Once again, attempts are being made to polarise communities in the Jat-dominated districts of western Uttar Pradesh. Yet this time around it seems they are being met with greater skepticism. One section of the Jat community has called it the “gimmickry” of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the ruling party at the Centre; they allege that this is a BJP ploy to divert the attention of Jat farmers from its bid to amend the Land Acquisition Act.
In September last year, when the communal cauldron in Muzaffarnagar and its neighbouring districts was put on boil, the riots that resulted ruptured the social fabric in the state. As Ajaz Ashraf explained in The Hindu, the longstanding Majgar alliance created by former prime minister Charan Singh, of which Jats and Muslims were the cornerstone, then finally broken down completely.
Land Acquisition Act
“The BJP’s call for a mahapanchayat to protest against the removal of a loudspeaker from a temple in Moradabad is a gimmick. Through this gimmickry it wants to deflect our focus from its attempt to remove all the pro-farmer provisions of the Land Acquisition Act,” Bharatiya Kisan Union spokesperson Dharmendra Mallick said in a conversation with Scroll.in. The BKU, formed by Mahendra Singh Tikait in 1986, is a vitally important farmers’ collective in western Uttar Pradesh.
“Last time they [the BJP] gained and we became the fools,” Mallick said. “This time they won’t succeed. If they touch the Land Acquisition Act, we will show them what we can do.”
It seems battle lines are being drawn once again, though – despite the best efforts of BJP workers in the state – they are not emerging in the manner the party would like them to.
On June 25, BKU president Rakesh Tikait warned Prime Minister Narendra Modi that if the Land Acquisition Act was amended, his organisation would be forced to hold nationwide protests. “For the past 120 years farmers of this country have been suffering because of the 1894 Land Acquisition Act,” Tikait said. “Now, just when the new law has given some respite, the proposed amendments would again pile on the miseries…When everybody has the right to decide what to sell and when, why not the farmers? It [land] is their resource and they have every right over it.”
Rakesh Tikait’s warning followed Union rural development minister Nitin Gadkari’s remarks stressing the necessity of amending the new Land Acquisition Act, which came into existence at the fag-end of the UPA government, and provides high compensation for those whose land is acquired.
Temple and Loudspeaker
On June 26, a day after the BKU’s warning, the BJP latched on to a localised squabble in Moradabad, and has been working to escalate it into a communal focal point. The opportunity was provided by the local administration’s decision on that day (June 26) to remove the loudspeaker from a temple at Akbarpur Chendri village, in the Kanth subdivision of the district.
On June 27, a group of locals, including the members of some right-wing groups, organised a roadblock in Kanth town and clashed with the police. Nineteen men were arrested after the battle with police. Akbarpur Chendri village is situated near the native village of local MLA Aneesur Rahman of the Peace Party.
As per news reports, Inspector General (Bareilly Zone) Zaki Ahmed argued that the loudspeaker was removed because traditionally it was mounted at the temple only during Shivratri festival, and that there was no custom of it being used on other days. However, BJP leader Bhupendra Singh countered this, claiming that the loudspeaker has been at the temple for 40 years, and was removed at the behest of the Peace Party MLA.
Mahapanchayat
To protest against the local administration’s decision, the BJP has called for a “mahapanchayat”, which will be held on Friday, July 4. Bhupendra Singh said every BJP Member of Parliament from western UP, and various other BJP leaders, would attend the mahapanchayat.
“The BJP is organising a rally. They are calling it a mahapanchayat so that they mislead Hindus into believing that the issue is social and not political,” said Dharmendra Mallick. “Instead of this gimmickry, the BJP MPs of western Uttar Pradesh should ask their government not to stab Jats in their back. We supported them in the elections, and we can throw them out, too. They should instead ask Narendra Modi not to tinker with the Land Acquisition Act. Otherwise, no matter what the BJP does to divert attention, we know how to give a fitting reply,” he added.
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In September last year, when the communal cauldron in Muzaffarnagar and its neighbouring districts was put on boil, the riots that resulted ruptured the social fabric in the state. As Ajaz Ashraf explained in The Hindu, the longstanding Majgar alliance created by former prime minister Charan Singh, of which Jats and Muslims were the cornerstone, then finally broken down completely.
Land Acquisition Act
“The BJP’s call for a mahapanchayat to protest against the removal of a loudspeaker from a temple in Moradabad is a gimmick. Through this gimmickry it wants to deflect our focus from its attempt to remove all the pro-farmer provisions of the Land Acquisition Act,” Bharatiya Kisan Union spokesperson Dharmendra Mallick said in a conversation with Scroll.in. The BKU, formed by Mahendra Singh Tikait in 1986, is a vitally important farmers’ collective in western Uttar Pradesh.
“Last time they [the BJP] gained and we became the fools,” Mallick said. “This time they won’t succeed. If they touch the Land Acquisition Act, we will show them what we can do.”
It seems battle lines are being drawn once again, though – despite the best efforts of BJP workers in the state – they are not emerging in the manner the party would like them to.
On June 25, BKU president Rakesh Tikait warned Prime Minister Narendra Modi that if the Land Acquisition Act was amended, his organisation would be forced to hold nationwide protests. “For the past 120 years farmers of this country have been suffering because of the 1894 Land Acquisition Act,” Tikait said. “Now, just when the new law has given some respite, the proposed amendments would again pile on the miseries…When everybody has the right to decide what to sell and when, why not the farmers? It [land] is their resource and they have every right over it.”
Rakesh Tikait’s warning followed Union rural development minister Nitin Gadkari’s remarks stressing the necessity of amending the new Land Acquisition Act, which came into existence at the fag-end of the UPA government, and provides high compensation for those whose land is acquired.
Temple and Loudspeaker
On June 26, a day after the BKU’s warning, the BJP latched on to a localised squabble in Moradabad, and has been working to escalate it into a communal focal point. The opportunity was provided by the local administration’s decision on that day (June 26) to remove the loudspeaker from a temple at Akbarpur Chendri village, in the Kanth subdivision of the district.
On June 27, a group of locals, including the members of some right-wing groups, organised a roadblock in Kanth town and clashed with the police. Nineteen men were arrested after the battle with police. Akbarpur Chendri village is situated near the native village of local MLA Aneesur Rahman of the Peace Party.
As per news reports, Inspector General (Bareilly Zone) Zaki Ahmed argued that the loudspeaker was removed because traditionally it was mounted at the temple only during Shivratri festival, and that there was no custom of it being used on other days. However, BJP leader Bhupendra Singh countered this, claiming that the loudspeaker has been at the temple for 40 years, and was removed at the behest of the Peace Party MLA.
Mahapanchayat
To protest against the local administration’s decision, the BJP has called for a “mahapanchayat”, which will be held on Friday, July 4. Bhupendra Singh said every BJP Member of Parliament from western UP, and various other BJP leaders, would attend the mahapanchayat.
“The BJP is organising a rally. They are calling it a mahapanchayat so that they mislead Hindus into believing that the issue is social and not political,” said Dharmendra Mallick. “Instead of this gimmickry, the BJP MPs of western Uttar Pradesh should ask their government not to stab Jats in their back. We supported them in the elections, and we can throw them out, too. They should instead ask Narendra Modi not to tinker with the Land Acquisition Act. Otherwise, no matter what the BJP does to divert attention, we know how to give a fitting reply,” he added.