P. Raman 
Allegations have surfaced that the recent riots in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh were the result of a planned conspiracy involving the ruling party and administration. Unlike the 2002 Gujarat riots, which were state-wide, lasted days and killed over 1200, the Bahraich violence was localised and limited. But that does not mean it was any less effective.
Indeed, it fits well with the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) post-2014 strategy of relying on localised, low-intensity hate crimes against minorities rather than on high-intensity bouts of violence – which have the drawback of being highly visible around the world.
Two years ago, there was severe criticism abroad of rising hate crimes in India. Foreign media carried detailed accounts of several communal incidents. Delhi’s indignation was understandable, especially since the bad publicity came on the eve of the massive Vishwaguru buildup for the G20 summit in the capital.
BJP president J.P. Nadda was the first to hit out at critics, claiming there were more and bigger communal riots in India before Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power. Nadda even reeled out figures to support his argument. In parliament, BJP members said that 871 riots had taken place during Congress rule.
True, there were many communal riots before Modi took over as prime minister, including some that had a higher toll or caused more destruction. But there is one crucial qualitative difference between the violence then and now. What is happening under Modi comes across as part of a well-thought-out plan to create a deep and durable divide in society. This polarisation and the resultant tension is being used to build a lasting vote bank for the ruling party.
Political scientist Suhas Palshikar, analysing a Lokniti survey, found that Hindu consolidation and the prime minister’s strong leader image were the chief factors for the Modi surge in the 2019 elections. He concluded that there was greater local polarisation since the previous election in 2014.
Lokniti’s findings show the impact of the everyday riots. In most instances, there is no firing or large scale killings to ensure the violence does not spread out of control. That would invite international attention and harm the Vishwaguru image. The whole purpose appears to be to generate and conserve hatred against minorities, take advantage of the resultant polarisation and convert it into an assured vote bank for the BJP. Those like Monu Manesar launch the violence but are not allowed to take it beyond a point. In most such cases, senior BJP leaders keep themselves out.
Secondly, Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah have done away with several healthy traditions. Earlier, every communal flare-up was followed by conciliatory efforts to assuage the bitterness, such as all-party teams visiting the scene. Much of this continued through the Vajpayee years too. In the good old times, the National Integration Council also met.
As against this, Human Rights Watch has found that Narendra Modi himself used hate speech to fuel his 2024 election campaign, with 110 of his speeches containing ‘Islamophobic’ remarks. The police and official machinery have merrily joined this minority-bashing. Every available trivial issue is raked up to harass and humiliate Muslims: A hapless imam is forced to shout ‘Jai Shri Ram’ at gunpoint; a mosque is razed; madrasa students are humiliated; mazars are demolished; and Muslims are attacked for selling halal meat and transporting cows. Muslim girls are being forced to remove the hijab, with fringe elements in Karnataka specialising in this pastime. This would not work in the north where, in many parts, Hindu women too wear veils.
Every religious festival, Hindu or Muslim, has become a nightmare for members of the minority community. Mosques and shops become easy targets. Every Ram Navami or Eid, fear grips the community. They are forced to cover mosques and business establishments with cloth. Ganesh Chaturthi is the latest on the list. The threat increases when the dates of Hindu and Muslim festivals clash.
‘Bulldozer justice’, that most dreaded weapon against the minorities for seven years, has now been halted by the Supreme Court. It was invented by Yogi Adityanath in 2017, along with ‘anti-Romeo squads’, and earned him the sobriquet ‘Bulldozer baba’. Soon, the demolition of Muslim houses and shops spread to states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and even Delhi, where the police answers to the BJP-run Union home ministry..
‘Love jihad’ was designed to harass Muslim young men who dare to marry girls from other religions. If a Muslim boy and a Hindu girl were found together, they were beaten by Hindutva groups. Some were forcefully separated, a few escaped and others sought the court’s protection. For years, in the name of morality, ruffians roamed freely from Dehradun to Karnataka.
As ‘love jihad’ spread, it developed its own variants. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma invented the term ‘fertiliser jihad’ and vowed to crack down on the ‘Miyas.’ Then he turned to ‘land jihad’. Soon it was ‘narcotics jihad’, a term used by a bishop in Kerala. Then Maharashtra BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis came up with ‘vote jihad’.
Targeting petty traders, hawkers, shops owned by Muslims or people offering namaz and objecting to minority community members setting up stalls at Hindu festivals or denying them housing – these are all part of the grand strategy to build a durable vote bank at the ground level. This is a quiet operation that does not invite outside attention but leaves a deep social divide.
Hawkers are always soft targets for the hate-mongers. Since they are not an organised group, many such incidents go unreported. Even in Uttarakhand’s remote villages, billboards were put up, warning people against Rohingya Muslim hawkers entering the area. In Gurugram and neighbouring areas, last year’s clashes forced 5,000 Muslim shop owners to close their establishments and escape to safer areas. Armed miscreants roamed the streets of Panipat and vandalised shops. Muslims’ shops were discriminated against during the Covid-19 lockdown. A few months ago, Hindutva mobs ran amok, targeting Muslim-owned shops in the Mira Road suburb of Mumbai. Violence erupted at Kolhapur, where some 50-60 Muslim houses and shops were looted and attacked.
Consider the deliberate attempts to make the divisive narrative part of everyday life:
Residents of a housing society in Vadodara opposed the entry of a Muslim woman who had been allotted a flat under the chief minister’s housing scheme. Members of another housing society at Vadia in Ahmedabad objected to the sale of a flat to Dalit or Muslim buyers. Fortunately, the Gujarat high court later upheld the right to sell property to any buyer irrespective of religion.
Similar incidents have been reported from Mumbai and the southern states. Most apartment owners in the National Capital Region are not willing to sell or rent out their flats to Muslims or other non-Hindus. Housing discrimination against non-Hindus is widespread in several Hyderabad neighbourhoods as well.
Sample the following cases of harassment: A Muslim working woman was thrown out of a Mumbai flat because of her religion; ‘Muslims and pets not welcome,’ a ‘To Let’ advertisement for a Mumbai flat declared; A Muslim man recounted the challenge of trying to rent a flat in a gated community in New Delhi; A Mangalore apartment owners’ association passed a resolution saying members should not rent their flats to Muslims.
Violent crowds, supported by biased officials and police, are making daily life miserable for the ordinary Muslim. Filled with hatred, a railway police constable shot dead three Muslims in a moving train; a violent crowd assaulted a 72-year-old bearded Muslim man on suspicion that he was carrying beef in his tiffin box; in Madhya Pradesh, 11 houses were demolished after police found ‘beef’ in a refrigerator; a seven-year-old boy was expelled from an Uttar Pradesh school for taking biryani in his tiffin box; and the case of an Uttar Pradesh schoolteacher goading classmates to slap a boy because he happened to be a Muslim reached the Supreme Court. Now, a judge has invoked ‘love jihad’ to award a life sentence to a Muslim man, prompting the All India Lawyers’ Association for Justice to seek action against the Bareilly judge. The hate narrative goes on and on.
Tailpiece: A Gujarat government animal husbandry officer and his staff had a bitter taste of barbarity at the hands of Gau Rakshaks. Twenty ruffians stormed into a government goat breeding centre alleging cow slaughter. Later, the staff, all Hindus, went to the local police station to file an FIR against the rakshaks.
P Raman is a veteran journalist.
This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire & Galileo Ideas – and has been updated and republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.