Can the grand alliance between the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh stem the spread of ‘everyday communalism’ in Uttar Pradesh? India’s leading political scientist Dr Sudha Pai and researcher Sajjan Kumar who analyze the Muzzafarnagar riots of 2013 argue that the spread of hate and divisions between Hindus across caste lines and Muslims across Uttar Pradesh no longer manifests only during periodic riots but have taken on an everyday, mundane nature.
Issues like the beef ban and love jihad, exploited by groups like the Hindu Yuva Vahini to deepen divides have created an atmosphere in which social cohesion amongst Hindus and Muslims is threatened in small, everyday ways and petty disputes are prone to take on communal overtones.
