As They See It

In the slums of East Jogeshwari, the hovels pile atop each other, puny cavities of weathered concrete and battered sheet metal. Mohammed Kaseem8217;s room, which he shares with his wife and three children, is a short downhill stroll from a buffalo shed. Poverty, Kaseem8217;s lifelong companion, may be a burden, but it has been nothing so bad as the fear he felt in January 1993 when street warfare broke out in Jogeshwari and other Bombay neighbourhoods between Hindu and Muslim mobs.

For several nights, Hindus roamed through this ghetto, wielding swords and setting off fires while Kaseem and other Muslims huddled in the darkness listening to the rants outside.

Now that it is election time, those memories have taken an ironic twist for Kaseem. Last year a judicial commission attributed the communal slaughter not only to the thugs from the Shiv Sena but also to the Congress. One of those two parties is likely to come out ahead in the Jogeshwari district and Kaseem haschosen to cast his ballot for the Congress as a less odious choice. A despairing voice in the world8217;s largest democracy, he said, 8220;I vote one way only to cry out against the other.8221;

Again and again, as India undergoes a month of voting that ends on Oct 3, similar choices are being made by its Muslims, one of the world8217;s largest minorities and one that feels under grave threat by the religious turn that has come to Indian politics.

For the first time, Hindu nationalists, perceived by many as anti-Muslim, have led a coalition that has ruled the country for a prolonged time, holding power for the past 18 months. Though the period has been spared of religious tensions, and the BJP has strategically shied away from parts of its agenda most chilling to Muslims, fear persists.

If poll predictions are correct, the nationalist-lead alliance will soon rule with a bigger majority than before and Muslims worry that the recent moderation shown by the nationalists will fade away with a firmer grasp on thegovernment. 8220;We are telling people not to waste their votes on candidates that cannot win, even if it means voting for the lesser of the two evils,8221; says Maulana Abdul Kashmiri, chairman of of a council of Muslim clergymen in Bombay. 8220;Votes must be used to defeat those who would commit atrocities against Muslims,8221; he says.