Khattar targets Namaaz: Congress & INLD silence helped CM set the agenda

The issue pertaining to Hindutva groups stopping Muslims from offering Namaz in the open areas in Gurugram and the state chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar saying that prayers should be offered in mosques and Eidgahs once again shows how the Hindu right wing has been successful in taking forward its agenda of majority hegemony.

What is most disturbing is not what the Hindutva groups conveyed by stopping the prayers in open spaces over the last two weeks when the first instance was reported from Sector 53 but the absence of a strong response on the ground from the key “secular” political players in the state.

Both the Congress and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) did nothing on the ground to counter the terrorising of minorities by Hindutva elements except for some feeble statements, that too when one or two odd reporters raised the questions before them.

What Khattar said about offering prayers in mosques and his Cabinet minister Anil Vij reportedly repeating his stand is simply an icing on the Hindutva cake of terrorising the minorities as one of the prime motives of their political agenda.

By maintaining a silence all this while and doing nothing on the ground to infuse some confidence among the minority community, the Congress and the INLD have allowed Khattar to set the agenda on this issue.

The Muslim population in the state is disillusioned with both these parties for playing the soft Hindutva card on not only this issue but on issues like cow vigilantism and people being targeted for allegedly selling and consuming beef. They point out that these parties have neither shown any foresight or developed a political strategy to counter the agenda of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other Hindutva groups on these issues.

“There is nothing called ideology left in any of the parties. They just want to get the majority Hindu votes by not even daring to talk about the minorities,” said a Muslim politician from the state.

In fact things are fast moving towards the scenario that has been witnessed in Gujarat, a state that is often referred to as the laboratory of the Sangh Parivar. For several months there have been apprehensions aired by minorities, Dalits and progressive groups that Haryana is going the Gujarat way of becoming the second laboratory of Hindutva forces.

It is being pointed that in the absence of any opposition on the ground to such acts of Hindutva groups, the minorities have already been pushed to the margins and things are now moving towards the next step of their existence going totally missing from the political narrative like it happened in the recent Gujarat polls. There is a point of view that there is a sustained effort being made to instil a sense of guilt and inferiority complex among the Muslims by Hindutva organisations.

Muslims account for just 7.03 per cent of the state according to the 2011 census while the Hindus are more than 87%. Muslims are mainly concentrated in the districts of Mewat, Gurugram, Palwal and Faridabad. By raising their issues vociferously, the Congress and the INLD along with the new entrant Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) probably fear being painted as anti-Hindu in the rest of the state and that too at a time when the state will vote both for the state Assembly and the Lok Sabha over the next few months.

Come to think of it, there has not even been a strong political statement coming from these parties at the state level what to talk of action on the ground. There was a general sweeping reply from former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda when this reporter raised he issue at a briefing when he said, “The BJP is always trying to divide people and polarise them.”

In fact it is Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh who came out with a strong political statement on the issue. Accusing the BJP of communalising the atmosphere across the country, he said that India is a republic governed by a constitution and neither Khattar, nor anyone else has the right to dictate to the people on where they should or should not hold prayers.

Talking in context of Gurugram, Aftab Ahmed who is a senior Congress leader from south Haryana said, “What they do not realise is that Gurugram is a city where people from throughout India come to realise their aspirations. It is a city right next to the national capital and has yet managed to make a mark of its own. Those who offer prayers outside are migrants from other places and they do not cause environmental or sound pollution. If such attempt continue to demonstrate religious supremacy, who would want to come to this city.”

He further said that the Muslims in this case are victims of the Hindutva groups peddling religious supremacy instead of a legal recourse if they have any problem. The Muslims have neither held demonstrations nor entered to any altercation. It remains terrified. “The Muslim community has the support of the secular population, the intelligentsia and the fourth pillar of Indian democracy. The fact remains that since the BJP regimes in both Haryana and the Centre have failed to deliver on real issues like employment, health and education, they are resorting to such acts to divert the attention of the people. The much promised Vikas is not happening,” he added.

In fact, people have reacted strongly to Khattar's statement. They have been posting on the social media saying that Khattar is right in saying that prayers should be held in mosques. But at the same time there should be an end to the Jagratas, Nagar Kirtans and Sangh Parivar armed marches in public places like parks or on arterial roads.

Observers say that an instant political response followed by compelling the law and order machinery to act against the perpetrators of violence is a must for containing such acts. With such acts being reported right from a city next to the national capital, one can imagine the scenario in the hinterland as far as the marginalised groups feeling scared and helpless is concerned.