Not in our name: Muslims resort to strategic silence in poll-bound Gujarat as Patidars speak up for them

Silence is golden. This idiom has got a political connotation in poll-bound Gujarat as far as the Muslim community is concerned. Silence has emerged as the new strategic tool for the community that has been pushed to the sidelines of politics in this state that is quite often described as the 'Laboratory of Hindutva'.

There seems to be a consensus among the community to not respond to the numerous provocations that have been coming from various Hindutva organisations, both at the state and the national level.

The general perception among the community is that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), that has gone on the back foot for the first time in the state in the last 22 years, is looking for an opportunity to polarise the electorate – preferably on communal lines.

The BJP leaders, on the other hand, have been saying that it is during their regime that communal violence has come down and peace has prevailed in the state.

“There have been repeated attempts at provoking the Muslims, particularly the youth among the community. Otherwise what was the need to splash the walls of various towns and cities with graffiti on issues like 'Love Jihad' or 'Ram Temple' or exhorting the majority community to store arms in their houses over the last several months? This graffiti came despite the fact that these issues do not have any new relevance in present-day Gujarat that has already stood majorly polarised over the last 15 years,” pointed out a senior media person from the community.

Divided, always

The Muslims have been left to themselves both by the Congress and the BJP over the last 15 years since the politics got a new dimension after the Godhra train-burning incident and the subsequent anti-Muslim pogrom in the state.

What the Muslims feel is that the Congress has been focusing and quite often peddling what has come to be known as 'soft Hindutva' to increase its support base in the state while riding the notion that the Muslims have nowhere else to go and would vote for the party.

The BJP leaders, on the other hand, have refrained from even asking for the Muslim votes lest they offend their core constituency of voters for whom religion and caste are the most important.

In the absence of any third pan-Gujarat political force, this has ensured that the Muslims remain on the political margins, except in those seats that have eventually become Muslim ghettos. But even on these seats, the BJP has never fielded a Muslim candidate despite its minority cells and groups affiliated to it maintaining the appearance of seeking tickets for community candidates on these seats.

But at the same time, in this election at least, the BJP has been trying to garner whatever support it can from the Muslim community.

Sources reveal that till a few days ago there was a delegation of Muslims from north India, who have been close to the BJP, campaigning for the party in the state. They went around Muslim pockets and even interacted with the local media on why the Muslims should vote for the BJP and what all the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government along with various BJP governments in the other states have been doing for the community.

But they had to retreat in the face of some hostile responses from the community which still carries the bruises of the 2002 riots on its conscience. They could not even respond to the pin-pointed questions coming from the media that had started painting them as BJP agents.

On the local level also, some of the BJP leaders have been seeking support from the Muslims, who have some influence in their community, in the face of the erosion of support among the powerful Patidar community and other groups.

“I was called by a sitting minister who asked me what I could do for him. I expressed my helplessness saying that I am a small fry who hardly carries any weight,” said one of the community leaders who wield substantial clout in Muslim pockets in a couple of cities.

“Our response to all the provocation has been to keep quiet. It has been several months that we have been exhorting the youth in the community not to loiter around without any purpose at night across the towns and villages. We have been telling them not to react to any sort of provocation that has has been coming from various quarters in the form of hurling of abuses or gestures,” pointed out a social worker among the community.

Patidar bonhomie

“One good thing that has been happening is that it has been the Patidars who have been responding on our behalf. They have been the ones who have been resisting the efforts to draw a line between us and them. In fact, they have gone a step ahead by talking on our behalf. This has made a lot of impact,” said another social worker from the community.

Sources reveal that the Muslims have found a place in the narrative of the Patidar politics in the villages.

“There have been occasions when the Patidar leaders have said how they had been instigated in 2002 to carry out violence against the Muslims in 2002. The result has been that both have suffered. The Muslims suffered in terms of life and property and are still picking up the pieces of their lives. On the other hand, the Patidars became the accused in various cases and spent time behind bars. But those who perpetrated the violence achieved their political and economic goals. This sort of talk by Patidars in the heartland was never expected and has taken everyone by surprise. The workers of Hindutva organisations are now perplexed as Patels are calling Muslims their 'brothers',” pointed out a media personnel who has been traveling to the various villages, some of which had witnessed large-scale violence in the 2002 riots.

The Muslims say that by keeping to themselves they do not want to give any chance to the right-wing Hindu forces to reap political benefits, not in their name at least.

“There have been instructions within the community not to go out in hordes to any event and even on the day of the polling lest the television keep repeating the visuals of the community that could help the Hindutva organisations spread propaganda in the Hindu-dominated areas,” said a community member from Ahmedabad.

Observers say that the Congress too has refrained from naming the community in its campaign till now.

Even when social activist Gagan Sethi had raised the issue of Muslims facing insecurity during a programme of Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi in Ahmedabad, the latter, without naming the community, had said that the Congress would ensure peace and security for all.

Edited by Jhinuk Sen