The murder of a 22-year-old student from Uran, in Raigad district of the state, hit the headlines over the last week.
The murder drew the attention of the media and certain political leaders and activists, especially those belonging to the Shiv Sena (Shinde) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with the leaders making strong statements and the followers coming out in the streets protesting against the murder and seeking “strong action” against the killer. The BJP leaders and activists sought that there is no recurrence of “such incidents”.
The BJP leaders, especially legislator Nitesh Rane and former Member of Parliament Kirit Somaiya, have joined in the protests by making provocative statements. Rane, who called on the family of the victim, addressed a large crowd, which had gathered to protest against the murder and to listen to Rane. Rane and Somaiya spared no effort in giving the killing a communal colour, since the victim was Hindu and the accused Muslim. Both the BJP leaders referred to the murder as a part of the alleged “love jihad”, a campaign being carried out over the last few years claiming that Muslim boys flirt with Hindu girls, to make the latter fall in love with them, and later either marry them after converting them to Islam or kill them.
Somaiya has demanded the introduction of a law to take stringent action against those involved in “love jihad”. While Rane and Somaiya have been referring to the incident as “love jihad”, the Union Home Ministry had stated in Parliament in 2020 that the term “love jihad” has not been defined in any law in the country. The reply had mentioned that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had carried out a probe into two incidents of inter-religious marriages in Kerala.
.jpg)
As expected of the police, no action was taken or even a case registered against Nitesh Rane for his venomous speech in Uran, where he alleged that the Muslims in the country have a sinister plan to become the majority community in the country and towards that end the Muslim youths indulge in love jihad to entice Hindu girls. Though he hinted at the need for Hindus to “fight back” no hate speech has been taken up the authorities as hate speech. This is not surprising, as Rane announced in his speech that the police are also with the Hindutva government in the state.
He spoke about retaliation by Hindu youth, raising a question whether he expected Hindu boys to lure Muslim girls into an affair and then hack them to death.
From the nature of the protests and the slogans raised, it is clear that the murder of the girl has not affected this section of the public, as much as they are disturbed that a Hindu girl has been murdered by a Muslim boy.
In the recent past there have been several attacks on women in Maharashtra; many of these attacks were fatal. The victims in almost all the cases were Hindu women, yet neither Rane, Somaiya or the likes of them raised their voice against these attacks and murders.
In one incident a nine-year-old was kidnapped, raped and strangulated by a Hindu man; since the perpetrator of the crime was a Hindu, it was not a subject for protest by such BJP leaders. It is clear from their stand that women’s safety is not a matter of concern for them, and they would take up cases only where they can allege a communal angle and fan communal passions.
With the popularity of the BJP going down in many states, especially in Maharashtra, resulting electoral setback, the party is making an attempt to consolidate the Hindu votes with an eye on the Legislative Assembly to be held soon. Towards that end, many of the Hindutva leaders and followers may look at incidents like the one in Uran as a blessing in disguise for most Hindutva leaders, though only a few of them come out in the open the way Rane and Somiaya did.
Luckily, most people in Maharashtra and some other states have realised the futility in indulging in communal issues, including riots. However, with repeated verbal attacks on Muslims by leaders, some members of the public are bound to stand by the BJP, in the belief that only the BJP is the saviour of Hindus.
In another incident, the new BJP leader, Ashok Chavan, the former Chief Minister of the State, who crossed over to the BJP before the Lok Sabha elections, warned a Maratha leader not to divide the people in the state on communal lines and spoil the environment in the state. That statement of Chavan came after an allegation that rich Maratha leaders have been ignoring the poor Marathas.
Chavan is worried about the eruption of communal tensions and violence in the state, with statements of non-BJP leaders, but has maintained deafening silence on the hate speeches and statements by his party colleagues like Somaiya and Rane.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, as the Home Minister, should give priority to the safety all residents of the state and of women in particular. It is time he rises above party politics and gives importance to his role as the custodian of law and order in the state. Even if he cannot live up to the oath of office that he took, the least he can do is to ensure that his party colleagues do not make venomous speeches.
The author is a senior journalist and media trainer. He tweets at @a_mokashi
