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06/11/2004
Ever since the menacing rise of Hindutva (particularly since 1980s) the Muslim intelligentsia kept constantly persuading the Muslim electorates to 1st replace the Congress with every political party including the BJP. In the Parliamentary elections of 1989, the Muslim electorates, therefore, voted overwhelmingly for all non-Congress political parties including the BJP. In Bihar, the Bhagalpur riots of 1989 provided the immediate background. There was not a single recognizable voice from the intelligentsia to warn the electorates that while punishing the Congress all care had to be taken with regard to the BJP.
In the 1990s particularly after the Advani's Rath Yatra and the demolition of the Babri Masjid, Muslims were pushed in such a situation where Laloo was indeed the best Chief Minister having unprecedented political power in the recent history of Bihar. His politics of firm handling of communal riots and psychological empowerment (aided by social mutiny against the Brhaminical hegemony) to the underprivileged castes will remain his unforgettable contributions.
But here only, Laloo exhausted his limits, abilities, commitments, and conviction... After this, he became just another power seeking mechanical politician and he willfully developed huge disjunctions between his rhetoric and realities of the "social justice". Roughly, this can be dated back to 1994-95. Yet, the electorates, particularly the Muslims, trusted him and returned him to power in 1995. His support base among the intermediate castes like Kurmis/Koeris deserted him, formed the Samata Party and joined the disgusting NDA. Dalits also gradually switched partly over to Ram Vilas Paswan, who briefly flirted with the NDA. A section of more oppressed Dalits were/are with the CPI ML Liberation. These political developments coincided with Laloo's politics of willful corruption, acutest lawlessness and horrible neglect of economic development combined with deliberate institutional degeneration. He substantially inherited this from his predecessor regimes.
Laloo's culpability is that despite being armed with monumental support base and charisma, he willfully indulged in the above-mentioned "crimes". This gave rise not only to NDA's vote/seats but also rapid proliferation of the RSS schools and shakhas, even in those areas of Bihar where the RSS could never think of getting even a single cadre since its foundation in 1925.
The growing poverty and unemployment aided by the RJD's calculated negligence of the middle class issues provided the RSS networks with huge army of recruits. And Laloo enjoyed it because this provided him with wholesale Muslim votes and therefore governmental power, that too without doing anything concrete for the Muslims, except of course, preventing the communal riots. He stopped communal riots but gave further momentum to the communalization of Bihar politics and society. The muslim electorates were/are rendered helpless, they have/had no choice except Llaloo.
It is this situation, which puts the Muslim Intelligentsia and other secularists in the dock. Giving votes in elections might be dictated by such compulsions. That is understandable but before and after the elections, no concerted voices have been raised, the informed section of the society has started no talk of searching an alternative.
The recent findings of the ADRI (Patna) about the appalling poverty and forced migration among the Muslims of Bihar (more than other social groups of Bihar) are an eye opener.
WILL THIS PRICK THE CONSCIENCE OF THE MUSLIM INTELLIGENTSIA OF BIHAR?
In the light of these findings, what kind of politics will they pursue? Shall they change the course, content, idiom and methodology of the 'Muslim' politics?
THESE QUESTIONS REQUIRE A THOROUGH SCRUTINY.
POSTSCRIPT: - (1)Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti cannot be expected to deal with the problems. It is more busy in bringing the gangsters to its fold. Moreover his formula of MD (Muslim Dalit) is devoid of any concrete programme for action. He is yet to make the issues (like recruitments of Urdu teachers/translators, setting up of Mazharul Haq Urdu University), central political issues of his Party.
(2)The few muslim publicists journalists/academicians/politicians, that BIhar have, have already been purchased/co opted by Laloo.These cronies of Laloo are comfortable as VCs, Chairmans/members of different bodies etc.
(3)The study of Paul Brass, Harry Blair pertaining to the 'Muslim'Politics of Bihar (till 1970s) shows that non political activist organizations believing in democratic mass politics like "Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu, Bihar" have been able to achieve more for the Muslims in terms of extracting the governmental favours.