Deconstructing Shaheen Bagh experiment in light of Delhi Election results

I was waiting for Delhi elections to get over before I deconstructed Shaheen Bagh (SB). I didn’t want it to be coloured by shrill vicious campaigning. A lot has been written and spoken about it. However, my interaction with many politicians and spokespersons of different hues during last few weeks during Delhi elections and subsequent to results helped me understand their mindset.

First let us first look at Delhi through electoral glasses. It is clear that voters discriminate between local, state and national elections clearly. Delhi proved it yet again, and it works both ways. Since 2013, Delhi has elected BJP in national elections but preferred AAP in local elections. The trend in other state elections too show this. Voter in Delhi seemed to have discriminated between national and local self interest. Opinion polls showed heavy support for CAA but same voters seemed to have put more faith in AAP on issues of Delhi as seen in opinion polls. A BJP supporter may not agree with this, but this is the truth.

This choice has other implications too. It is obvious that Indians prefer Narendra Modi as Prime Minister, but are ready to experiment with other parties if they are not happy with regional BJP leaders. It seems people have higher expectations from BJP and it is always under microscope while opposition can win by default even with poorer track record. It is funny that every local election is a test for BJP but not others.

Delhi, it is a small city state. I had said during election campaign that BJP should project a mayor for a city state. While opposition had a clear mayoral face with a solid vote bank, BJP wished to ride on central leadership. It was a major flaw. It started very late while Kejriwal launched his campaign a year ahead mostly with false claims that BJP never countered. BJP needed a campaign on city state with issues like CAA as an add-on to counter vicious propaganda.

Congress abdicated its role as the third biggest party that had ruled Delhi for 15 years till recently. Congress history tells us that wherever it has decided to abdicate its position, it has been relegated to the margins. Clearly Congress will no more be the centre piece of any opposition allliance. Arvind Kejriwal will try to usurp this position.

Shaheen Bagh blockade turned out to be a non issue. It may be a surprise for BJP leaders and a delight of left secular politicians. However it is a half truth. Shaheen Bagh was milked to the hilt for elections by left-secular communal forces. It was nurtured by AAP’s minister Amanatulla Khan. Enough electronic evidence is available, so none can claim it is fake. Yes, it didn’t matter for “majority” community as its voting % and results show. They preferred the comfort of free facilities over frightening scenario they witnessed in the name of CAA protests. Minority bought Islamist line hook line and sinker. We had Jekyll and Hyde in the form of Amanatulla and Kejriwal. Arvind had special largess for Muslim clerics while Hindus were fed hollow Bajrangbali slogans.

It is strange that many commentators see AAP win as a validation of SB sit-in. SB shows that with the willing media playing along, and a herd mentality centred around mosques and rabid organisations, an agitation can be propped up by misrepresentation of facts, falsehood and propaganda and find international echo too.

SB was a cover up to give a sheen of respectability to Jihadi elements who had let loose violence in the name of anti-CAA protests claiming it was against Muslims, that they would be thrown out of Indian. You could hear this uniformly from Kerala to Kanpur. No leader actually showed scared Muslims the CAA act copy. An act that had nothing against Indian Muslims was abused as anti-Indian Muslims. Their leaders knew well that its utter falsehood. To put it simply, anti-CAA axis wanted the hunted minority be given same facilities as the Muslim hunters from the neighouring Islamic countries. This agitation saw most poisonous hate mongering but critics blame it on BJP. Secular lobbies and their mentors haven’t changed.

While Jinnah was upfront, his successors of various shades have fine tuned strategy and exploited democratic rights, claim to love constitution even as they openly attack constitutional right of elected representatives of Parliament. Their insistence on Shariah confirms that democracy and constitution is to be exploited till they can control it. Due to adverse reactions to violence let loose in the name of anti-CAA, Islamist groups ably supported by Congress and Left brigade turned to “Tequiah” or speaking untruth in the interest of long term strategy of turning Dar-ul-Harb into Dar-ul-Islam. Those who had argued endlessly why they would not stand up for National Anthem, stood up. Suddenly Tricolour outnumbered Islamic flags. Actual intent was to over awe the majority community and put across their supremacist agenda very clearly. A few Hindus or Sikhs there were a smoke screen. Putting “shahada” in place of Ashok chakra, sloganeering about supremacy of Allah, Jinnah wali Azadi, open challenge to replace Constitution with Sharia, highly abusive video clips gave the game away. In fact the slogans raised in SB were the same used by Kashmiri Muslim hoards in 1990s. When one asks them what is anti Indian Muslim in CAA and which country in the world doesn’t have NCR of some kind or the other, they fail to answer. Then they talk of intent and fear, which they have created. It is use of Tequiah by toxic mixing up facts vs sentiments.

What is sinister about Shaheen Bagh Model is the Islamists and Marxist nexus. JNU crowd openly supported them. Jamia Milia was there. Most rabid Muslim party with a name like Majlis-e-Ittehad-Musilmeen (MIM) claiming to be secular was guiding it. Secular of all shades, including Congress were cheering them on. These groups were so happy that the government didn’t use harsh laws against them they began replicating it in other parts of India. Mumbai sit-in came up through MIM. There was nothing spontaneous about SB or succeeding sit-ins. The very fact that the SB people went home on the very day the elections were over, shows the intent of Islamist leaders. All anti-forces happily say now, privately, that CAA is good for their politics and SB is the way to bring down Modi.

Thus, it is not the end. Last 6 months have seen violence as a tool to unsettle the society, particularly Hindus. It is an idea found very attractive by Islamists, anarchists and and frustrated Marxists. This is bound to be used in coming days tellingly. With many friendly anti-Modi state governments, fomenting trouble and showing India as a highly disturbed nation will be easy. Chances of turbulence of last 5 years so far seen in Parliament and TV studios spilling onto roads in a wide spread manner are very high. Hindu society needs to be alert.