'I really wish I knew how to arouse love in the hearts of people, how to make them understand that religion comes later, first we are all humans.'
For the second time, the Bjaratiya Janata Party has won an assembly election in Uttar Pradesh with more than a two thirds margin, with its vote share having gone up from 39.6% to 42.3%.
While in 2017, it was Narendra Modi who captured the UP electorate's imagination, this time voters have ensured Yogi Adityanath's return as chief minister.
What does this mean for those who have been openly targeted during Adityanath's first term in office: Muslims and secular activists?
Rediff.com Senior Contributor Jyoti Punwani spoke to UP residents and found despair, resignation as well as a determination to fight.
The first of a series:
Arbaz Ahmed (name changed), 30, a Lucknow resident from birth, interns as a CA. Life is good, he started off by saying, but slowly admitted it's not what it used to be.
What do you think will be the impact of the election results on Muslims?
If you look at them in a positive way, the impact would be good. Yogiji's government has done good work for the poor, that includes Muslims. Rations, medicines, have all been provided. I have bought expensive medicines at low prices from government dispensaries, where I've had to show my ID.
It's not as if they see a Muslim and refuse to give you the same facilities.
But the election campaign was full of anti-Muslim rhetoric.
That's their agenda to get power.
So Muslims who look Muslim do not feel afraid under Yogi's rule?
That kind of pressure is not there in urban areas. I have not faced any problem going for namaaz even on Holi.
There was only one thing that worried us as Muslims: The CAA-NRC. We wondered what would happen, what documents would we have to submit, would we be put into jails.
Did you expect the BJP to come back to power in this manner?
Well, the farmers were angry, there was Covid -- even my family faced it; Hathras, Unnao... we thought people would be angry. But it seems the 80 versus 20 equation worked. (Yogi Adityanath had described the electoral battle as a fight between 80% and 20% of the people.)
That must make you feel really bad.
Yes, it's been quite a blow.
The Samajwadi Party has 111 MLAs, do you think it will provide a strong Opposition?
No. It will make no difference. You saw how the CAA was passed in Parliament. What did the Opposition do?
We now have 36 Muslim MLAs, maybe they will speak up. The way one MP (Asaduddin Owaisi) comes all the way from Hyderabad and talks about Muslims, we'll see if our own MLAs talk. Then we'll know if we need them or not.
As far as the SP is concerned, I'll give them a zero. When they were in power, Muzaffarnagar happened. What did they do? They call themselves secular. Maximum you can say there was no such Hindu-Muslim atmosphere in their reign.
During Covid too, they did nothing.
What did your family have to face during the Covid wave?
Well I had to go to hospital. But I have to say that the government's team did a great job, from checking up if I needed anything to sanitising my house to delivering medicines home. There was no discrimination at all.
That's one of the reasons I voted for the BJP. The candidate's workers had spared no effort to look after me.
But the BJP works against Muslims!
I have no complaints against the party. It has worked for the poor. During the Covid wave, Yogiji ensured that private hospitals didn't overcharge, that oxygen cylinders were available.
At any rate, the BJP has always won this seat, so I didn't want to waste my vote.
Has the relationship between you and your Hindu friends changed in these five years?
Not really. Our friendship has remained the same. A lot of jokes are made in our circle when Yogiji says things like 'hum garmi nikal dengey.'
You mean it's your Hindu friends who joke about these utterances?
(Laughs) Yes, you are right.
This kind of joking wasn't there earlier.
How do you feel when they crack jokes about Yogi's barbs?
Halki si chubhan mahsoos hoti hai (I feel slightly hurt). But I ignore it.
Are these old friends?
A Yes, from the time were in primary school.
The atmosphere has changed. People have now started calling themselves Hindu. Then the Jai Sri Ram slogan... When you hear it on the road being shouted by a crowd, you feel scared.
After the results, the CM had instructed his followers not to celebrate on the roads, but still there were crowds shouting Jai Sri Ram. It made one feel strange, as if the '80 vs 20' has come true.
In my office, in the library where I often go, I hear people talk about Muslims. Sometimes they tell me things, but always with a smile, and I too have to smile back.
What really troubles me is that today, even a seven year old knows whether s/he is Hindu or Muslim. In school, children are asked: Are you Muslim? I find this too much to grasp.
When we were that age, we never knew who was Hindu, who was Muslim. We'd go to each other's homes, we'd eat whatever was served, nobody asked, 'Is this beef?'
Do your friends still come to your house?
Yes, they do, I go to their homes too, we still enjoy each other's company, never mind the jokes.
But I remember even in 1992 (after the Babri Masjid demolition), or 2002 (the Gujarat violence), things weren't like this. Now there are so many incidents of mob lynching... You can't even say, 'Let it go, those are mad people' because people come out in support of the lynch mobs. It forces you to think.
Do your Hindu friends also support these incidents?
No, a wrongdoing is considered a wrongdoing by them. Things are not that bad!
It's only the sight of a crowd waving flags, shouting slogans, that makes you freeze and think: Where am I? This never used to happen earlier, this fear.
Do you feel comfortable in your mixed neighbourhood? Or have you thought of living in a Muslim area?
Yes, I have felt like that sometimes, I've thought about what may happen if a mob comes here. But how can I just leave my home?
I really wish I knew how to arouse love in the hearts of people, how to make them understand that religion comes later, first we are all humans.
Some people feel the only way out for Muslims is to migrate.
Never! My religion, my country is here. Where will we go?
Maybe things will be alright. Maybe Yogi Baba will act tough with criminals and be kind with poor people like us.
There is one good thing that has emerged from these results. So afraid were they of the BJP, thanks to remarks like 'Abbajan' (referring to SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav) during the campaign, that Muslims had started thinking Akhilesh was their saviour, they'd entrusted their destiny to him.
Now they will go back to thinking Allah is the only one they should fear and only He decides their destiny.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
