10 April 2014, 02:38 PM IST
The road from Meerut to Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh passes by the villages of Jamalpur, Dashrathpur and Mansoorpur. You wonder how and why Muslim families from here and elsewhere in the state bothered to uproot themselves, village by village, kasba by kasba, sugarcane field by sugarcane field, to join a Pied Piper from the Muslim League in 1947 determined to create a new country.
But this is also the broad region in which the latest round of Hindu-Muslim violence took place just before winter and my interviewee is the influential Maulana Arshad Madani, the head of the Jamiat-Ulema-i-Hind and the head of Asia's largest Islamic seminary (bigger than Al Azhar in Cairo), the Darul-Uloom in nearby Deoband.
Madani is in Mansoorpur to perform the nikaah of a grand-niece and naturally, the family –nay, clan – has come from all over the state. The huge house is probably the largest in the village, set among lush sugarcane fields, called 'Durbar,' and everyone is incredibly hospitable. You don't hear any music or singing, however. One of the boys tells me that "it's not considered Islamic to play or sing music, although I don't agree with that viewpoint." Several of the girl children are studying in nearby Muzaffarnagar – their preferred subjects Maths and Sanskrit, "because both are much more scoring." It's interesting how the status quo slips away from beneath your feet, when you least expect it to.
More change appears on the edge of the sugarcane fields, slogans announcing new schools and colleges, rather than election posters. In fact, there are hardly any posters in the market that adjoins the village and only a few BJP flags – here in Mansoorpur as well as across vast swathes of western UP. If there is a "wave" or "leher" in favour of Narendra Modi here, it only becomes apparent over extended conversations at the 'chai ki dukaan,' a favourite halting point for parachuting journalists. One brick and mortar building that is rising for a school in a kasba called Islamabad – these villages are equally populated with Jats and Muslims, about 25 per cent each, the rest made up of backward castes and Dalits – has a saffron-painted board with several Hindu symbols. It proudly proclaims its name, "Angils."
The lunch that follows my interview with the Maulana is to die for – two kinds of pulao, three types of mutton korma and fried chicken and hot naan off the tandoor – but more of that later.
The Maulana is surrounded by men and boys of all ages – my "bacha party" he calls them affectionately – in starched white kurta-pajama. They have all just returned from the local masjid, where the groom had formally agreed to take the Maulana's grand-niece as his wife. The girl, it seems, had already assented earlier, at home.
"The Muslims of Uttar Pradesh must come together, ek jut ho kar, and fight the BJP. Nahin to Musalman bikhar jayega. Otherwise the Muslim vote will get divided," he admits frankly, referring to the big challenge that constitutes the gathering "Modi wave."
He points out that Shahi Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid has come out in support of the Congress. He believes that Mukhtar Ansari, the gangster-politician in Agra jail for allegedly murdering a fellow politician, should stand down in the Varanasi seat in favour of Congress candidate Ajay Rai or AAP candidate Arvind Kejriwal, so they can together take on Narendra Modi.
There is disappointment that the Akhilesh Yadav government hasn't fought back after the Muzaffarnagar riots last year, considering UP's Muslims had supported the Samajwadi Party with all their might in the 2012 Assembly elections. "Mulayam used to be known as 'Babar ki aulad,' during the Ram Janmabhoomi crisis in the late 80s-early 90s...Who do you think brought his son to power in 2012? It was UP's Muslims," says the Maulana. "Today, the Samajwadi Party should have been the Number One party in the state," he adds, keenly aware that it isn't.
This part of UP goes to the polls today, voter percentages across Muzaffarnagar, Kairana and Bijnor reflect a low turnout, less than 40 per cent at 1 pm.
The Maulana says he is worried that the rise of Modi will lead to the dissolution of the secular state. Deoband fought against the partition of India – "look at the haalat of Muslims in Pakistan and Bangladesh" – because they believed that the Constitution guaranteed equality before all.
"The question today is, is India becoming a Hindu state or will it remain a secular state? The challenge is before all Indians, Hindu and Muslim, they must vote for a secular candidate. That is why we have a 'shikayat' against the Congress, the SP as well as the BSP."
The Congress has lost influence, he says, there is no one leader anymore who can lead the country from Kashmir to Kanya Kumari. "Rahul, bechaara, abhi utha hai, dekhte hain kya karta hai."
Interestingly, Madani chooses his words carefully on the BJP. "If the BJP changes and announces that it is in favour of a secular state. If Narendra Modi declares that India can never be a Hindu state, if he takes action against the rioters of Gujarat and brings justice to its victims...then the Muslims of India have no problem," he adds.
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