Has ’02 slid out of poll agenda in Guj?

Congress wants to rake up riots, Guj unit not too keen

Is the communal carnage that rocked the state in February 2002 still a political issue in Gujarat? Embarrassed by the arrest of Naroda MLA Maya Kodnani for her alleged role in a massacre that killed more than 100 Muslims, the state BJP camp is tight-lipped over the issue.

But even though Congress leadership in New Delhi will be itching to use the issue to corner LK Advani and Narendra Modi, state Congress is likely to stay away from it. Moreover, the victims who lived to tell their tales are least bothered about Kodnani’s arrest. So, whose battle is it anyway?

The recent developments in Gujarat make for an interesting case study of ironies. Even as the victims and their families are getting increasingly disillusioned about the status of the riot cases, Muslims workers from Congress and some prominent citizens are either coming out in support of Modi or joining the saffron party. Recently at least 200 Congress members from the minority community in Vadodara and Chhota Udepur walked into the BJP fold.

The latest being retired IPS officer AI Saiyed. Sources in the Congress say that the crossover is a minor issue as those who have joined BJP have no influence over the Muslim masses and may even turn out to be a liability for the right wing outfit. Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Siddharth Patel told DNA, “A few hundred members do not form an exhaustive representation of a community. Muslims are with the Congress, there is no doubt about that.”

The Congress is, however, split on the issue. The GPCC shied away from using the 2002 riots as an issue during the 2007 state assembly elections. It seems equally reluctant to claim the moral high ground on human rights issues. While P Chidambaram and Manmohan Singh have made repeated references to Modi and Advani’s role in 2002 bloodshed, Gujarat Congress has categorically refrained from doing so.

The Congress’s strategy is to paint Advani as an administrator of communal divisiveness in the country and an unreliable leader, during whose stint as Union home minister hundreds of people were killed in Gujarat; and in the process, strengthening ties with the minority community. 

A political strategist of Congress in Gujarat said, “This might lead to losses here, but the resulting gains at the national level will override them. BJP has no agenda except Ram Mandir. Advani and Modi cannot win as just Hindutva mascots.”

The GPCC is focusing on attacking Modi for supporting ‘tainted’ leaders — Maya Kodnani, Prabhatsinh Chauhan, CR Patil, Deepak Sathi and Bhavsinh Rathore.

BJP’s minority bet for major gains

With some prominent Muslims, including former top cop AI Saiyed, joining the BJP in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections, the saffron party seems to have made serious efforts to broaden its base and reach out to minorities.

The Muslim leaders say they are with the BJP because while the Congress exploited them for votes, chief minister Narendra Modi has brought them into the mainstream.
The BJP has a minority cell at the state level as well as cells in each district which largely get active in the election season. The leaders claim there are around 20,000 members from the minority community in the BJP.

The intriguing question is how Muslims reconcile to supporting the BJP which is largely seen as a communal party and chief minister Narendra Modi is accused of having fanned the 2002 riots.

Sajjad Hira, president of Gujarat BJP Minority morcha, says he does not feel any dichotomy in supporting the BJP. “In the last seven years, the Gujarat government has brought about good development and Muslims in the state have benefited too,” says Hira who joined the BJP’s precursor Jan Sangh in 1977 when he was just 15 years old. “My father was associated with the Jan Sangh leaders and I too followed in his footsteps.”

Asked if the taint of 2002 riots against the BJP did not bother him, he said, “There have been no riots in the last seven years and the state has seen peace and progress.”
In fact, the BJP is adopting this very policy to reach out to the minority community. Says a party leader from Anand, “When we go to campaign among the Muslims, we tell them that the development has benefited both the Hindus and Muslims and there is no discrimination.”

Insiders and analysts say that the Muslims who support the BJP are largely from the Bohra community who are traders and so they see a vested interest in supporting the party.

“Most of the Muslims who support the BJP are drawn from the Bohras which is a trading community. They see the political reality that the BJP will be in power in Gujarat for several years and in their business interest, they have made peace with the enemy,” says an insider.

Rafiq Memon, the Ahmedabad city minority cell president, says the Muslims have seen through the Congress charade. “The Congress keeps harping on our minority status. They only use us as a vote bank. We are sick of this. We want to be part of the mainstream and Narendra Modi has brought us into the mainstream.”

Ganibhai Qureshi, a state executive member of the BJP, has been with the party for almost 40 years. “I joined the Jan Sangh in 1969 even before the BJP came into existence. I joined the Sangh after the 1969 riots which were engineered by the Congress and no steps were taken to quell the violence. Everyone told me the Sangh was communal but I did not find it so,” said Qureshi who is among the senior-most Muslim leaders of the BJP.

The BJP did experiment with putting up a few Muslim candidates in the assembly, councillor and local elections but has not met with huge success. So is this only symbolic or is there a change of heart among some Muslims?

‘Congress has taken Muslims for granted’

Retired additional director general of police (ADGP) AI Saiyed’s decision to join the BJP appears to have given the party some boost this Lok Sabha election. Though he has apparently not been entrusted any major responsibility, he is widely expected to help BJP make inroads into Muslim votes.

“I find BJP a good party and the people associated with it are also good. This is a factor which motivated me to join the party,” Saiyed told DNA a few days after joining the saffron outfit.

Saiyed said there were many wrong notions about the BJP and it could be changed if more educated people from the minority joined it. Saiyed officially joined BJP on March 29 at a function in Patan.

About his role in the party, he said, “Whatever work the party will assign me, I will do with utmost sincerity. The BJP has posed trust in me and I will not let the party down,” Saiyed said.

Many educated people from the minority community have recently expressed their disenchantment with Congress.

“Congress has been taking Muslim votes for granted for all these years. We will no longer be fooled by this. The Muslims will not vote for a party which treats them as nothing but vote bank,” a Muslim intellectual told DNA.

Saiyed refused to comment on Congress. But he targeted Ahmed Patel, a senior Congress leader from Gujarat. “He has visited Gujarat only during this election after 2002 riots and never issued a single statement for Muslims here,” he said.

 “I will join the BJP candidates during their visits to the Muslim-dominated areas. I am confident a large number of Muslim voters will shift their loyalties to BJP in the coming elections,” said Saiyed.

Saiyed admits his main objective to join the BJP is to bring the Muslims back in the mainstream.The other issues that he plans to highlight in the coming elections include education and awareness among the Muslims about the right perspective and the social fabric of Gujarat.

“More Muslims have been killed in riots before 2002. Why is only 2002 being highlighted?” Saiyed asked and added, “On the other hand, not a single Muslim has been killed in Gujarat in communal riots since 2002, is it not safety for them?”