Hate crimes, divisive agenda and communal polarisation have become new normal ahead of polls. Parties having not worked on development agenda have failed to fulfil the promise made in their respective manifestos generally bank on divisive agenda. In the recent past a series of hate crimes, propagation of divisive agenda in Uttar Pradesh is not an exception; it is on expected lines.
The point is: it becomes a dangerous precedent when the state machinery either remains mute spectators to these incidents or have encouraged the perpetrators of hate crimes. The big question: Will hate crimes and divisive agenda become synonyms of elections one day?
According to JIH Vice-President, Prof. Mohammad Salim Engineer, “The kind of atmosphere being created in the name of conversion in Uttar Pradesh in particular and in the rest of the county in general is to create communal atmosphere. The timing of such a plan makes us believe that it is linked to the upcoming UP assembly elections. In India people have converted and chosen their faith since ages under the guidance of our Constitution and the law of the land. It is permissible as per the law. In Umar Gautam’s case charges are being made of forceful conversion and any other illegal means which has not been proved as yet. The manner in which the issue has been tossed up and a large section of media which is pro-government is trying to make it a big issue.”
JIH Vice President added, “We can see big stories are being shown or it would be proper to say that media trial is on. It means media is getting some feedback and they are airing stories accordingly. False stories are being shown while investigation is still on. It is very rare to see that the DGP of the state comes out to address the press on a particular issue. Very recently, it was also noticed that the Chief Minister of the state, while keeping aside the sanctity of the constitutional post he holds, gave a statement that property would be seized, NSA would be charged and so on. His statements are surprising because there is rule of law in the country and law will take its own course. It is surprising to note the threatening statements from the chief minister of the state where there is law apparatus and an institution to take up such a matter and decide as per the merit of the case.
“There is law in the country and the system to deal with. If one has done any wrong, there is a process and the due process should be followed. But to create an atmosphere of hate with divisive agenda is reflective of the political motive behind such propaganda and false stories. With such divisive issues and arrest they are trying to gain some political dividend in the upcoming elections. It is a very dangerous trend that our political parties while making some people victim by levelling false charges are trying to gain political benefit. In the process they fail to understand the damage done to our social fabric. I believe that dividing people with divisive agenda and created hatred in society and communities I believe is anti-national activities.”
He further said, “As elections in UP draw close, people will ask questions on employment, mismanagement during pandemic, on deaths of people and who is to be blamed and a range of issues. The government is not in a position to answer these questions and therefore create hatred in the minds of the people in order to polarise the society with divisive issues. The civil society and courts should take proactive role and intervene as and when required to protect and preserve the essence of India and its unity in diversity traits.”
John Dayal, a noted social and human rights activist, while reacting sharply on the issue, said, “Christians were the first target of the right wing religious-nationalist elements in the Congress and the BJP who first brought out the thesis that Hindus were being enticed, especially in the tribal belt, by Christian missionaries to convert to Christianity. Nehru warned against this argument, but anti-conversion laws were enacted in Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. The laws were subsequently copied by other state governments and are now operative even in states such as Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Later Muslims were also bracketed with the Christians.”
He added, “The courts have upheld the Constitutional guarantees that citizens of India have the right to profess, practise and propagate their religion. The Constitution-makers had stressed that the propagation, preaching and proclamation of one’s religion was an important part of the right of freedom of religion. This right included not having a religion, or changing one’s religion. The courts, the policy makers and the leaders of various religions all agreed that there could be no force and fraud in propagating any religion. Force and fraud are defined in the penal and criminal codes of the criminal justice system. Babasaheb Ambedkar took millions to Buddhism. Sikhism too continues to attract people from the Hindu fold.
“But only Islam and Christianity are targeted by political elements, and by the police and establishment. The Umar Gautam case carries the bigotry and islamophobia to an extreme extent in keeping with the diktat of chief minister Ajay Bhisht. Umar himself is a former Hindu and now runs a religious information and evangelisation office. There are many such offices all over the country by all religions, including Hinduism, especially by the Iskon Movement and the Buddhist Ambedkarites. That is all within the law,” said Dayal.
He added, “It is preposterous to suggest that hundreds of Hindu adults, men and women, can be lured to a religion by force or fraud or allurements, including the promise of marriage. People who have the wisdom to choose their political leaders in election after election surely have the maturity to decide which faith, or faiths they will follow. We have repeatedly called upon governments and political parties to come together and rescind these draconian laws which are being used to terrorise minorities and take away the heart of constitutional guarantee of freedom of religion, which is the trademark of a secular democracy.”
Dr. Zafarul-Islam Khan, former Chairman Delhi Minorities Commission in a Urdu article (which was rendered into English by Clarion India team), said, “Hate-mongers of the Sangh Parivar are giving all sorts of statements. Nothing from the side of Umar Gautam and his friend Mufti Jahangir is heard. Statements of only police or Sanghis are coming. They are linking them to forceful conversion and terrorism; and now talks are on to slap NSA (National Security Act) on them which is invoked only against those who are a threat to the nation.”
He added, “Umar Gautam’s issue is not his personal. He was doing his work well within his rights, as per Article 25 of the Constitution. If he has done something wrong, then it should be investigated in a transparent manner. But the media trial and UP government’s eagerness to implicate him indicates that the matter is something else. In fact, they want to prepare ground for UP election, create Hindu-Muslim polarisation and spark communal riots. This type of hype is necessary for all this.”
The President of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Maulana Arshad Madani, in a statement on July 4, said, “Whenever an election is approaching, all of a sudden a certain section of the society is engaged in fanning the flames of sectarianism and religious hatred. The implication is clear that some people want to gain power by establishing sectarian boundaries in the society; it means all events are being carried out on political grounds. For such people, neither the Constitution of the country nor human sentiments matters. But the question is how long such politics will continue, the country is passing through a major economic crisis, jobs are being lost, a whole generation of educated youth is unemployed, the country’s growth rate has reached negative figures, we even though are living in the 21st century. The citizens of the country, despite all the claims of development, are still deprived of basic amenities.”
He also said that the politics of hatred that has been going on for the last few years is started to have dire consequences. If the eyes of the rulers are still not open then it will be difficult to bring the country back from the dangerous path of decline. Maulana Madani said that the country is governed by the rule of law and justice, and moves forward with mutual unity. That is why we have always said that instead of hatred, national solidarity, mutual unity and Hindu-Muslim brotherhood should be promoted in the country. Because human history has witnessed that love brings peace, progress and prosperity, and hatred brings only destruction.