BJP-ruled states acting against vandals, Opposition fanning fire: BJP minority morcha

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s minority morcha, the wing aimed at wooing minority voters, primarily Muslims, has claimed that cognizance is being taken against perpetrators of violence against Muslims, in the BJP-governed states.

Misfiqua Hasan, party’s national secretary, minority morcha, and minority morcha observer for West Bengal, has alleged that the parties in Opposition have a role to play in spreading rumours. Hasan, however, skipped the question, when asked, if the morcha has raised any concern within the party, on the violence recently reported from Tripura and Maharashtra’s Amravati.

The BJP’s minority wing members, on Monday, gathered for an obituary meeting of Rahat Hossain, a founder-member of the party from West Bengal. For the last few years, the BJP’s minority wing has actively campaigned among Bengal’s Muslim voters, who in vast numbers allied with the Trinamool Congress, after playing an important role in voting the Left out of power from the state after 34 years of rule.

A legislation against the practice of triple talaq, and talk of empowerment of Muslim women, however, couldn’t persuade the Muslims, who went into believing that a decision (if executed) to register mandatorily in the National Register of Citizens in West Bengal, can eliminate their citizenship, and would lead them to detention camps in absence of sufficient documents, as it happened with a section in Assam.

While the party has Muslim cadres in morcha, the party has failed to produce Muslims as leaders in the state. “Our obituary meeting was a packed hall. Despite stiff opposition our Muslim supporters are actively involved in the districts. We should salute them. How can you say there are no Muslim leaders in BJP?” counters Misfiqua.

So far, efforts made by the minority wing to win over the Muslim vote, have been repeatedly watered by the threatening remarks made by a section of senior party leaders during election campaigns, giving the ruling Trinamool an opportunity to go out and convince the community in its favour.

With municipal elections scheduled for Kolkata, and adjoining Howrah city for December 19, the morcha is once again gearing up to reach out. Both the municipal areas have substantial Muslim population. Ali Hossain, who heads morcha’s state unit, claims that with three per cent seats allotted to Muslim candidates during the last state assembly elections, party got three per cent Muslim votes. Hossain expects that the party will consider more candidates than yesteryears in the upcoming municipal elections.