This is the third and final part of article on the changing situation of Indian Muslims. The article was first published in Muslim Mirror. The earlier parts were publishes on siasat.com
To a query that all political parties have abandoned Muslims as Hindutva has become the ideological baseline of politics, he said, “This is exactly the Israeli Trajectory. In the past, there was a Labour Party, a leader Mr. Yitzak Rabin, the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, who was for peace and equality between Israelites. It was to be the dominant party, secular and progressive. But it gradually receded in the background. Under Ariel Sharon, “the fear of the other”–of Muslims, of Arabs, of neighboring countries, fear of Iran have become so strong that there was no room left for peace between communities.
“The dominant discourse became Mediterranean discourse. A security oriented discourse. Politics played a role and Polarisation became the strategy of the Likud Party. Likud set the tone. You became illegitimate if you wanted to speak to Palestinians.
“This may happen in India. There may be a time when nobody will dare to say that “Hindutva is not Hinduism. Hindu nationalism is not Indian nationalism because the fear of the other would become so pervasive; the fear of Pakistan and; the fear of Islam would be the only game in town for the Hindutva politics and if you don’t indulge in this discourse then you will be illegitimate.
“We have seen this in many other countries, where National populism is taking over. You delegitimize the other and they can’t compete anymore. So there is only way out is to become like a dominant party of course the soft version of it but it is only a Variant of it. That may be the Trajectory of India.
“The alternative will be to shift from the Identity Politics to the Socio-Economic issues, to change the words and the Parameters, to shift Identity Politics to Interest-based Politics.
With the crisis that India is in now will result in this shift?
It’s too early to say. But if identity politics will be the order of the day, it will be very difficult to have an alternative discourse to Hindutva politics.
According to Christophe Jaffrelote, Electoral competition led to this “Otherisation of Muslims…How do you polarize? By making the other, a threat to your identity,” he said.
“Certainly, there is a psychological dimension. Certainly, there is the traditional sense of vulnerability among Hindus and that was exasperated at the turn of the 20th century and the Khilafat Movement resulting in the making of RSS. Then everything gained momentum after many decades later when it became Electoral Instrument.
“When the BJP could mobilize voters by polarising they will. They could polarise in many different ways. To mobilize people on Ayodhya issue was one of them, to figure riots is another one. In whatever way, they operated, whatever issue they raised, was primarily the Electoral Strategy and they made it work.
“Linguistic Nationalism does not need to be enshrined only in the SC, ST, OBC Muslims. It’s a reality that will certainly make the expansion of BJP, complicated, in some part of the country. It may work in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, etc. But the way Hindutva had become a new identity for so many people, including former communists are fascinating. It shows that even West Bengal, Kerala, can be conquered by this ideology. So, linguistic nationalism may not be sufficient to stop religious nationalism.”
India is a de facto ethnic democracy
Why Christophe Jaffrelote does not feel that India is an Ethnic Democracy because the Constitution of India is still secular, unlike Israel which is a Jewish State by its constitution.
He has used Lok Sabha and state Assembly Data to prove the process of discrimination, marginalization and exclusion of Muslims. No mainstream parties are prepared to give tickets for elections to Muslims today. He concluded, “At best, we can say that India is going in that direction and has become a de facto Ethnic Democracy and not de jure.”
The rise of Muslim parties
In Maharashtra, Asaduddin Owaisi led AIMIM and Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar caused 20 to 25 seats to Congress and NCP in the recent state election. Muslims do not consider that Congress represents them well but if they move to Muslim parties then they will further weaken the Congress.
“That is the Dilemma,” he said. This dilemma can only be solved if you look at the state level and constituency level and that your priority has to be clear. If your priority is to defeat the BJP candidate then you have to find out who is the stronger candidate to defeat and it may not be from the Muslim party.
Alliance of Dalit and Muslims
It is possible if socio-economic issues staged a comeback in the national arena, and they may, because the situation is very bad economically, for the moment they are not.
However, now, Dalits and Muslims are not so close politically because of the two things. He said, “One because BJP was very good at using Sanskritsation mechanism for attracting Dalits and second the Reservations is the paradoxical mechanism.” In most of the states, few Dalit sub casts have cornered most of the quotas. For example, Jatavs have cornered most of the SC quotas. Alienating small Dalit jatis like Valmikis and Khatiks and so on. BJP has been very good at attracting these groups which are so resentful vis-a-vis BSP, vis-a-vis party representing the winners of reservations.
“It is a very important point that the poorest Dalits are behind the BJP today. To ally with the Muslims are not in their agenda at the moment,” he added. So there are many reasons why in terms of Identitybut also in terms of Interest many Dalits will not turn to Muslims.”
New middle class among Muslims
CAA agitation for Christophe Jaffrelote was very revealing. The emergence and crystallization of the middle class that had been rather apolitical till then became active. Executives, salaried people had not indulged in politics so far to some extent. He said, “The CAA agitations showed that they were prepared to demonstrate, to go the street and that is probably the most important development.
“Among them, women, have played an amazing part. In this anti-CAA movement, we have seen many Muslim women at the forefront, not only young but all kinds of women. He appreciated the fact that “the education level of Muslim women is not bad at all and it is in stark contrast to that of the stereotype of Muslim women.”
Rise of the middle class is a ray of hope and the politicisation of Muslim middle class may help not only politically but also socially. He said, “Unityamong all kinds of lines among Muslims, class, castes, and sects is the key. It may become much more obvious because there is hardly any way out at this juncture.
There are people in the community who wrongly think they will get away with it. They look at the poor as real casualties. Unity between minorities will certainly help for Self Help–unity among Casts, Class and Sectarian Groups
Internationalisation of Indian Muslim
On the question of pleading in the international court, Christophe Jaffrelote said, “Internationalisation of Indian Muslims is far- fetched. We have to follow closely the steps that have already been taken.”
“Michelle Bachelet Jeria, UN Human Rights Commissioner, is looking at this issue. It is not a UN court it’s a UN commission. She is more approachable than any court and a much more realistic step.
Foreign countries are also watching developments in India closely. US Congress has started to study, every year, what kind of freedom of religion was available in India. The report that made to Congress every year is more disturbing. So never underestimate the role of US Congress in American democracy.
“Then the European Union, especially the European Parliament is following what’s going on in India, very closely.
Interestingly, Modiji tried to get closer to Saudi Arabia, UAE etc. to get business and investment from there and secondly to push away Pakistan from these countries. However, that is Boomeranging. In UAE, the OIC protested against the way the Jammu & Kashmir issue has been dealt with by India.”
The author Christophe Jaffrelote is a senior research fellow at CERI-Sciences Po/CNRS, Paris, professor of Indian Politics and Sociology at King’s India Institute, London, and non-resident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He offers valuable insights on South Asian politics, particularly the methods and motivations of the Hindu right in India.