Why Modi, Shah Refuse to Condemn Hate Crimes?

Are such provocative acts and statements intended to spark debates within local communities , divide them and turn them into anti-minority vote banks for the BJP?

By P Raman

It is significant that the Hindutva camp’s perilous gambit aimed at polarising votes in favour of the BJP came about after a series of electoral reverses and alarming field reports from Uttar Pradesh.

Why has there been a sudden surge in organised hate crimes against Muslims and Christians all over the country? The conventional narrative has been that such right-wing attacks are aimed at harassing and isolating the religious minorities and demoralising them. Political scientist Zoya Hasan sees the recent hate speech and violence as a manifestation of religious intolerance and subjugating minorities, and she is not wrong.

And yet, what has been happening since mid-2021 defies all conventional logic. Far from the usual kind of Muslim bashing, these incidents appear well coordinated, focused and attuned to the political requirements of the ruling party.

The impression that the current hate surge – including the calls for the genocide of Muslims from a platform in Haridwar last month – is part of a covert operation aimed at generating a favourable environment for fostering religious tension in local communities will persist until Prime Minister Narendra Modi unequivocally condemns this trend. We know from past experience that a curt warning from Modi can instantly silence the so-called ‘fringe’ elements. During the second COVID-19 wave last year, the Kumbh Mela sadhus defiantly refused to cut short the gathering. But within hours of an appeal by Modi, they started dismantling their tents.

The idea behind such provocative acts and statements is to spark sharp debates within local communities, divide them and turn them into antiminority vote banks for the BJP. Unlike the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots that tilted the entire western in BJP’s favour, the new gambit targets local communities everywhere. It is intended as groundlevel fuel for the communal engine Yogi Adityanath has set in motion with his insinuations about the election being a contest between 80% (i.e. Hindus) and 20% (i.e. Muslims).

Clearly, the top leadership has nudged its innumerable parivar outfits to ‘do the needful’, secure it its understanding that the acts or threats of violence which follow can be attributed to a ‘fringe’. Outsourcing the hate campaign in this way, they hope, would spare the country’s top leaders the charge of rights violations while neatly serving their political ends.

Officially sanctioned impunity is the only explanation for the audacity with which the message of genocide was proclaimed at the Hardwar Dharma Sansad. Or for the venomous outbursts which have happened at places like Raipur. In Delhi, members of the Yuva Vahini administered by the Sudarshan TV editor took an oath to make India a ‘Hindu nation’ and fight, die and kill ‘if required’ to achieve the objective.

This overt hatemongering and violence is accompanied by a collection of events in which Muslim vegetable, biscuit and bangle sellers are prevented from plying their trade, a dosa stall owner told to shut and Muslim shops subjected to community boycott. For months, frenzied mobs prevented Muslims from holding Friday prayers on Gurugram’s unused parks. Going by a tally provided by a Christian rights body, Christmas celebrations in December 2021 were disrupted, churches attacked and religious books destroyed in 486 places. This sort of an assault has never happened before: so synchronised, assertive and focused, with no fear of punishment. Why do Modi and Amit Shah silently endorse it, forcing the Supreme Court to intervene? Their silence has official complicity writ large.

The decision to ramp up the hate machine came about after a series of electoral reverses from the middle of last year. Sensing its weakening grip, Modi and Shah removed four BJP chief ministers in a span of six months. This was on the assumption that local incumbency was the reason for the reverses. It was also decided to change 50% of the sitting MLAs in election-bound states.

Uttar Pradesh was the biggest worry where Yogi Adityanath, who was summoned to Delhi, refused to resign. This forced BJP headquarters to retain him as its chief ministerial nominee. The panic was such that Modi made repeated forays to the poll-bound states to gear up the party’s campaign and summoned various chief ministers for special strategy briefings. Party MPs were called in batches.

Modi himself went on inaugurating and announcing schemes in all five states. There were 22 projects worth Rs. 8,500 crore in Manipur, then projects worth Rs. 1,800 crore in Uttarakhand and a spate of schemes for the Poorvanchal and Bund