Monday, February 19, 2024

 Call for Papers for an Edited Volume

“India’s Social Development Agenda sacrificed on the altar of Hindu Nationalism”

An edited volume tentatively called “India’s Developmental Agenda Sacrificed on the Altar of Hindu Nationalism” is being planned to understand the layers of the BJP rule under the Premiership of Narendra Modi.  

The book which is going to be part of academic research is edited by Dr. Syed Ali Mujtaba, a well-known journalist, author of five books, media influencer, etc. The book will be tentatively published by a renowned publisher based in New Delhi.   

In India, the Hindutva madness has been accentuated since the BJP government came to power in 2014. Since then only one agenda that surmounts all other agenda is Islamophobia. In the process of building a hate narrative against Indian Muslims, many pressing issues facing the country have been sidelined.

As a result, India has gone down on many popular human indexes in comparison to the other countries in the world. Just look where India stands in the Hunger Index, Human Development Index, Press Freedom Index, Environmental Index, Human Rights Index, and Social Justice Index etc.

The reality is the BJP rule since 2014 has failed to address the real challenges faced by the country. The classical example is India’s health infrastructure that got exposed during the time of Covid -19.  The BJP government blamed the pandemic on the Muslims and called it Corona Jihad launched by the Muslims. The innocent Tabligi Jammat members were hunted in the country blaming them for spreading the virus. Since then the noise volume of Islamophobia has been raised so high that it is hurting the ears of common Indians.

The BJP government is manipulating the data of all the failing indexes, blaming the foreign data surveys to be biased against India. To skirt the issues facing the country a narrative being built by the BJP that India is witnessing Ram Rajya under Narendra Modi’s rule.

It is with this intention in mind the edited volume “India’s Developmental Agenda Sacrificed on the Altar of Hindu Nationalism” is being planned.  The purpose of the book is to call off the bluff of the half-baked lies and concocted truth by the votaries of the BJP rule.  This edited volume is planned to solicit essays on several themes that give the grim reality of India under the Ram Rajya of the BJP rule.  The themes are: - 

1- ‘Challenges     to Indian Democracy

2- Challenges to Indian Diversity-

3- Challenges to Indian Democracy

4- Challenges to Gender issues

5- Challenges to Social equality in India

6- Challenges to Social inclusion in India

7- Challenges to Human development

8- Challenges to Popular struggles and movements in India

 9- Challenges to the right to dissent in India

10- Challenges to protectant religious identity in India

11- Challenges to the backward Caste groups in India

 12- India’s social realities from the Hindutva paradigm 13- India's social reality from ‘Hindu-Muslim’ confrontationist angle

14- Human values being trampled by a wave of Hindu nationalism

15- India's constitution being trampled 

16- Rising unemployment in India

17- Inflation and Rising prices in India

18- Rising social inequality in India

19- Rising human rights abuses in India

20 - Failing human development in India

21- Failing Secular Agenda in India

22- India failing in the Hunger Index

23- India failing in the Human Development Index

24- India failing in the Press Freedom Index

25- India failing in the Environmental Index

26- India failing in the Human Rights Index

27- India failing in the Social Justice Index-

28- India failing in the Interfaith relation-

29- The status of minorities in India

30- Any other related themes that can fit into the basic concept of the book

Kindly, pitch in an abstract of 150 words to get acceptance for your essay to be included in the book. You can mail your abstract to {syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com}  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monday, November 20, 2023

  


Protest against Israel not allowed in Mumbai, 13 detained

Syed Ali Mujtaba

 Mumbai police picked up 13 individuals, 11 of whom are students belonging to the Muslim community for taking part in a prayer meeting in solidarity with children who were killed in Palestine. The prayer meeting was held on November 14, 2023, the Children's Day, at the Juhu beach. 

The detainees were charged under sections 37 (1), 37 (3), and 135 of the Maharashtra Police Act (MPA), according to a press note from the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) Maharashtra.

According to the PUCL handout, the youth detained had responded to a multi-city call emanating from an Instagram account ‘solidaritymovement’ and had gone to Juhu beach to attend a peaceful prayer gathering there.

 However, after the prayer, some students went to collect the posters and ply cards that they had earlier voluntarily kept in the police cabin near the beach.  The police there started questioning them and asked them to pose with the posters and placards and photographed them.

The police told them they would escort them to the Bus Stop to ensure they leave safely. As they proceeded, a police van arrived and they were forcibly pushed into the van and taken to the Juhu Police Station. Among the detainees 4 were under-age youth (2 boys and 2 girls), the PUCL press release said.

The youth were detained for almost 8 hours and when they were released were asked to return the next day and provide all their personal details along with their Aadhar Card xerox copy and 2 photographs.

PUCL Maharashtra expressed grave concern at the increasing trend of criminalizing public protest and deplored the manner in which police in Mumbai lodge cases against those participating in such democratic events.

The right to protest is a fundamental right of citizens guaranteed under the Indian Constitution. However, the increasing number of such instances shows that the right to protest of citizens is not only being infringed upon but being met with harsh and intimidating police action and criminal sanctions. In many places in India, Civil society organizations are being denied and met with sanctions that are gatherings for anti-war public protests on the ongoing Israeli war on Palestine.

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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, July 11, 2023

 



Plight Muslim Children in Non-Madrasa Schools

Syed Ali Mujtaba

There is an interesting book titled “Mothering a Muslim” by Nazia Erum (2017) that gives a lucid account of the plight of Muslim Children in Non- Madrasa Schools. The author captures some hard realities of what it means to be a Muslim in non-madrasa schools in India.

The author has given a number of anecdotes where Muslim children are subjected to slurs from their non-Muslim peers and there are none to stop such kind of kind of harassment meted out to them. It’s a book based on testifiers.

1-    The book says, a Muslim boy testified that they don’t feel like going to school because the teachers always single them out and beat them. The teachers don’t let us participate in any sports. Class monitors are always chosen from among Hindu boys. The teachers insult us by saying; ‘You children come to school only to play and don’t want to study.’ Whenever they check our workbooks, they make negative comments about our work and throw the workbooks at our faces.

2-    Another testifier told her mother that her teacher says: ‘You Muslim people have no brains, you read only Quran and pray to Allah and don’t respect knowledge.’

3-    Another testifier said that a substitute teacher had said in the class that the floods in Uttarakhand happened because Muslims have opened meat shops there. Uttarakhand is a place of worship for Hindus but because of the Muslims, the disaster happened. Hindus had to pay for their sins. The child felt bad when such things are told about Muslims in the class.

4-    Another boy, said: Whenever the teachers are angry, they call us Mullahs. The Hindu boys also call us Mullahs because our fathers have beards. One father of our classmates had come to submit a form to the school. The teacher referred to him as ‘the man with a beard and laughed at him. All the Hindu children laughed too and made fun of him in front of the whole class. We Muslim students felt terrible at such gestures.

5-    Some Muslim children complained to their mothers that they don’t like to be Muslim because they feel insecure in their school. They said some Hindu boys laugh at them and in case of a fight most Hindus gang up to beat the Muslim boy. 

In some fancied schools where there are negligible Muslim students, the school management decided to keep the Parents Teacher Meeting on Eid-ul-Fitr day, ignoring the national holiday. The mothers of the Muslim children are coxed to attend the meetings on their festival day and they did for not being singled out as being troublesome mum. The same school had declared Karva Chauth a holiday because all the teachers were Hindus and busy fasting for their husbands.

So, this is where we are today, some non-Madarsa schools still blame a Muslim child for his religious identity.  Why Muslim children in non-madrasa schools are made to suffer in their classrooms. This needs serious discussion.  However, no one likes to do any tough conversation on such issues because it's a non-issue for the majority community.

 Certainly calling Muslim children names is not an act of nation-building rather it’s an anti-national activity. If that is what is happening in non- Madrasa Schools, with the Muslim children then advocating reform in the Madrasa should think twice it gets implemented. 

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 Syed Ali Mujtaba is journalist based in Chennai. 

 

Friday, July 8, 2022

Two Religious controversies Two Views in India

Opinion

Two Religious controversies Two Views in India   

Syed Ali Mujtaba

In India, two religious controversies are raging on. First, the adverse remarks made by the BJP office-bearer Nupur Sharma, and second the poster of the documentary film “Kaali” released by its director Leena Manimekalai.

While Nurpur Sharma incensed the feelings of the Muslims by her remarks against the Prophet, purposefully tarring his image, Leena Manimekalai demeaned Kaali, one of the most revered deities of the Hindu religion, through the poster of her documentary film.

Although the government of India took measures to douse the flames lit up by the BJP functionary, no BJP leader or Sangh Parivar or Hindu religious heads uttered a word of condemnation against the Hindu hate monger. Their conspiracy of silence has given support to Nupur Sharma’s diatribe, which is a new normal in India.

However, when the Supreme Court of India made some scathing remarks against a female hate monger, more than 100 eminent citizens of the country including Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju hauled the Supreme Court judge for his unnecessary comments about Ms. Sharma. Their attack on the judge inadvertently sounded as if they are supporting Nupur Sharma’s words against the Prophet of Islam.  

The scene changes to Canada and the spotlight focuses on the poster of the film Kaali, released by its director of Leena Manimekalai, and the entire discourse of hurting the religious sentiments change from the Muslims (they) and Hindus (we).

A hell gets to let loose in India and sermons are being given; “Liberty comes along with sensitivity, freedom comes along with responsibility, can we live in the world without being sensitive, respectful, and responsible,” demanding the arrest of the filmmaker Leena Manimekalai.

A forceful narrative is built in India that Leena Manimekalai has hurt the religious sentiments of the Hindus. There is a cacophony to arrest Manimekalai from Canada and bring her to India, while Indian citizen Nupur Sharma is shielded in some safe heaven to avoid probable arrest. These are two parameters to judge two religious controversies in India. Means, its wearer alone knows where the shoe pinches!   

The fact is religious controversy fails to die down in India. Close on the heels of the Prophet Mohammad controversy, the Kaali controversy is raging now in India. At the center of this controversy is the poster of the documentary film Kaali, where a woman is dressed as the Hindu goddess Kaali and is seen smoking a cigarette and holding a Trishul in one hand and a Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) flag in the other.

The Madurai-born, Toronto-based filmmaker Leena Manimekalai posted a tweet about her documentary film ‘Kaali’ and shared the poster of her movie. In her tweet, she said; “Super thrilled to share the launch of my recent film at Aga Khan Museum as part of its ‘Rhythms of Canada Film Festival and I am excited about it”…

This poster created a huge buzz on social media and invited a backlash in India. This led Indian High Commission in Canada to urge the Canadian authorities to withdraw the poster that was showcased as part of the ‘Under the Tent’ project at the Aga Khan Museum, Toronto. The museum authorities deeply regretted the disrespectful depiction of Hindu Gods and said if it inadvertently causes offense to the Hindu faith it can immediately withdraw the poster.

The micro-blogging site, Twitter also removed the poster saying that the tweet from Ms. Manimekalai has been withheld in India in response to a legal demand.

Ms. Manimekalai, reacting to Twitter removing her film’s poster, asked if Twitter would also withhold the tweets of the hate mongers as well. “This is hilarious. Will Twitter withhold the tweets of the 200000 hate mongers? These lowlife trolls tweeted and spread the very same poster that they find objectionable. 

“Kaali cannot be lynched. Kaali cannot be raped. Kaali cannot be destroyed. She is the goddess of death,” Manimekalai tweeted on the micro-blogging site.

Back in India, the religious outrage was vented through scores of complaints in the police stations, seeking Manimekalai's arrest. A large number of complaints were filed for hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus. The complainants said the Manimekalai’s poster depicts Goddess Kaali in a manner “unacceptable by any Hindu” and that it was a “deliberate distortion of the Hindu religion and culture with malicious intent to insult Hindu religious feelings”.

Jumping into the controversy was TMC MP Mohua Moitra who reportedly said that she had every right as an individual to imagine Goddess Kali as a meat-eating and alcohol-accepting deity, as each person had his or her unique way of offering prayers.

This led to another round of outrage against the TMC MP. No less than 56 complaints were filed against Moitra in West Bengal alone, seeking her immediate arrest. Suvendu Adhikari the BJP and leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly said, “The TMC government and the state police have been very active in seeking police action against Nupur Sharma, but they have not taken any action against Mahua Moitra and there can’t be a different set of rules for BJP and TMC leaders.”

Meanwhile, some FIRs were filed against Ms. Moitra in Madhya Pradesh, a BJP-ruled state. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, “Hindu religious sentiments have been hurt by Mahua Moitra’s statement and insult of Hindu deities will not be tolerated at any cost.”

Ms. Mahua Moitra facing attacks from the BJP reacted, “truth doesn’t need backup forces, I am a worshipper of Kaali, and not afraid of saffron “goons.”  The ruling TMC distanced itself from Ms. Moitra’s comments, even as the controversy rages on.

Another angle of the Kaali controversy that has emerged is a contest between the people who worship Kaali as straight nosed, thin-lipped,  baby-faced, fair-complexioned deity against those who worship her with darker skin tone, broad nose with the world view of Kaali as a raw, non-apologetic, having an identity of her own kind of deity.

The Kaali poster outraged the feelings mostly in the North Indian states calling it blasphemous and hurting religious sentiments. Those who worship Kaali as a baby-faced, calm goddess do not like the worshiper of the same goddesses who smoke a cigarette, love booze, drink blood and eat meat and epitomize Maha Kaali in every sense. The north-South divide is the subtle theme in the Kaali controversy that is raging on in the country.

This bizarre narrative is going on in tandem with an anti-Muslim diatribe in India. While on one hand, some Indians want to teach Muslims a lesson or two, the same folks want to do the same to the South Indians too.  This is new India, the “Post-Truth India – The Brand New Republic” welcoming you on board.  

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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. His forthcoming book is “Post-Truth India – The Brand New Republic.” He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com

 

Sunday, June 19, 2022

The world must stop Hindu fascism in India - Ajit Sahi

 


The world must stop Hindu fascism in India - Ajit Sahi

Syed Ali Mujtaba

Meet Ajit Sahi a veteran journalist, and civil rights activist who works as an Advocacy Director at the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) and is currently based in the US.

Earlier Ajit worked as the executive editor of Tehelka weekly, where he was a political and investigative journalist. Apart from being a veteran journalist, Ajit is a dedicated campaigner for civil liberties, human rights, and religious freedom in India for over three decades.

Ajit Sahi recently received the first Swami Agnivesh Memorial Award for his fearless commitment to human rights and for continuing the legacy of the noble soul who fought for justice for all.

While receiving the award at the virtual event on December 18, 2021,  Sahi said, “(Swami Agnivesh) was a giant. People like him inspired hundreds of thousands in my generation and I hope that he’ll continue to inspire many more.”

The most interesting aspect of Ajit Sahi’s personality is being a Hindu; he tirelessly works for the rights of Muslims of India. He has dedicated himself to protecting the plural values of Indian society. He is rooted in the values of the Hindu faith and opposes the Hindu supremacist ideology propagated by the RSS.

Sahi had testified before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the U.S. Congress and “spoken boldly about human rights violations in India.”

Recently, Ajit Shai delivered a powerful speech at ICNA-MAS Convention where he openly spoke against the RSS and its toxic ideology called Hindutva. 

Here is his speech that gives a glimpse of his commitment to be the voice of the Indian Muslims.  

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g84bc7eE-s

 

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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com

 

 

Saturday, June 18, 2022

Hindu – Muslim Relation has reached the Tipping Point


 Hindu – Muslim Relation has reached the Tipping Point

Syed Ali Mujtaba

Hindu – Muslim relations have reached a tipping point in India. This has happened under the BJP rule where a series of anti-Muslim events is witnessed to convert the Indian political scene into an 80 vs 20 format to consolidate the Hindu majority by vilification of Muslim minority on 24x7 bases.   

There has been a series of events that have followed since 2014 and to count a few are lynching of the Muslims by the cow vigilant, citizenship amendment act, Tablighi Jamat and Corona connect, Delhi riots, ‘Dharma Sansads’, Hijab, Halal, Azan, Gyanwapi mosque,  blasphemous remarks against the prophet, bulldozing of Muslim protestors homes, are all sordid tales in the dipping Hindu – Muslim relations in India.     

How did this situation emerge?

All these situations have emerged in the backdrop of three broad phases to cover up the crisis of governance that is the hallmark of the BJP rule. The starting point was the t demonetization of the currency on Nov 8, 2016. This knocked the bottom out of the economy and its cascading effect was felt in every sphere of activity leaving India battered and bruised. The BJP government in order to cover its policy paralysis engaged in the politics of Hindu- Muslim polarization to cover up its wrongs. The government media its mouthpiece and tasked it to rationalize all the government actions no matter how much flawed they may be.   

Second is the landslide victory of the BJP in the General Elections 2019. Narendra Modi after winning the 2019 elections demolished the principle of federalism and pull down as many as nine elected state governments in the country. He devised a new relationship with Jammu and Kashmir abrogating article 370 and robed its statehood status by making it two union territories. He brought in the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and National Register of Citizens and extracted the Ram Mandir judgment from the Supreme Court. The foremost thing that he did was to invoke the Hindu nationalist spirit among the youth by othering the Muslims. He did it to make India a Hindu Rastra.

The third thing under the BJP's rule is its mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister made a horrendous mess of the Covid 19 management. He put the Parliament in the freezer and took control of the situation to announce a total lockdown but when it created an unprecedented economic crisis, he delegated his responsibilities to the state governments. During the lockdown period, he froze the recruitment and this led to rising in the unemployment situation. He then brought in the farm laws and made amendments to the labor laws. The Chinese occupation of Indian territories was covered up by raising the nationalist ante and he kept playing the anti-Muslim card to cover up his failures. Muslims of India were pulverized under the bogey of Hindi – Hindu – Hindustan.  

After coming to power, Narendra Modi brought his own style of governance that cared a dam about democracy, pluralism, and rule of law. First, he stopped paying heed to the constitutional guarantee of equal citizenship. He stopped paying heed to the idea of pluralism and secularism. He started polarizing society on a majority and minority basis. He evolved the 80 vs 20 political formula. This politics of majoritarianism united the Hindus and ostracized the Muslims.

The Prime Minister by doing this subverted democracy, the constitution, principles of pluralism, and rule of law. In this 80-20 political paradigm, the BJP government was successful in making the Muslims the enemy of the nation. A plethora of anti -Muslim religious discrimination and persecution was started under the BJP rule that led to the dipping of Hindu-Muslim relations.     

The majoritarian political ideology of hating Muslims was implemented through legitimate means; enacting citizenship laws and using the state power to suppress the Muslim protestors. It was also implemented through the subversion of government agencies and allowing non-state actors to attack the helpless Muslims. The BJP leadership allowed the rogue elements to run riot and commit brutalities against Muslims. This has poisoned the social relationship and shaken the foundation of multicultural social formation in the country.  

All this happened because Muslims were the safest enemy of Hindus in India. Muslims' numerical minority, social, economic, and educationally backwardness, and their dependence on the Hindu community made them vulnerable homo-sapiens. The BJP government successfully pitted the 80 % majority population against the 15% minority population where the latter have no chance to win. It’s precise because this situation of the Muslim community makes them an attractive enemy of the Hindus.

 Narendra Modi has made Muslims a vanquished community who are at the mercy of the Hindu majority.  Muslims are reduced to punching bags whom all and sundry can flog anywhere on the streets as the Indian state has absolved its responsibility to protect them. Perhaps, this is the reason why there is such an easy consent and consensus for the making of the Hindu Rashtra. The pivot of Hindu Rastra is Muslims on whom all blame is rested for the wrongs in India. Literally, Muslims are made the national enemy and are being purged through genocidal means.  

Anti-Muslim politics over the years

India in the first two decades after Independence witnessed a glorious period of Hindu-Muslim relationship. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s leadership saw to it that the country was steered under the principles of secularism, democratic values, and constitutionalism.

However, under Indira Gandhi’s rule, principles gave way to electoral politics. She adopted a dual policy toward the Muslims; one she cajoled Muslims with certain sops and acted as their messiah. On the other, she initiated anti- Muslims programs. Her reign is littered with communal riots in the country. Indra Gandhi reduced Muslims of India to be a Congress vote bank. She pretended to be their security provider but in reality butchered them through communal riots. Muslims even then rallied behind Congress as they thought it to be a better bet as their protector against the fascist BJP.

Indira’s son Rajiv Gandhi was a political novice. He was sucked into the vortex of vote bank politics. He innocently played into the hands of those who did the communal polarization of Hindus and Muslims. He appeased the Hindu community by opening the gates of Babari masjid and allowing the ‘Shilanayas’ ceremony to be performed for the construction of the Ram Mandir. Willy-nilly Rajiv Gandhi further pushed the anti-Muslim agenda of the Congress party.

Rajiv Gandhi’s successor Narshima Rao presided over the demolition of the Babari mosque and with that, he eroded the myth of Muslims being equal citizens of the country.

It was on the anti-Muslim platform that was built by L.K Advani’s Rath Yathra that the BJP gained power with Atal Behari Vajpayee becoming the PM of the country. Since Vajpayee headed a coalition government, he could not push the anti-Muslim agenda of the BJP or initiate the Hindu Rastra agenda. However, his unsavory comments made against the Muslims in Goa in 2002 remain etched in the memory. PM Manmohan Singh who succeeded Vajpayee tried to hold the communal balance at the center even though the six of 6 worst communal riots took place under his UPA rule.  Aligarh riots in 2006, Dhule riots in  2008, Deganga riots in 2010, Bharatpur riots in 2011, Assam riots in 2012, and Muzzafarnagar riots in 2013, to name a few.  

Hindu – Muslim relations under Narendra Modi

Narendra Modi has changed the entire social structure of the Hindu- Muslim relationship since 2014 when he first came to power. His anti-Muslim divisive agenda in the pursuit of Hindu Rashtra turned the Hindu-Muslim relationship where each passing day, it’s deteriorating at a breakneck speed taking it to the point of no return. Under Modi's rule, the anti-Muslim mobilization drive has now been organically getting embedded into the grass-root level. It has acquired a momentum of its own and has relatively become free of government control. This was seen at the outbreak of communal riots in multiple laces during Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti celebrations in 2022.

The credit goes to the Modi government that the world is talking about today about the genocide of the Muslims in India. Under Modi's rule, the anti-Muslim vigilantes have become autonomous centers of power. The Modi rule has given them freehand to the Hindu radicalized gangs who are masquerading as nationalists and patriots having the license to kill the Muslims.

It is to the credit of the BJP government that it has made the opposition political parties, bureaucracy, media, civil society events judiciary literally impotent characters. Either they are too scared of the BJP government or they are sucked into Hindutva politics that they have lost the will and inclination to uphold the rule of law and to protect the Muslims.  

In such a situation, what the Muslim should do to salvage the tipping Hindu-Muslim relations.  The choice before them is to concede to fall on the feet of the Hindus and stop fighting for constitutional rights and redefine a new  relationship in the context of ‘Hindu Rashrata.’  The other option is to resist BJP’s designs and bear the brunt of being demonized, pulverized, and dehumanized and wait for ‘Ache Din.’

It is certain that the BJP government cannot push its anti-Muslim agenda beyond a certain point. The BJP knows that if they continue to do so they will be pushing India into large-scale violence and societal chaos that may have a repelling effect.  

The anti-Muslim fire lit by the BJP currently has spilled over to the unemployed youth of the country. Their collective anger that recently chanted the war cry of ‘Jai Sri Ram’ against the Muslims has now changed to ‘Bharat Matta Ki Jai’ directed against the BJP.  The unemployed youth are so annoyed by the Agnipath scheme of the BJP that the government is finding it hard to control.  

The anti-Muslim agenda of Narinder Modi to consolidate the Hindu vote bank has reduced India into a ship on fire in the mid-ocean with ammunition on board.         Undoubtedly the Hindu – Muslim relationship has reached the tipping point under the BJP rule.

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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com

 

Friday, April 22, 2022

Assam CM attempting to check the Muslim growth rate in the State

 

Assam CM attempting to check the Muslim growth rate in the State   By Syed Ali Mujtaba

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is beset with the problem to control the Muslim population growth rate in the state. He has constituted seven sub-committees in July 2021 asking them to recommend ways and means to address the issue of the growing Muslim population in Assam. The report is submitted to the Chief Minister on Friday, April 22, 2022

The sub-committees while preparing the report have deliberated on the issues like health, education, skill development, preservation of cultural identity, financial inclusion, and empowerment of women to control the growth of the Muslim population in Assam.  

Assam Chief Minister after receiving the recommendations made by the panels said that his government would formulate short, medium, and long terms plan to control population growth among the Muslim community.

The Assam Chief Minister had earlier held several interactive meetings with intellectuals and prominent citizens belonging to the Muslim community where he reportedly told them that the high population growth among Muslims has caused poverty and illiteracy in the community. He appealed to the community leaders to adhere to the population policy with a two-child norm and take family planning measures to check the population growth among Muslims. 

According to the 2001 and 2011 Census, the Muslim population is growing at a rate of 29 percent (decadal). In contrast, the Hindu population has come down from 22 percent to 16 percent and has further reduced to 10 percent during the latest censuses.

Muslims comprise 34.22 percent of the 3.12 crore population of Assam, of which 4 percent are indigenous Assamese Muslims and the remaining are mostly Bengali-speaking Muslims.

The number game of democracy is playing out against the BJP’s Hindutva politics.  The saffron party is finding it hard to maintain its ascendency in the state due to the growth of the Muslim population in Assam.

Muslim voters are determining factor in at least 30 to 35 seats out total of 126 Assembly seats of Assam. Out of 34 districts in Assam, in 6 districts the Muslim population is 50 percent or more. In another 19 districts, the Muslim population is 12 percent or more. So in 25 out of 34 districts in Assam Muslims are electorally significant.

However, this has become a problem for the BJP, because democracy is a number game and in this game, BJP is losing out decisively.

In order to address the problem, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma constituted seven committees to recommend government-specific policies and measures to decelerate the growth of the Muslim population in Assam.

The Assam Chief Minister has taken the plea that his aim is to eradicate poverty and illiteracy among the Muslim community and he wants to accelerate the socio-economic and academic empowerment of the Muslim community, but the actual intention is to trim the Muslim population’s growth rate.   He wants to create an even playfield so that the Hindu vote bank can have an ascendency over the Muslim population in the state.

As Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma defines Assamese nationalism in Hindu terms, his pitch to check the growth rate of the Muslims, is seen as an attempt to amplify his rhetoric.

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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist. He can be contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com