In the euphoria following the BJP’s
defeat in the Delhi elections, one stark fact has been overlooked: the extremist
Hindutva party actually gained five more seats than it had before the polls.
Rather than celebrate the anti-Modi camp’s so-called “stunning” victory, Indian
liberals (including Muslims) should reflect upon the awkward fact that despite its
poor governance, Modi’s party managed to get six percent more votes than it did
in the last election. Put another way, the extremist BJP was able to convince
forty percent of Delhi’s voters that Hinduism is in danger of being reduced to
a minority religion in India, and that anti-CAA Shaheen Bagh protesters were coming to “rape your sisters”.
That is no mean achievement. The recent attacks on Muslims in Delhi and
destruction of their properties was well-planned by BJP to coerce Muslims into
submission. This is sure to be followed by attacks on Muslims in other cities,
as a result of which their properties will be demolished, they will lose all
their identification documents and will be unable to prove they’re Indians when
Modi embarks upon his unpopular National Citizens Registration program.
Indian liberal Hindus and minorities
must not rest on their laurels. They should remember that these were state
elections, where voters are not likely to be influenced by rhetoric. They vote
for parties on the basis of performance. Just last year, in the national
elections the extremist BJP won Delhi’s entire seven Lok Sabha seat,
principally due to its vitriolic campaign against Muslims and against Pakistan.
Unless Modi suddenly turns into a liberal, we can be sure he’ll do his best to
brainwash Hindu voters into believing that a defeat for the BJP will mean a “victory
for Pakistan and the end of Hinduism”. So Indian liberals should do their best
to ensure that he doesn’t succeed, if for nothing else than to save themselves
from extinction.
After losing in Delhi, the
megalomaniac Indian prime minister has refused to back down on his Kashmir
policy and Citizen Amendment Act (which is meant to expel or disenfranchise
Indian Muslims). Based on what he did in Gujarat, he will be inclined to repeat
it again, even if it means genocide of Muslims and other minorities. He will
stage Palwama type incidents so he can blame Pakistan for fomenting terrorism
in India. Indian Muslims should get united and vote for opposition parties in
all state polls and national bye-elections during the next four years.
Hindutva activists and supporters are
said to admire Hitler for killing six million Jews. No wonder Modi is alleged
to have looked the other way when the mass murder of Muslims took place in his
home state (if he did not actually encourage it). The U.S. and the U.K. refused
to allow him to visit their countries after the slaughter of more than two
thousand Muslims (the actual figure is five times higher). Indian minorities
should bear this in mind when they cast their votes. Knowing that it’s only the
minorities who can prevent him being elected again, he will do his best to reduce
their numbers. In the next couple of years we should expect more mosques and
churches to be demolished. Hindutva activists have been brainwashed into
believing that many Hindu temples were demolished and replaced by mosques and
churches by Mughal and British rulers. Modi will again rouse them into a frenzy
to distract their attention away from his party’s poor governance and economic
failure.
The battle ahead for two hundred and
twenty million Indian Muslims and minorities is going to be tough. But if they
want to survive with dignity, they will have to plan ahead and together with
liberal Indian Hindus, chalk out a strategy to defeat the BJP in future
elections. If it can be done in Delhi, it can be done in the whole of India.
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