“It is an attack on Assam’s brotherhood, history and culture,” said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi when asked about the Bharatiya Janata Par...
“It is an attack on Assam’s brotherhood, history and culture,” said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi when asked about the Bharatiya Janata Party’s constant vilification of the All India United Democratic Front chief Badruddin Ajmal. It is “not an attack on Ajmal, but an attack on Assam,” he added in support of his partner in the mahajot, or grand alliance, which is seeking to unseat the saffron party in the upcoming Assam assembly election.
Gandhi’s defence came just a few days after BJP had tarnished Ajmal, yet again. In an interview with the Indian Express, BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma said: “Badruddin Ajmal represents the most dangerous phase of Assam’s politics. He is bringing money from fundamentalist organisations in the name of social service, he is creating a network which is not conducive to Assamese culture. Not as an individual, but as a symbol of certain people, they are our enemy.”
This open sparring over Assam’s most influential Muslim political figure reflects the centrality of identity and belongingness in the political arithmetic of the state. More specifically, it shows the heightened sectarianism that the saffron party has deliberately fuelled in Assam to consolidate the Hindu vote and corner the self-professedly secular Congress. In many ways, both parties reflect the two opposing...
