This is the second article in a four-part series
Twenty-odd kilometres from Azamgarh district headquarters, the relatively prosperous Sanjarpur village seems politically dispassionate until you strike a conversation with the locals.
“What elections? Two of our youth were killed brutally; nearly a dozen are languishing in jails on false accusations, the whole area is suffering for being branded as terrorist hub. Can’t you see the fear and anger among people?” Mohammad Aslam, a farmer, says amid nods by locals at the tea shop.
Feeling of injustice in the alleged 2008 Batla House encounter and being branded as a terrorist hub continues in several pockets across Lalgaj and Didarganj assembly segments of Azamgarh consisting of Sarai Mir, Para, Rani Ki Sarai, Beena Para and Kanwra — to which most of the arrested youth belong.
“Batla House fake encounter is a live issue not only in Azamgarh but across Purvanchal. People want to teach Congress a lesson for betraying them by not initiating an independent probe,” insists Masiuddin, a People’s Union for civil Liberties (PUCL) activist.
But the people are wary of supporting the Ulema Council which fought the 2009 Lok Sabha elections on Batla’s emotive issue and other smaller parties. They remember how wrong tactical voting eventually helped the BJP win from Azamgarh.
With little choice at hand, the Muslims here are favouring the Samajwadi Party, which they think is at least attentive to their grievances, says former reader of Shibli College, Dr Iqbal Ahmad.
Besides, the area also has strong presence of Yadavs and a hyperactive UP police has marred the chances of the BSP.
But in Sadar — the headquarters of Azamgarh district — the Batla issue loses steam as other issues of development, civic amenities and corruption take the front seat among the politically conscious. Once a bastion of communists, Azamgarh continues to remain far more secular than other parts of UP.
“It is certainly an issue but not to the extent that it would change the electoral arithmetic. The reason for the Congress’s bad performance here will be on account of not doing enough of ground work to make a good base,” says Professor Baber Ashfaq Khan of Shibli National College, Azamgarh.
However, Mohammad Atiq, a recent graduate from Shibli College, claims the issue remains a burning topic among youth who are unable to get jobs outside.
A veteran political analyst of Azamgarh says, “The Congress was naïve to rake up the issue which was getting out of public memory. Still, it won’t harm them much. The elections here are fought on caste lines and key development issues. The overall equation favours the SP.”
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