UP: BJP woos Shias to split Muslim votes

Shias are strongly opposed to Sunnis  — and vice versa — due to sectarian differences and the community tends to vote against the party that the Sunnis vote for. In Lucknow alone, the Shia population is around 5.2 lakhs while in remaining districts the population is between 15,000 to 40,000.

Lucknow: Almost seven decades after the British rule ended in India, the BJP now seems to be adopting their policy of “divide and rule”. The BJP in Uttar Pradesh is dividing Muslims to continue its rule at the Centre.

The Shia community, which is a minority within the minority community — only about 15 per cent of the state’s Muslim population — is being ardently wooed by the BJP and the community is increasingly veering towards it.

Lucknow and Amroha in Uttar Pradesh have a high concentration of Shia population while other districts have the community in smaller numbers.

In Lucknow alone, the Shia population is around 5.2 lakhs while in remaining districts the population is between 15,000 to 40,000. The Shia community’s leaning towards the BJP isn’t éxactly new.

Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who represented Lucknow seat in Lok Sabha five times, shared an excellent relationship with Shia clerics. It was with his intervention that the 20-year-long dispute over Azadari procession that is a part of Muharram, was finally resolved.

Due to Shia-Sunni violence during Muharram processions, the state government had banned the procession in 1977. It was after Mr Vajpayee’s intervention that the Shias were permitted by the government to stage an Azadari procession in January 1998 (21st of Ramzan).[

Since then, the Shia community has been inclined towards BJP while the Sunnis, who form the majority, have been supporting non-BJP parties like SP and BSP.

Waseem Rizvi, Waqf board chief

Since Shias are strongly opposed to Sunnis  — and vice versa — due to sectarian differences, the community tends to vote against the party that the Sunnis vote for. This has, apparently, brought Shias closer to BJP.

Moreover, a majority of the Nawabs of Oudh were Shias and their close affinity with Hindus in their kingdoms is the stuff legends are made of. The pair of fish in the UP government’s logo has been drawn from the logo of the rulers of Oudh while the bow and arrow is drawn from Lord Ram and also represents the unity in diversity.

There are also cultural and historical reasons because of which Shias are close to the BJP.

“Shia Nawabs were inclusive —  Asifuddaulah gave equal land to Idgah and Ramlila and the Nawabs also played Holi. The concept of ghat is exclusive to Hindus but last year in Lucknow, Shias got their first ghat — Mehndi Ghat — where the community holds celebrations for Shabbe Baraat,” said a Shia cleric. In the 2017 elections, Shia clerics started an alliance with the Sufis and campaigned against the Samajwadi Party, thus, benefitting the BJP.

Shia youth leader  Shamil Shamsi, who heads Husaini Tigers, started the Shia Gau Raksha Dal with the aim to expand to other states for the cause of cow protection. The same group announced a bounty of `15 lakh on televangelist Zakir Naik. This brought the Shias closer to the BJP.

With the BJP now ruling at the Centre and in the state, the Shia community has openly started supporting the saffron brigade while the BJP has reciprocated in equal measure by rewarding Shia leaders with top posts. Among the beneficiaries are Union minority affairs miniter Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Uttar Pradesh minority affairs minister Mohsin Raza, National Commission for Minorities chairman Syed Ghayorul Hasan Rizvi and UP Minority Commission chairman Haider Abbas. Shia Waqf Board chairman Waseem Rizvi was recently given Y category security.

The Shia community, in return, is now supporting the Ram temple. Shia Waqf Board chairman Waseem Rizvi, this week, went to Ayodhya and donated `10,000 for temple construction. He wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to bring in a legislation for temple construction. He even appealed to top Muslims to surrender all mosques that had been built after razing temples.

It is another matter that Waseem Rizvi was once a loyalist of Samajwadi Party veteran Azam Khan. Sources say Rizvi’s pro-BJP rant could be the reason why he has not faced much heat over the corruption and forgery charges pending against him.

Bhukkal Nawab, BJP MLC

Similarly, Bhukkal Nawab, who quit the SP to join BJP last year when the government filed a case against him for forgery in land deals, has also earned a reprieve in the case.

He has now formed the Rashtriya Shia Samaj (RSS) and pledged the community’s support to the BJP in 2019.

Bhukkal Nawab and Uttar Pradesh minister Mohsin Raza are even seen offering prayers at local Hanuman temples in the state capital.

The Shia community also pledged its support to the triple talaq ban even as the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, dominated by Sunnis, expressed reservations on the issue and did not favour government interference.

The Shia community is also inching closer by the day to the BJP because it does not wish to see the return of the Samajwadi regime.

“Shia Muslims were subjected to ‘harassment’ in the SP and the BSP regimes. SP leader Mohammad Azam Khan did all possible things to repress the Shia community. Going by the treatment meted out to the community in the past by various political parties, the Shia community is now solidly with the BJP,” said Bhukkal Nawab, now a BJP MLC.

For the BJP, its growing affinity with the Shia community augurs well for it in the next general elections. “The Shias may be less in number but they will add to our strength and reduce Muslim influence in Opposition parties, For us, this is a major victory,” said a BJP functionary.