By Japan K Pathak, Ahmedabad, 15 November 2012

So who is playing communal card in Gujarat in this election season? So far as political parties and their leaders are concerned, the answer is very clear, and by the end of this article you too will be left in no doubt.

Ahead of the Assembly elections in Gujarat, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has so far served notices to five politicians in the state. It should be remembered here that the ECI issues a notice only when the manner of the violation of the code of conduct is extremely serious, and more so when it is backed up with proper evidence.

Of the five politicians who have been served notices so far, four belong to the Congress, while one is a BJP minister.

BJP minister Dileep Sanghani was served a notice and later reprimanded by the Election Commission for performing a ground breaking ceremony of some local development work, a day after the code of conduct was announced.

But four Congress leaders have been served notices for more serious violations, pertaining to delivery of communal/hate speeches in public meetings.

The Commission registered FIRs against three Congress men; Maksud A Kazi, general secretary of District Congress Minority Cell, Surat, Pirzada and another Congress leader Rizwan Usmani and Maulana Faiyaz Laturi under Sections 153A (promoting enmity on religious and other grounds), 295A (insulting religion) and 505(2) (promoting hatred among classes) of the IPC as well as under Section 125 of the Representation of People Act. The Election Commission reprimanded Kazi and Maulana Laturi while letting off another Congress leader Kadir Pirzada with a warning.

The fourth Congress man facing an ECI notice is former Chief Minister Shankersinh Vaghela who enjoys the status of union Cabinet minister at present. Vaghela has been served a notice for “making objectionable and inflammatory speech which can incite and induce communal hatred.”

Though leaders are incapable of moving beyond their age-old practice of fomenting communal passions for votes, thankfully the world has moved ahead. Gone are the days when anyone could say anything and retract their statement later if questioned. Nowadays technology has made a big difference. Every complaint in the four cases mentioned above is attached with a video CD as evidence.

As per the video CD transcript of the Congress public meeting held on the 31st of October in Surat, Shankersinh Vaghela made the following remarks in his “objectionable and inflammatory speech”:

“Godhra tragedy occurred. The train compartment was burnt. You people try to understand this conspiracy. The return journey of ‘Karsevak’ from Ayodhya in that train was known to other ‘Karsevak’. If I am to come to Surat, Ashok Jariwala would know that I am coming by which mode of transport and when. So the knower can plan some conspiracy (sic).”

“Let them kill or stab or cut whosoever they like, in the manner they like. Let Gujarat be open (to violence)”.

“Massacre was planned to get votes of the Hindus.”

“One Maulavi with a long beard was embraced by him and the Maulavi got delighted. I said, “Maulavi Saheb, this is not a sign of love or affection. He is merely measuring your neck, so that when the time comes it should be available without any effort.”

Moving to the speeches of other Congress leaders who were served notices, the Commission observed in the case of Congress leaders Pirzada and Maulana Laturi that they delivered inflammatory and communal hatred speeches in the 21st October Congress rally at Tadkeshwar, Mandvi in Surat district, containing the following objectionable remarks:

“Remember the day when Godhra was going on……….. remember the day when molestations took place, when mothers and sisters were molested and looted, remember the day when people’s houses and shops were burnt…. We tolerated it and today 17 cases are going on… “

“When such an occasion comes atrocities are committed against Muslims and when there is no one between a Muslims and Allah (sic). Look at one example that has come up….. Babu Bajrangi had said that he will cut this and that……. Allah has cut him in such a manner that he will not be able to move….. does it ever happen amongst us… that there is a communal riot and someone amongst us goes and kills a Hindu… does our religion allow it…”

“A Bharvad (Shepherd community) enters the house of a Muslim. A lady who had a delivery is lying there, Bharvad takes out the sacrificial meat and Bharvad claims that it is beef. How they can dare to enter our houses without any kind of fear of revenge”.

“Those who raise fingers at our community will not be tolerated by us. We will not be swayed by stupid people….. There was a meeting 15 to 20 days ago an Ulemea(Muslim scholar) had made some allegations against paigambar (prophet)… we will never tolerate it and all Ulemas gathered at Anand and have taken a decision that until this person is removed from Haj Committee chairman (sic) and till his feet are cut we will not sit silently……”

These speeches and subsequent actions taken by the ECI clearly show who’s playing the communal card in these elections. It also shows that post the Sadbhavana fast undertaken by the Gujarat CM, the Gujarat Congress has grave doubts as to whether the party can retain its loyal Muslim votes any longer, and perhaps therefore they are stirring up memories of riots that took place more than a decade ago.

The contents of Shankersinh’s speech make it clear why he is no longer taken seriously. Shankersinh with his unique belief that both the Godhra train tragedy and the Akshardham terror attack were masterminded by the Chief Minister, competes well with none other than Digvijay Singh who was seen launching a book claiming that 26/11 was masterminded by the RSS.

It should also be noted here that when the ECI ordered an FIR to be filed against Maulana Laturi and two Congress men, not a single person from the Muslim community came out onto the streets in protest. This shows how little ground support such elements really enjoy on such issues.

So on one side we have the spirit of “Sauno saath sauno vikaas”, while on the other there are communal hate speeches aplenty like the ones partially listed above. While the Congress’s immaturity stays well exposed, in the coming elections it is the maturity of the Muslim voter that will be put to the test.