Silenced into submission

THE sun is setting on Gomtipur, an industrial area of Ahmedabad. Walking down the lanes, one comes across groups of men passing time with idle chatter. That is all they have been doing all day. There is no work. Most textile mills, once the backbone of Ahmedabad's economy, have closed down. Now the men search for casual labour every day.

Dungarbhai Macwana goes to the street corner at the local market and sits there waiting for a contractor to give him some work. "Most days there is no work. So I return home by noon," he says. His wife works as a ragpicker, earning Rs.25-30 every day. "We only eat one meal, at night," says Macwana, a father of four.

His neighbour Arjan Vaghela has not been able to find a job for 18 years. "I worked at the Ram Krishna Mill. It closed in 1986. After that, it was very difficult to find work," he says. Most mill workers belong to the Muslim and Dalit communities. They were Congress supporters and the textile mill union was run by Gandhians affiliated to the Congress.

During the Assembly elections in 2002, Macwana was swayed by the Hindutva wave. Now he has realised the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's divisive tactics. "After the riots, we believed that the BJP would protect Hindus so we voted for them. But they cheated us. Actually, they started the riots. They have done nothing for us. Look at how many people here are living on the brink of starvation," he said.

But the new generation still has not yet seen through the BJP's divide-and-rule strategy - the easiest way to divert attention from the real problems. "The BJP has protected Hindus. The Congress(I) backed Muslims," says Kanu Macwana, a BJP supporter in the locality.

In the 1980s, the Congress(I) gained votes using the KHAM (Kshatriya, Harijan, Adivasi and Muslim) formula. Its policies were geared to help the downtrodden. However, over the years, the BJP cut into the Congress(I)'s support base. But on the whole the minorities remain Congress(I) supporters.

"Yes, the BJP has got Dalit support. But it is mainly in urban areas. That is because the communal effect is largely confined to the cities. Moreover, the BJP has many wings of the Sangh Parivar working for it. The Congress(I) is not as organised," says Praveen Rashtrapal, a Congress(I) Member of Parliament from Patan, a constituency reserved for the Scheduled Castes. Of the two reserved seats for the S.C.s, the BJP secured one in the last Lok Sabha elections.

Unlike in other States, Dalits in Gujarat have not been able to mobilise an alternative political force. This is mainly because they constitute only 7 per cent of the population, unlike in Maharashtra where they comprise 27 per cent. "The poorer sections tend to move from one party to another because they try to get the benefits of power. That may be why some of them support the BJP. However, you cannot generalise on how Dalits vote," says Ramesh Parmar, a Dalit activist.

The Muslim mandate in Gujarat is more clearly defined. Although there are diverse Muslim communities across the State, communal politics has somewhat consolidated them. After the communal carnage in 2002 and Narendra Modi's venomous election campaign that followed, Muslims feel they have no choice but to vote for the only opposition to the BJP, the Congress(I).

"After the 2002 pogrom Muslims voted blindly for the Congress(I) in the State elections. This time, they are questioning the party," says Prof. J. Bandukwala, whose house in Vadodara (Baroda) was attacked twice during the riots. "People feel that the Congress(I) is taking them for granted. It does not bother to address their problems. This time, it has not set up offices in Muslim localities. It does not have a base strong enough to capitalise on Muslim alienation."

Several refugees of the communal violence still have not been able to return to their homes. Many are living in towns near their village. Most did not dare go back to vote as they still face a boycott in their villages. The few who did venture to vote were threatened. Sultana Sheikh has settled down in Kalol town after the attack on her village, Delol in Panchmahal district. She visited her village to cast her vote. "One of the relatives of the sarpanch told me not to vote for the Congress(I) or we would have to run from Delol again," she said.

Although Muslims constitute 9 per cent of Gujarat's population, opportunities for them remain few and far between. In the current Lok Sabha elections, there is only one Muslim candidate, fielded by the Congress(I), in the 26 constituencies. The BJP has a few token Muslim members.

While top BJP leaders such as Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani have been trying to win over Muslim voters, Chief Minister Narendra Modi has made no such effort. "When Arif Mohammed Khan switched to the BJP and visited Gujarat, Modi did not even grant him an appointment. He does not want to welcome Muslims into the party. It will dilute his politics of dividing people on religious lines," says Bandukwala.

The main dilemma before Muslims is which party to support. "When Imam Bukhari announced that people should support the BJP, he became the laughing stock of the community. No one takes him seriously," says Bandukwala. On the other hand, the Congress(I)'s soft Hindutva has also not gone down well. The party kept silent during the pogrom. It did not want to be seen as helping Muslim victims and that, in turn, has eroded its credibility.

As political parties continue to ignore the problems of minorities, the options before them are limited. In a State where `majority rules' has been made the motto, other voices are silenced into submission.