Limits of polarisation
BJP MLA in Telangana allegedly blasphemes against Prophet Muhammad; arrested; suspended by BJP
Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party MLA T Raja Singh’s arrest in Hyderabad, following the allegedly derogatory comments about Prophet Muhammad, will trigger another round of political statements, allegations, counter-allegations, and protests. This is widely seen as the BJP’s desperate bid to grow in the southern state. In general, the saffron party’s presence in South India is limited, Karnataka being the only state where it holds office. The other four states—Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala—remain steadfastly distant from Hindutva. On its part, the BJP has peaked in northern and western states; for instance, it won 71 out of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh and all 26 in Gujarat in the 2019 general elections. Bihar will be tough in 2024, and there will be challenges in other states too where the BJP is a dominant party; but, on the whole, there is not much that it has to do in northern and western states. In eastern states, the BJP has already made its presence felt, and will like to maintain the momentum. In the south, however, the party has not been able to find any momentum. It was 14 years earlier, in 2008, that the BJP had formed its government in Karnataka. Against this backdrop, the saffron party’s keenness to enter Telangana can scarcely be over-emphasised. Raja Singh’s Prophet Muhammad remarks may be an expression of that keenness—or maybe impatience is the right word to describe the feeling.
After Raja Singh’s, however, the BJP seemed to have realized its MLA has bitten more than what could be chewed, so it suspended him. It has served him a show-cause notice; he is supposed to reply in 10 days. This seems to be the replay of the Nupur Sharma episode; she was also suspended but hasn’t been arrested, perhaps because she is not in a non-BJP state. All this is quite baffling. What is the BJP up to? It does not promote leaders like Sharma and Raja Singh because it has an abiding faith in free speech; it doesn’t believe much in freedom of expression; when it comes to the Hindus’ sensitivities, the saffron party bristles aggressively at the slightest provocation—even non-provocation. This makes it different from Rightwing parties in the United States and Europe. They fight against the radical Left’s attempts to curb freedom of expression, but then they don’t campaign for bans on the works of Leftists; neither do they indulge in violent activities at the books, movies, etc., which traduce Christianity, their country, the Western civilisation, etc. At the same time, when things go out of control—as in the aftermath of Sharma’s remarks, when a number of Arab and Muslim nations lodged their strong protests against her remarks—the BJP becomes defensive. It must realize that religious polarlisation may not be a very rewarding political strategy in South India where the memories of Islam are not as bitter as in North India. At any rate, the law of diminishing returns also applies to polarlisation.
Source: The Pioneer
