EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE DELHI THE HINDU 8 EDITORIAL THURSDAY, MAY 16, 2019 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Why the Muslim vote matters in U.P. Marginalised and fearful, Muslim voters want to demonstrate that they still count in India’s democracy tion behind the mahagathband­ electoral battle as one between earlier they were beginning to han (the Samajwadi Party­Bahujan “Ali” and “Bajrang Bali”. show signs of autonomy and inde­ Samaj Party­Rashtriya Lok Dal, or Secularism, in the new political pendent thinking, said Athar Hu­ Morphed freedoms SP­BSP­RLD, alliance) because it is context, has been redefined as sain, Director, Centre for Objective By seeking an apology while granting bail, the more likely than the Congress to Muslim appeasement. It has Research and Development in overwhelm the BJP. This feeling is helped the BJP to gather Hindu Lucknow. They are getting pushed Supreme Court downplayed the misuse of law Z oya Hasan & so strong that even elite and up­ support, especially as no party is back into ghettos and into the he case of a BJP Yuva Morcha functionary being Mannika Chopra per­middle class Muslim families, willing to represent the concerns arms of conservative clerics. Fear­ arrested in West Bengal for sharing a morphed which have historically had close of Muslims. Democracy and deve­ ing a backlash, they are reluctant ties to the Congress in Lucknow, GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO lopment should go hand in hand. to protest against attacks on their image of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee demon­ T ttar Pradesh continues to have chosen to vote for the al­ rorism, uber­patriotism and cow but in U.P. the two do not share a livelihoods, food habits, closure of strates how wrong and needlessly oppressive legal pro­ hold the key to political liance. protection to construct a ‘Hindu’ symbiotic relationship. slaughterhouses and meat shops cesses can turn out to be. The police in Howrah regis­ Upower in the country. The Significantly, then, unlike other constituency. It has tried to exploit Hence, political and social or any other issues that matter to tered a case and arrested Priyanka Sharma under results for the 80 parliamentary social groups, Muslims will exer­ its so­called progressive stand on equality in terms of roughly pro­ them. irrelevant and non­existent provisions, a magistrate seats in this keystone State will de­ cise their vote along ideological the triple talaq issue to attract portionate distribution of develop­ showed little application of mind while remanding her cide who governs India. Travelling lines, and not on the basis of the Muslims. (After raising the issue ment benefits and representation Weapon of the marginalised to judicial custody, and even the Supreme Court, while through five districts of Awadh, in­ candidate’s identity. Nonetheless, with such intensity, ironically the eludes them. Muslims in rural Despite the failure of politics cluding the VIP constituencies of some Muslims may not vote as a BJP did not give a single ticket to a areas feel they’ve been left out of which has invisiblised legitimate ordering her immediate release, did not recognise suffi­ Lucknow, Amethi and Rae Bareli, unified entity despite the con­ Muslim woman). It has also tried government schemes such as the issues and allowed a radical Hin­ ciently the perverse manner in which the law was being makes it amply clear that the Mus­ sciousness that 2019 is a critical hard to slice the Shia vote by pro­ Ujjwala Yojana or in getting finan­ dutva consolidation in their name, used. It is a matter of some consolation that the apex lim vote will play a crucial role in election. “This verdict will be the moting Shia clerics such as Maula­ cial support to build toilets or Muslims continue to believe in the court observed a day later that the arrest was arbitrary the final outcome. life or death of democracy in In­ na Kalbe Jawad Naqvi, who issued homes while other strong conten­ efficacy of their vote. Even though and pulled up the West Bengal government for delaying dia,” said Manzoor Ali from the Gi­ a statement extending support to ders in the rural hierarchy are their representation in Parliament Ms. Sharma’s release for technical reasons. The police, Tactical voting ri Institute of Development Stu­ Home Minister Rajnath Singh, the benefiting. and State legislatures has fallen apparently realising that there was no offence in the There are three interconnected as­ dies. This was also evident in BJP candidate from Lucknow. But It is indeed odd that though drastically and development defi­ sumptions about Muslim political scores of voters travelling long dis­ this was promptly dismissed by Muslims constitute 43 million of cits haven’t been addressed, there first place, has filed a closure report terming the com­ behaviour, which may not neces­ tances from different cities to cast most people as inconsequential. U.P.’s 200 million­strong popula­ is no dilution in their electoral par­ plaint a ‘mistake of fact’. It is a reflection of the level of sarily be accurate. First, they vote their vote on May 6 in Lucknow. So, neither of these efforts is likely tion, no party is really talking ticipation. What is significant is acrimony between the ruling Trinamool Congress and en bloc for one candidate or party. This is not surprising because to help the BJP in getting a signifi­ about issues that concern them as that discrimination and low repre­ the BJP in the midst of a violence­marred, multi­phase Second, they are more strategic in U.P. — which saw the destruction cant chunk of the Muslim vote be­ the battle for 2019 rages. Instead sentation have not bothered Mus­ election that the police entertained a complaint from a their voting than other demo­ of the Babri Masjid in 1992 in Ayod­ cause of the widely shared percep­ there is a manufactured silence. lim voters or affected their politi­ Trinamool Congress activist and booked Ms. Sharma graphics. Third, their voting prefe­ hya, is now run by Chief Minister tion that it is an anti­Muslim party. Majoritarian impulses, to a greater cal engagement with democracy. for criminal defamation and offences under the provi­ rence is likely to be influenced by Yogi Adityanath, and has been or lesser degree, are the founda­ This is because the vote is a wea­ sions of the Information Technology Act. It is possible clerics or traditional community long considered to be the pulse of Fearfulness as cohesion tion for the current political dis­ pon of the weak — a political coun­ leaders. While there was little evi­ the Hindi heartland — is the cen­ Though Muslim identity on the course, as are caste alliances in ter against the concerted effort to that some considered the morphed image — in which dence to support this view of Mus­ trepiece of the Hindutva project ground is highly fragmented, vary­ which the Muslim voice has little render them voiceless and irrele­ Ms. Banerjee’s face was appended to an actor’s photo­ lim unity in the past as they mostly built largely on creating a fear of ing with religious denomination, space. Their current marginalisa­ vant. It can establish links bet­ graph at a museum event in New York — defamatory. voted for parties that best protect­ Muslims as the Other. This has re­ caste and class, the lack of security tion is a far cry from the time when ween local voices and regional But it is unclear how the police could arrest someone ed their interests, in 2019, opposi­ sulted in fundamental changes in and overriding fear have neutral­ Muslims were crucial to the politi­ forces, between the politics of for defamation based on a third party’s complaint. tion to the polarising politics of the U.P. politics — and more so in ised social differences. Madhavi cal fortunes of parties, especially community and the idea of citizen­ A cyber­crime police station handled the case, appa­ Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is Awadh, a BJP stronghold since the Kuckreja, a social activist, recalled the Congress. Today the tendency ship. rently because it involved Section 66­A of the IT Act, a clearly influencing electoral prefe­ days of the Ayodhya movement. how a rumour about a stray cattle towards political equality when it By capitalising on their vote, rences and imparting a unity of The landslide victory of the BJP in being injured in a road accident comes to the distribution of power U.P. Muslims today, more than ev­ provision declared unconstitutional in 2015, and Sec­ purpose to the Muslim vote. Alth­ 2014 and in the 2017 Assembly led to anxious guests promptly or representation is completely er, want to demonstrate that they tion 67­A, which can be used only when sexually expli­ ough the most important issues elections has seen the consolida­ leaving a walima (wedding recep­ missing. Perhaps the Muslim is still count in India’s democracy. cit material is transmitted in electronic form. Thus, for Muslims, as indeed for any vo­ tion of the Hindu vote under the tion) to rush back home. Such ap­ seen as a liability. In 2019, as in They are using their vote to de­ what was at best a case of defamation, a non­cognisable ter, are education, health care, BJP, while Muslim votes have re­ prehensions are driven by the fear 2014, the BJP has not fielded a sin­ mand a new deal which crucially and bailable offence, was projected as a cyber­crime jobs and infrastructure, today as a mained split between the Con­ of the mob and police crackdowns gle Muslim candidate in U.P., while depends on dismantling the BJP’s with the sole aim of getting the accused remanded.