http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/toi-edit-page/melee-not-a-monolith-muslim-vote-in-up-assembly-elections-is-not-strategic-but-presents-a-mixed-picture/
Melee not a monolith: Muslim vote in UP assembly elections is not ‘strategic’ but presents a mixed picture February 20, 2017, 2:00 AM IST Saba Naqvi in TOI Edit Page | Edit Page, India, politics | TOI Walk through the narrow lanes of Rampur, a seat where Muslims cross the 50% mark and one would come across a large mosque. A small shop selling sheets and blankets is located bang opposite the mosque entrance. The shopkeeper is remarkably candid about his voting preferences: it’s BJP because that’s the party for Hindus. Working opposite a mosque, hearing the azaan and seeing the believers bend in prayers day in and out, has not assimilated but reinforced separation in his mind. A similar story is repeated in Moradabad, again with a large minority population. Hurt by demonetisation, many shopkeepers still say they have no choice but BJP because “we” are Hindus and “they” are Muslims and “they” are all around us. “The Mohammedans have had their way for too long. We have to support the PM,” says a woman running a garment shop. Her Muslim tailors hear silently; she points at them and says we work together but we are different. Polarisation in Uttar Pradesh does not always have to be stoked. The beast is always there especially in areas where Muslims are in large numbers, such as Rohilkhand in western UP where assembly seats could have 35-60% minorities; and Purvanchal in the east where Muslims could constitute 20-30% of voters. It is in such areas that BJP could do well in ongoing assembly elections because excluding the Jatavs (the dominant Dalit sub-caste who would be loyal to BSP), many other sections including Valmiki Dalits are overtly or covertly resentful of Muslims. People lead very separate lives and the mind has been ghettoised. There is also a frantic chase of the Muslim vote by non-BJP parties that posit candidates who often cannot appeal outside their community. Rich meat traders who move in convoys of expensive cars are a favourite with the BSP that’s known for its pragmatism in ticket distribution. Some of these candidates have titles of Haji affixed to their names and they pour in the cash into campaigns that appear to be only about wooing Muslims (as BSP’s Dalit voter bloc presumably comes for free with the ticket). In this dystopian universe there are inevitably clerical advisories being issued. The mullah, the meat trader, the strongman, fit the worst stereotype even as they provide fodder for spiel from the likes of the Yogis, Sadhvis and Sangh Parivar cadre. BJP notably has not fielded a single Muslim candidate in 403 seats. The media narrative meanwhile inevitably explores the trajectory of fear and victimhood, especially after the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, even as it presumes that Muslims are plotting grand strategies to defeat BJP. Reality, alas, is often less dramatic. It is in seats where they are large in numbers that the community is not insecure and their priority may not be defeating whosoever is the BJP candidate. In such areas Muslims have no palpable sense of fear but a belief (perhaps false) that if push comes to shove they can give as good as they get. In towns such as Bareilly, Moradabad and Bijnor listed as ‘sensitive’ they are used to living in a communally charged atmosphere, hence pretty nonchalant about anything new that can be dished out. An Urdu journalist puts it bluntly: “It is the activist class and journalists who keep asking us whether we are getting together to defeat BJP. Have we taken the theka (contract) for defeating BJP? They should do it themselves while we will do whatever we want.” It is entirely possible that when the election is over we will find that Muslims preferred SP, in many cases voting for their Hindu candidates over a Muslim offered by another party. But that would also be because the party gives them representation in its structure added to the fact that Akhilesh Yadav has suddenly added inches to his stature. It could indeed be a case of Muslims voting for something that they want instead of against something they don’t want. We may also find that if there is a strong candidate from another party, he or she would also get some minority vote even if they appeared incapable of defeating BJP. There are therefore competing local interests that also determine voting choices. Indeed, in such parts it can even be argued that it’s Hindus who often vote more tactically than Muslims. BJP strategists like to keep the notion of en bloc voting alive yet admit they sat back in some seats watching Muslim candidates fight it out. Take Rampur and Amroha where some segments have 60% Muslim populations. Both BSP and SP fielded Muslim candidates in the city who tore into each other. It’s in Amroha district (five assembly segments) that commentators who present Muslims as a monolith could get an education in clan/ caste divisions. Local experts glibly talk of Turki-Pathans going this way, Ansaris going towards Ansari candidates (“because they are like the Jatavs who vote en bloc”), the Tyagi Muslim candidate (“whose family converted three generations ago”) attracting some Hindu Tyagis, Qureshis dominating one seat, Telis another and so on. It’s a melee not a monolith. The situation changes in areas where Muslims are fewer in numbers hence the insecurity increases. It is in these pockets that they try to attach themselves to a winning anti-BJP candidate. Remove the overwhelming Muslim presence and BJP faces a greater challenge in explaining its economic experimentation. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. 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