Let us denounce communal politics!

Recently, I came across a hard-core religious man with political ambition in a district of South Telangana. The guard of hisplace of worship had called him to inform him that a group of miscreants deliberately threw a part of an animal carcass into their premises with ill intention. The budding leader immediately rushed to the spot. Guess what he did later.

It is natural to think that the leader in making created a big fuss out of it, called for media persons, and took out a huge rally raising slogans against the religion the miscreants belong to. You are quite wrong if you think so. He instead collected the piece of meat with the support of the guard quietly much before others arrived on the scene and the duo dumped it in the garbage bin nearby. An angry mob that gathered at the place of worship after a few minutes returned home as they couldn't find anything on the premises. Asked as to why he missed a good chance of establishing himself as a leader with the help of the incident, the budding leader said: "I prefer aman (peace) over gandha rajneethi (dirty politics)." He explained that it is foolish to attribute the mindless act of a group of people to a whole religion and blame it. "No religion teaches you to spread animosity in the society you live in," the noble budding leader told me while thanking the guard for not disclosing what he did to avoid a big communal disturbance in the town that day.

Founded by Sultan Muhammad Quli Qutub Shah in 1591, Hyderabad is historically known for its Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb thanks to the unity and co-existence of Hindu and Muslim cultures and traditions. Though it can't be termed as the epitome of peace and communal harmony, Hyderabad has certainly learned how to avoid communal tensions over the years primarily because of the somewhat responsible behaviour of political parties and governments.

Despite the fact that the City of Pearls earned the dubious distinction of registering a maximum number of cases under IPC Section 153A (promoting enmity on grounds of religion, race, and place of birth) among 19 metropolitan cities in India in the recent 'Crime in India' report released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the communal situation here is by and large under control till recently. Barring minor skirmishes and heated exchange of words, there is no danger to communal harmony here. Out of the 562 rioting cases filed in Telangana in 2021, 31 related to communal, 53 political and 135 related to land disputes indicating that property and politics always outsmart everything. The good news is that the city witnessed a 44 percent dip in such cases compared to 2020. So far so good.

Name it 'liberation' or 'merger' or 'integration', Hyderabad became a part of Independent India on September 17, 1948, following 'operation polo' under the stewardship of Sardar Patel and the Nizam's draconian militia (Razakars) was disbanded. The Hindu-Muslim harmony prevailed for the next three decades without a hitch. An incident at Nallakunta area in 1978 triggered communal violence and ever since it has become an annual feature for some time. Major violence broke out in 1984 and the worst happened in 1990 after a period of relative peace.

Thankfully, we don't have a December 1990 kind of atmosphere that shook the communal fabric of Hyderabad during the Marri Chenna Reddy regime. As the general elections are approaching, however, the itch of political parties to take mileage out of religion is also increasing and there are attempts to make use of it as a tool to incite religious sentiments.

A herculean task for govts

It is not easy for governments to maintain law and order in communally surcharged conditions. A single silly incident can vitiate the communal atmosphere and it can throw the city's life out of gear within minutes. An innocuous quarrel over the payment of a tea bill had led to a major communal violence that resulted in police firing in this city. Hyderabad city, Nizamabad, Medak, Nalgonda, Ranga Reddy and Adilabad were classified as 'communally hyper sensitive' and Karimnagar and Mahabubnagar as 'communally sensitive' districts in the State. The police, politicians, and the public are playing their respective roles to avoid a showdown between the religious fanatics of these places. There have been no curfews in Telangana due to the coordinated efforts of these 3 Ps. Curfew was clamped on 11 occasions in the united Andhra Pradesh, 10 of them in Hyderabad, for a total period of 113 days between 1990 and 2012.

The Congress in the erstwhile APand the TRS now had to take the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) along with them, given the latter's total control over the Old City and Muslim population. Politics of the Owaisi clan, starting from Maulana Abdul Wahed Owaisi to Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi to the Asaduddin-Akbaruddin Owaisi brothers, is centered around religion but it should be given due credit for not going overboard. MLA Akbaruddin was embroiled in controversies with his highly inflammatory speeches but the four-time MP Barrister Asaduddin Owaisi, one of the most influential Muslim leaders in the country, confines to protecting the interests of the community. He minces no words to highlight the injustice done to his community and to put up a fight against the radical Hindutva forces but he sounds logical and sober most of the time. KCR government made AIMIM its political allay for a smooth sail and it has been working out well despite the BJP's tantrums and potshots. In an apparent bid to ensure peace and harmony, KCR and the TRS executive president KTR have been handling Owaisi brothers with utmost care and I don't think it is a mistake. The Owaisi family can't be expected to stay away from religious politics as BJP can't be silenced over Hindutva ideology.

Signs of poisonous seeds

I am pained by a series of events triggered by religious bigotry in the recent past. Occasions such as black days to mark the demolition of the Babri Masjid and the Ganesh immersion processions used to be the trouble spots but nowadays comedy shows and social media posts are also becoming peace breakers.

The acquittal of Akbaruddin in a 2013 hate speech case has been the shot in the arm of the BJP State unit president and MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar and his team. They are not missing any chance to launch a tirade against the communal politics of Owaisi brothers. A local court gave Akbaruddin the benefit of doubt but the widely circulated speech of the MIM MLA caused widespread anger among Hindus. Hope Akbaruddin would scrupulously follow the judge's oral suggestion not to repeat this type of provocative speech in the future. The BJP MLA representing Goshamahal, Raja Singh, has been at loggerheads with MIM leaders for the last eight years.

The BJP national executive held in Hyderabad in July seems to have stirred the hornet's net by mooting the idea of changing the name of Hyderabad as Bhagyanagar. Followingthe infamous Nupur Sharma episode, the BJP leaders toned down their free will harsh comments against the Muslim community. The BJP high command's swift decision to remove Raja Singh from the BJP legislature party and his suspension from the party following his derogatory parody video on a controversial comedian Munawar Faruqui has left a positive impression on the public. The BJP's ruckus against the show and the subsequent 'sar tan se juda' slogs against the BJP MLA are however a bad omen for a peaceful Hyderabad. If the saffron party's allegation that KTR had invited Faruqui to the City with an intention to create trouble for political mileage is true, it's unfortunate and condemnable. The right term for the September 17 celebrations has cropped up as an issue with religious overtones. The BJP's decision to celebrate the 75th year of 'Telangana Liberation Day' on a grand scale and the KCR government's green signal to MIM head Asaduddin's suggestion to celebrate the same as the 'Telangana Integration Day'is also bound to generate some political heat in the days to come. Let's hope that our politicians prefer peace (aman) over dirty politics (ganda rajneethi).

(The author, a Ph.D. in Communication and Journalism, is a senior journalist, journalism educator, and communication consultant)