scroll | In March 2017, the Bharatiya Janata Party decisively won the Uttar
Pradesh elections after its leaders openly pitted Muslims against
Hindus, with no less than Prime Minister Narendra Modi insinuating that
the majority community was not getting a fair deal. “If you create
kabristaan [graveyard for Muslims] in a village, then a shamshaan
[cremation ground for Hindus] should be created, he declared at one rally.
India’s
ruling party had not fielded a single Muslim candidate. The new
assembly, dominated by the BJP, had fewer Muslims than any time in its
history. This was bad enough – for anyone who believes India’s most
populous state cannot afford to politically marginalise one-fifth of its
200 million people.
Then, one evening, the news broke: Adityanath had been chosen by BJP to become the chief minister of the state.
To say it was a shock would be an understatement.
Here
was a firebrand monk whose entire politics revolved around fuelling
hostility towards Muslims. A five-time member of Parliament, he had criminal cases against him for leading violence against Muslims. He had brazenly justified this violence on national television.
One of the first decisions Adityanath took as chief minister was to order raids on slaughter-houses and butcher shops.
This was done ostensibly to enforce regulations. But the state could
not explain why its concern for health and hygiene was limited to a
single industry. Muslims, as the largest producers and consumers of meat
in the state, were not fooled: they saw this as an attack on their
livelihoods and food habits.
