the three ideologies of left, women and Dalit. I participated with her in the campaign activities of the Right to Food where she mobilised women for PDS and Functioning ICDS and Mdms.

In 2017 January, the Jaipur collective had planned to restart the movement for the throwing out of the Manu Moorti from the High Court campus. The last conversation we had was about Jignesh Mewani, where there was a lot of admiration yet typically beung Rajni some questions too. She frankly told me to think whether Savitri Bai PHule diwas was the best day for such a launch. Should teachers day, a day of the firat mahila shiksha be the appropriate day when we could do a lot around Dalit women teachers of about dalit girls education. While I was very excited about the hundreds of leaders in the Dalit movement and the confidence of the young people. But she was somewhat sceptical about how the various Dalit groups were sometimes getting competitive and not taking together all the people in the movement. In this meeting she also talked about her daughter moving to Jaipur and she wanted me to be in touch with her. Her last conversation was about Neelabh and his illness. I was unable to talk to her after Neelabhs death. I will miss my conversations with her and her frankness about all of us, the feminists, the Dalits and the left Progressives.

BJP’s Desperation at Non-Performance Fuels Communal Violence in Bihar, Bengal

March 31, 2018

Secularists and liberals are, for instance, silent against the misogyny of the Muslim clergy.This is what has been corroding their credibility over decades, giving rise to the menace of majoritarianism.

Bihar, and many parts of West Bengal, close to Bihar, have been engulfed in organised bouts of communal tension and violence. Religious processions (Ramnavmi and Chaiti Durga; in late January it was Saraswati Puja) have been the occasion. Carrying illegal weapons, entering into Muslim mohallas, shouting incendiary slogans, ransacking Masjids and Madrasas (at Rosera, in Samastipur) have been the modus operandi, beginning with March 17, 2018, from Bhagalpur. The extent of the provocations can be gauged from the fact that chief minister, Nitish Kumar has not been able to prevent these patterns and provocations, even in Silao (Nalanda), his home district. Tragically, the opposition (RJD), despite its huge cadre-base, appears to be hardly doing much, proactively, to confront the menace.

A Pattern?

There are patterns discernible in the recent violent communal onslaught in Bihar . The geography of the violence suggests that those places are more prone to such violence, where: (i) either the BJP’s allies are likely to stake their claims for Lok Sabha seats in 2019, or (ii) the incumbent BJP parliamentarians are feeling insecure due to the widespread discontent of certain caste groups, which may desert BJP in 2019: (a) Munger (where Lalan Singh, a close aide of Nitish is supposed to be important leader); (b) Rosera (Samastipur), which was once represented by Ramvilas Paswan, has got sizeable Kurmi, Koeri and Dalit population; besides, the town of Rosera has got significant presence of Muslim traders; the Mosque targeted has got very tall, imposing tower; and incumbent MLA of Samastipur is a Muslim, Akhtarul Islam Shaheen, of RJD; (c) Jamui (currently represented by LJP’s Chiragh Paswan); Sheikhpura town, an assembly segment of the Jamui Lok Sabha seat witnessed violence on 28 March (d) Aurangabad (was represented by JDU in 2009; its nominee Sushil Kumar Singh, was re-elected in 2014 on BJP symbol ); violence broke on March 25; (e) Silao ( in Nalanda, native district of Nitish); (f) Bhagalpur (which has been Ashwini Chaubey’s preferred choice to contest from; Bhagalpur violence broke out on March 17, after Ashwini’s son, Arijit Shashwat led a mob, and even mocked at the FIR lodged against him); (g) Siwan (from where JDU would like to contest; violence broke out on March 24); (h) earlier, in late January, violence broke out in: (a) Marwan (Muzaffarpur), of Vaishali Lok Sabha seat, which is currently represented by LJP; (b) Aba Bakrpur, Mahuwa, of Hajipur Lok Sabha seat, represented by Ramvilas Paswan; (c) Dhaka (Champaran), of Motihari Lok Sabha seat, which is represented by the Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, and who has to feel the irate of farm distress; (d) Gaya’s incumbent BJP MP, Hari Manjhi, is feeling insecurity after Jitan Manjhi has gone over to the RJD; (e) Nawada, represented by BJP’s Giriraj Singh, who keeps issuing polarising statements. Nawada witnessed violence on March 30, (and also in April 2017, where even JDU MLC Salman Raghib’s house was ransacked). Nawada was, till 2014, supposed to be a safely winnable seat for JDU, and has also got intra-Yadav rivalries. JDU’s Kaushal Yadav (his wife, Purnima Yadav is Congress MLA from Gobindpur, Nawada) and RJD’s Rajballabh Yadav compete with each other.

The victory of SP-BSP alliance in the by-polls of Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats seem to have added to the desperation of the BJP. With more intensified communal polarisations, the BJP appears to be trying to torpedo the emerging alliances of the backwards and dalits. That might explain renewed spurt and virulence in communal skirmishes since late March.

The BJP’s rising desperation has also to do with the fact that the smaller allies representing specific subordinated castes in parts of provinces (e.g., Upendra Kushwaha’s RLSP, Ramvilas Paswan’s LJP, and other such allies of BJP in UP), have not been able to strengthen their base, despite being in alliance with the ruling BJP. Immediately after the by-poll results, some of the allies including Ramvilas Paswan, vented their acute discomfiture with the BJP. All this dissent is being sought to be made ineffective by consolidating Hindus, behind the BJP, through intensified communal polarisations.

Within this overall scenario, it seems almost inevitable that Nitish will be increasingly cornered and even threatened with political oblivion. Even if were to merge with the BJP, he may not retain his visibility at the top any longer. It is also widely rumoured that, on April 14, the birth anniversary of Dalit icon, B. R. Ambedkar, Nitish and Ramvilas Paswan are likely to make certain ‘important announcements’ at a public meeting. On the other hand, Upendra Kushwaha has been making over gestures to the RJD. Thus, the BJP’s allies have begun to air their grievances, in the open, in public. Meanwhile, Bihar keeps sliding on all fronts, and indicators, a decline for which Nitish cannot absolve himself of a share of the blame.

Despite Nitish’s very long political affiliation with the hate-mongers, despite the Godhra train carnage (Sabarmati Coach, S-6 burning and mass arson)and the subsequent massacres of 2002 in Gujarat, Nitish, the then Minister for Railways, had chosen to continue in his alliance with the ruling BJP. Hs current stance vis a vis communal polarisation should not, therefore surprise anyone; his abject failute and absence of political will in reigning in hoodlums with an allegience to Hindutva. Why then the surprise among many?

Remember: (i) Nitish governed Bihar during 2005-13, in alliance with the BJP, when the BJP was not in power at the Centre. Then, he was the dominant ally, keeping the Hindutva agenda at bay, with various other exercises of social coalitions, viz., Ati Pichhra, Mahadalit, Pasmanda, and Women empowerment. (ii) The Indian electorate has, arguably, strange ways! Are we too generous in giving a benefit of doubt to their leaders—political, as well as religious?

Nitish pulled out of the Mahagathbandhan in July 2017 for reasons best known only to him. Speculations suggest that: (a) Nitish re-aligned with the BJP to avoid his discomfitures to be inflicted upon him in the Srijan scam case, and other such cases of corruption and crime, pending, or to be brought up by a vindictive centre. (b) Nitish was not comfortable with ever-growing demands of the Yadavas and that by the next elections, Tejaswi could anyway have tried to replace him, given the fact that his core support-base, Yadavas (12%), are numerically far ahead of the Kurmis (4%), to which Nitish belongs; and given the fact that Muslims (17%) have always trusted Lalu, over Nitish. This makes the RJD’s base far more durable. Nitish did test this competitive base in the 2014 elections and found that Muslims could not trust him; (c) If a news-report in ndtv.com (Manish Kumar, December 4, 2017) is to be believed, Lalu and his Man Friday, Prem Gupta, approached Arun Jaitley, the Union Finance Minister, pleading for some reprieve in corruption investigations with the assurance of a quid pro quo. Lalu would kick out Nitish within 24 hours of this assurance. This news was, it is rumoured, leaked out to Nitish, and he brought an end to the Bihar’s Mahagathbandhan.

Be that as it may, it did not require great intelligence to guess and foresee that Nitish’s realignment with the BJP in 2017 was not going to keep him as a dominant partner within NDA, unlike what he really had been during 2005-2013. His credibility and trustworthiness among the electorate, as well as among the allies, on both sides of the divide, have dipped miserably low because of opportunistic hopping.

Nitish’s Failures were Predictable

It has been anticipated for a while that the aggressively ascendant Saffron outfits will outsmart and marginalise him. The spurt in the communal clashes in Bihar after June 2013 (when Nitish pulled out of the NDA), and its further resurgence since July 2017, when Nitish re-joined the NDA, after the BJP formed government in Uttar Pradesh in March 2017, despite acute distress caused by demonetisation, and the mushrooming proliferation of various saffron outfits, including the Hindu Yuva Vahini,
((spreading from its headquarters in Gorakhpur (U.P.) to the adjacent Saran (Bihar)), has also been on predictable lines, at least for Bihar watchers.

For all these reasons, Nitish is now a helpless junior ally of the Hindutva juggernaut. He cannot even think of reigning in saffron hoodlums raging, marauding and killing –spreading hate and venom– in the mohallas of Bihar. He cannot even do what Mamata Banerjee is seen to be doingdoing. Her police is at least seen directly confronting the marauders. Though, Purulia, Asansol-Raniganj, Kakinada, and other parts of West Bengal are under communal flames. Asansol-Raniganj, has got sizeable presence of Hindi speaking population, and is represented by Babul Supriyo, a minister in the Union cabinet of Narendra Modi who has played a sickening role in stoking the violence.

Senior bureaucrats confide that Nitish’s higher bureaucracy are alreadt cozying up with the dominant political partner for more remunerative central assignments. They are therefore no longer cooperating with him in maintaining law and order or in preventing the armed processions shouting provocative slogans by forcefully entering Muslim mohallas. R C P Sinha, Nitish’s link with bureaucracy, is said to have become completely ineffective now.
True, he did succeed in penalising the rioters of Bhagalpur massacre 1989-90. But, now even if he would wish to rein in (one has genuine doubts if he would really wish to) saffron cadres on the rampage. His ally, now a dominant one, cannot allow him to do so.

Why? Because, in power at centre, they have failed miserably in delivering lots of promises they had made in 2014. The expose of corruption, more specifically the Banking scandals, accentuating farm distress, atrocities against Dalits, marginalisation of the regional allies, mostly backward groups, rising unemployment, all have to be covered up through communal polarizations. The card of Hindutva, as an electoral saviour of the incumbent regime, is being played out in utter desperation.

BJP’s Desperation

It appears that the victory of SP-BSP alliance in the by-elections of two Lok Sabha seats of Uttar Pradesh, viz., Gorakhpur and Phulpur, has further extenuated the anxiety in the saffron camp. Particularly because the bastion of the UP chief minister, has been wrested away by a subaltern community of fishermen (Nishads/Mallahs). This specific community has been organizing itself and asserting politically in parts of eastern UP and northern Bihar. The Mallahs (the Hindu fishermen, including the allied/similar sub-castes like Gangotas and Kevats—the boatmen—those earning their livelihoods by river water) are now emerging as the “Dominant Castes” in these parts.

The rise of Mallah in the Muzaffarpur (Bihar) Lok Sabha seat since the 1990s almost sealed the prospect of a Bhumihar getting elected from there. Bhagalpur (Bihar) Lok Sabha seat is represented by RJD, who belongs to Gangota community. A similar fear of Rajput dominance has emerged from Gorakhpur. The Nishads have also staked their claims on the Gorakhnath Math of Yogi Aditynath.

Remember, both Bihar and Uttar Pradesh had long spells of Backward and Dalit rule since 1989-90, against which, the spell of Hindutva, sort of crashed, despite aggressive mobilisations in the name of the Ram Janma Bhumi in the 1980s and early 1990s. Thus, the ideological bulwark of ‘social justice’, kept Hindutva on hold.

Had these two states been a Congress stronghold after 1989-90, they ran the risk of falling prey to Hindutva, just as they did in Madhya Pradesh (MP), Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and also in Rajasthan. Even Maharashtra and Gujarat, Congress rule did not offer any ideological counterpoint to the Hindutva. Besides, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have relatively lesser proportion of Muslim population. These provinces therefore, arguably, offer relatively less incentives to Hindutva mobilisation, presently, as decade-long activities in these states by proponents and allies appear to have reached saturation point.

Both in Bihar and UP, Muslims have a sizeable presence number and a corresponding public profile. These states have, therefore always offered fertile ground for this kind of polarising agenda. Especially now when the supremoes of the Backward and Dalit political parties have assumed the shape and form of single caste monopolies. Rather than furthering social justice as a plank, the politics has offered a meteoric rise to the political and economic fortunes of the supremos and their kins.

As against this, ascendant Hindutva is now offering some sort of political career “open to talent”. For such aspirational youth, communal activities are exercises in political CV building. Jobless youth are therefore joining in for money, piece of action, and for climbing the political ladder. Under friendly regimes, there is a renewed push to consolidate and expand to new grounds. This further explains why there is a sudden spurt in communal tension and violence in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Needs for a More Proactive Opposition

The Opposition is not mobilising its cadres to confront the hoodlums head on. The RJD cadres do not seem to pursue a politics of direct, on-the-street intervention, nor is it attempting judicial battles, in each case of rioting, to rein in the Hindutva hoodlums. Secondly, Tejaswi appears not to be sincere about propping up leaders from non-Yadav OBCs, and Dalits, who had deserted the RJD primarily because of Yadav hegemony.

Secularists and liberals are, for instance, are silent against the misogyny of the Muslim clergy. They are not able to ask even the Muslim clergy not to bring out huge processions in several towns on a misogynist issue. They erred in 1986, when they upturned the justice dispensed to Shah Bano (1916-92) through Parliamentary legislation, giving rise to a majoritarian reaction. They are repeating that mistake again. Yet many of the liberal-left intelligentsia, and “Muslim-friendly” regional formations, are hardly speaking out against them sternly, giving some sort of credence to the Hindutva canard of ‘Muslim appeasement.’ This is what has been corroding their credibility over decades, giving rise to the menace of majoritarianism.

Point is simple. Caste and gender based regressivism/conservatism and communalism have got a cause-effect relationship. The need of the hour is to frankly accept past mistakes, to regain the people’s trust. Only then will the secular progressive forces will be able to convince the common electorate of the failures of the incumbent regime on all fronts, especially to the dangers of communal hatred, poison and venom. A mere opportunistic stitching of coalitions will not convince the electorates that such an arrangement will really be able to sustain itself and deliver on economy and employment.

(Professor Mohammad Sajjad is with Centre of Advanced Study in History, Aligarh Muslim University, and is author of Muslim Politics in Bihar: Changing Contours (Routledge 2014/2018 reprint). He tweets @sajjadhist)

1...1,8601,8611,862...2,697 Page 1,861 of 2,697

Prof. K N Panikkar’s call to observe History Week in India

“We Don’t Need Women’s Rights, Child Rights, We Have the Shariat” : Dr Zehra

Mobilising women against the triple talaq bill

Informal workers in the making of our cities

Dalit activists demonstrate in Canada in support of call for Bharat bandh

Decide Now, Which Side You Are On!

Translated from Marathi by Ipista Gauri

Swords, CDs and Pen Drives: How Riots in 9 Bihar Districts Were Planned and Executed

People were called in from outside the state, and arms and inflammatory material was freely distributed, say sources.

The sceptical Dalit, Left Feminist : my dear friend, Rajni Tilak

BJP’s Desperation at Non-Performance Fuels Communal Violence in Bihar, Bengal

Secularists and liberals are, for instance, silent against the misogyny of the Muslim clergy.This is what has been corroding their credibility over decades, giving rise to the menace of majoritarianism.

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST

Important Links

Other Links

CONNECT