AS PRIME Minister Narendra Modi arrives on a visit to poll-bound Bihar Thursday, ally JD(U) has been hard at work on the ground, reaching out to the Muslim community over the contentious Waqf law.
The party, whose chief Nitish Kumar has U-turned from being a trenchant Modi critic to a fair-weather friend, is facing uncomfortable questions on the issue. However, it hopes to settle the Muslim community’s apprehensions with its organised campaign involving Muslim leaders who are holding meetings at individual level to explain the reasons behind the party’s support for the Waqf (Amendment) Act in Parliament.
JD(U) spokesperson Anjum Ara, who has been part of this outreach for the past few weeks, admitted he has faced aggressive questioning. “But I heard them out calmly. I explained to them that the JD(U) supported the Bill as all its five recommendations (to the parliamentary panel that studied the Bill) were incorporated. I also tell them that Nitish Kumar has their best interests in mind,” Ara, who lost the 2020 Assembly polls to the CPI (ML)L’s Ajit Kumar from the Dumraon seat, said.
Asserting that minorities have full faith in Nitish’s leadership, Ara said she has found that people are receptive when explained why changes in the Waqf Act were necessary, with “the needy not getting the benefits”. “Our Muslim support base will be intact as people are seeing the development in Bihar and they trust Nitishji’s leadership,” he said.
On Wednesday, JD(U) leader Saba Zafar, who lost the 2020 polls to the AIMIM’s Akhtarul Imam from the Amour seat, held a meeting with the community where he said Nitish would never do anything against them and understands their interests.
“Nitish rejected the idea of an NRC (the proposed National Register of Citizens) in Bihar. And when questions regarding the Waqf law arise, he will act accordingly… There was pressure on me from the Muslim community to resign from the JD(U) but I stayed on because I know there will be no injustice under Nitish’s leadership,” he said, adding that the party is set to step up its interactions with Muslims over the Waqf law after Eid on June 7.
To drill their point home, JD(U) leaders are invoking the 1989 Bhagalpur riots under the Congress government in Bihar, and telling people that it was Nitish who as CM got the culprits punished, ensured justice to the victims and rehabilitated the displaced. The Bhagalpur violence was one of the worst clashes between Hindus and Muslims in Independent India and resulted in deaths of around a thousand people, 900-odd of them Muslims, and the displacement of over 50,000 people.
Accusing the Opposition of “misguiding people” on the Waqf law, a JD(U) leader cited the report of the Sachar Committee – constituted to study the social, economic and educational status of Muslims. “When people question me, I ask them to name one poor Muslim from their village whose life improved due to the previous Waqf law. They are left speechless. I also tell them that the Sachar Committee report found that Waqf properties’ income was much lesser than estimated. In such a scenario, it is the government’s responsibility to ensure benefits of Waqf properties reach the intended beneficiaries and that the new law ensures this,” he said.
Over questions regarding the inclusion of non-Muslims in Waqf boards, which is one of the most contentious clauses of the new law, JD(U) leaders are saying this also opens the possibility of representation of Pasmanda (backward) Muslims, who make up 85% of the community’s population in the state, in Waqf boards.
The JD(U) is the third largest constituent of the ruling NDA at the Centre after the the BJP and Telugu Desam Party (TDP). It has enjoyed support among the Muslims in Bihar, who comprise 17.7% of the state’s population.
The JD(U) has earlier too found itself in tricky situations over measures taken by the BJP-led government at the Centre, such as banning instant triple talaq, introduction of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the NRC proposal. In the 2020 Assembly polls, its tally had come down to 43, from 71 in 2015.
A JD(U) Muslim leader admitted that these issues had played a significant role in affecting the party tally. “During the 2020 campaign, people told me that they would have supported me even if I contested as an Independent but refused to support me as my party was aligned with the BJP. Only 5% Muslims voted for us,” said the leader, who was among the 11 Muslim JD(U) leaders who lost the polls.
A senior party leader claimed that the situation had “normalised” after 2020 as Muslims realised they had made a mistake by “weakening Nitish”, but that the Waqf law now could be a fresh setback. “Muslims were back to backing the JD(U) as was evident in the Belaganj Assembly bypoll last year. However, we have to do damage control again,” he said.
Among those who criticised the party for extending support to the Waqf Act in Parliament was AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi. In an interview with The Indian Express, Owaisi had said: “The Waqf Bill is detrimental to Muslims and people will never forgive the JD(U) and TDP for supporting it.”
