Sends a Strong Message of Hindu- Muslim Unity
Abdul Bari Masoud reports the Kisan Mahapanchayat in Muzaffarnagar, which proved a massive show of strength and unity of farmers from across the country and revived a message of traditional Hindu-Muslim unity.
People in the area have now realised that the Muzaffarnagar riots in 2013 were a political conspiracy hatched by the BJP. Everyone is ashamed of this folly and madness; both Jats and Muslims want to mend strained ties and get closer to each other.” This was stated by Ajay Chaudahri and Irshad Ali, the residents of riots affected Muzaffarnagar district. They both have actively participated in the Kisan Mahapanchayat, which gave a clarion call to strengthen Hindu- Muslim unity and to throw out divisive BJP in the coming election.
Even though, the Mahapanchayat – organised by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (an umbrella body of 40 farmer unions) – was a massive show of strength and unity of farmers from across the country, its biggest message was reviving the traditional Hindu-Muslim unity. It also made a strong pledge to punish and defeat the ‘communal and casteist’ BJP in the coming elections.
In the backdrop of the worst communal violence in 2013, the largest ever Kisan rally declared that the farmers will never allow communal riots to happen in the future and the Kisan Andolan will always give slogan to strengthen Hindu-Muslim unity.
It is interesting to note that even during the Partition time, the Jat- and Muslim-dominated Western UP was pretty much calm and quiet. And for the first time in 2013, it witnessed the worst ever communal riots which claimed a toll of 68 people, mostly Muslims, and displaced more than 50,000 people in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts. Eight years since the riots, 1,117 people accused in 97 cases related to murder, rape, robbery and arson, etc. connected to the violence have been acquitted over lack of evidence. Only seven members from the minority community were convicted in a single case related to the murder of two youths, Sachin and Gaurav, in Kawal village. Of late the current Yogi government has withdrawn all the cases against the leaders of his party who were allegedly involved in the violence.
Keeping these events in mind, farmer leaders one after another slammed the BJP’s politics of polarisation. While urging farmers to work for communal harmony and peace in the country, they exude confidence that the Kisan-Mazdoor agenda will triumph over the “communal and casteist” politics of the BJP-RSS.
Calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders “rioters”, Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait said that the BJP, which rules on the basis of “hatred” and “division”, should be made to suffer electoral losses. “Iss sarkar ko vote ki chhott milni chahiye (the government needs to be defeated through votes)”.
JAT- MUSLIM BONHOMIE REVIVED
Recalling his father and BKU founder late Chaudhari Mahendra Singh Tikait days, he said, “Chaudhariji ke zamane mein isee stage sey nare takbeer “Allahu Akbar” aur “Har Har Mahadev” ke nare lagte the”.
He then asked the gathering to chant “Allahu Akbar” as well as “Har Har Mahadev” from the stage set up in Muzaffarnagar’s Government Inter College ground.
After the crowd reverberated with these chants, he calmly declared that “Mission UP” has begun from Muzaffarnagar, and the number of people who have joined is proof of that.
It is to be mentioned here that this tradition of slogans was started by Ghulam Muhammad Jola, who was a close associate of the BKU founder. He left the BKU after the demise of Tikait in 2011. Jola kept saying that if Chaudhari Tikait had been alive in 2013, the Muzaffarnagar riots would not have happened. After the riots, the tradition was broken. Now his son, Rakesh Tikait has not only revived this tradition but has also brought 36 communities together in the name of Kisan Ittehad to pay true homage to his father.
He also called the BJP a “divisive” party, and said that now people will choose love and unity.
The junior Tikait also warned people that they (BJP) can engineer communal violence to divert the attention of the public from the common man’s and farmer’s issues.
MUSLIMS OPEN MOSQUES FOR FARMERS
One can see a change in the atmosphere of Muzaffarnagar. Muslims have warmly welcomed farmers, who came to participate in the rally from different parts of the country. They opened the doors of mosques for the farmers to rest and offered food to them. Muhammad Hassan, the caretaker of the Takiyawali Mosque, is being praised for this. The mosque is situated in the city’s most popular square Meenakshi. He opened the doors of the mosque at the dead of night when he saw farmers wandering on the road on September 4.
“I understood that they (farmers) had come to participate in the Mahapanchayat. The city was over-crowded and they were more worried because of the presence of some women in their group. I talked to the mosque committee people and at 2 o’clock in the night, the mosque was fully opened and hundreds of farmers came here to rest,” he told Radiance.
More than one lakh farmers from Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan came here on the night of September 4 as the organisers did not expect people would come in such a very large number.
There were Jat farmers from Jind (Haryana) and some of them even wore saffron-coloured headgear. Impressed by the hospitality of the local Muslims, one of them even said that today his attitude towards Muslims has completely changed.
A local resident Amir Azam said that when he arrived to offer Fajr prayers on the morning of September 5, he saw an amazing sight inside the mosque even as Muslims were praying; the farmers stood with folded hands and began to meditate in the adjacent room.
Farmers from Haryana and Punjab would immediately stand up and sit down after the call to prayer was made. At the same time, they made sure that their heads were towards the Ka’bah. One farmer unknowingly turned his foot towards the Ka’bah, while the other said to him, “The Ka’bah is in this direction, do not step on it!”
MUSLIMS SERVE FOOD
In addition to this, local Muslims set up community kitchens on the Bijnor road to Muzaffarnagar, at a distance of 10 km from Sherpur, Narana and Bahadurpur. Sikhrera, Nangla Mandaur and Kawal villages are also on the same route where the riots erupted after the Nigla Mandoor panchayat held in 2013. A local Jat, Pravendra Singh said people want to wash away the stains of riots.
Ajay Chaudhary averred that Jats and Muslims have started mending their centuries-old ties and this unity will not be broken and of course it will have an effect on political affairs as well. He said the late Chaudhari Ajit Singh made great efforts in bringing both the communities together. Hopefully, the golden age of Jat-Muslim unity will return, he said. Echoing this, Waseem Mansoori said when a young man uttered some derogatory words like “mullah” against Muslims before a group of reporters, he was admonished by the Hindu brethren present there.
Rakesh’s younger brother Naresh Tikait admitted that the riots in 2013 had divided the two communities but now they are reunited again.
It is heartening to note that at least the farmers have shown the courage to take the communal forces head on who are trying to push the country towards the path of destruction, said Prof. Mohammad Salim Engineer, vice president of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind.
While commenting on the Kisan Mahapanchayat, he said eight years ago, Muzaffarnagar was the scene of some of the most brutal communal violence; now the same place is filled with fraternity, love and mutual trust between Hindus and Muslims. This is the victory of love over hate. The JIH extends support to the demands raised in the recent Kisan Mahapanchayat in Muzaffarnagar, he added.
DIRECT CALL TO OUST BJP
This is for the first time since the farmers protest against three pro-corporate farm laws was launched in November last year, the Kisan leaders directly gave a call for the ouster of the BJP from power in UP, Uttarakhand and other states which will go to polls next year.
Uttar Pradesh is set to see assembly polls early in 2022. With Muzaffarnagar as the site for the Mahapanchayat, its electoral impact in western UP may turn out to be huge, as Jats are a decisive factor and have a substantial impact on at least 120 out of the 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh.
A BKU leader said, “Muzaffarnagar’s people will never be divided again. Especially not while voting in 2022 assembly elections.” It is said the Muzaffarnagar’s riots played an important role in the rise of BJP in UP as the party reaped rich dividends of hate politics.
The Samajwadi Party, which has an alliance with Rashtriya Lok Dal, hopes that this time the Jat voters won’t be swayed by communal politics of BJP. Speaking with Radiance, party national spokesperson, Ameeq Jamaee said the BJP is playing the politics of polarisation to hide its nefarious design. The Kisan Mahapanchayat has sent a loud and clear message to the ruling party that it cannot play its pet communal card anymore to fool the voters again, he said.
UP watchers opine that Tikait’s calls for defeating the BJP electorally may have bearing on the poll outcome as the BKU had remained silent or supported the BJP covertly in the earlier elections.
The farmers unions have planned 17 other similar Kisan Mahapanchayats across Uttar Pradesh, including Gorakhpur and Varanasi, at present being represented by Adityanath and Modi respectively.
However, the question remains: Will the huge number of farmers at the Mahapanchayat effect the voting patterns across UP, or will its impact just be confined to western UP?