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Irrespective of the outcome of the Waqf Amendment Act, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre has scored a point over its principal political rival, the Congress. The ‘Waqf’ issue was not much in the public domain. Moreover, the amendment is not going to make much difference in whatever is owned by the Waqf across the country, particularly after the BJP’s allies Telugu Desam Party and the Janata Dal-United got some changes made. Even if the amendment survives the judicial review, it will come into effect prospectively and not retrospectively. Obviously, what is with the Waqf, will remain with it. It possesses huge land assets across the country acquired primarily over a period of about 600 years of Islamic rule in India.

 

Nothing can be far from the fact than the allegation by the Congress and other opposition parties that the BJP wants to “interfere” in the Muslim affairs. An overwhelming majority of people in India do not understand the finer intricacies of various legislations and that too which are as complex as the Waqf Amendment Act. People believe what they want to believe. Their beliefs are formed on the already prevailing perceptions about leaders and parties. And when the opposition members, led by the Congress, in the two houses of the parliament shouted at the BJP that the Waqf Act was an attempt to “snatch away” Muslims’ lands most of the community members believed it. No evidence to the contrary is going to convince them against that, irrespective of what is the actual truth.

 

Does such reinforcement of belief and perception among the Muslim community cause any political harm to the BJP? Not really. The BJP seems to have consciously adopted a line and reconciled to the reality that given the perceptions prevailing among the community, it will not be so easy for the party to make political roads within it. That is the reason the party appears to have stopped being “politically correct”. Instead it has decided to further consolidate and strengthen its core base.

 

BJP appears to have learnt important lessons from the history of the Congress, which the Congress itself refuses to learn. Prior to the freedom/ partition of the country, an overwhelming majority of the Muslims in India would treat the Indian National Congress the same way they are treating the Bharatiya Janata Party today. At that time the Muslims in India had an irresistible alternative to Congress in the All India Muslim League. The Muslim League leader Mohammad Ali Jinnah would describe Congress derisively as a “Hindu Communal Party” and most of the Muslims seemed to agree. Most of the seats reserved for the Muslim community in the provincial legislatures, prior to the independence of the country, were won by the Muslim League only.

 

Whether the BJP admits it publicly or not, it is recognised as the “Hindu Nationalist Party”, a definition the party does not seem to have any objection with. The Congress has been projecting itself as a “truly secular” party. The BJP has been accusing the Congress of ‘pseudo-secularism’ or “false secularism”. The BJP has often been accusing the Congress of minority/ Muslim appeasement.

 

As the BJP has been continuously expanding across the country, primarily at the cost of the Congress, it (the Congress) has been finding it difficult to counter its narrative. The BJP has successfully built up its agenda as the “nationalist” agenda, while the Congress has not been able to counter it to the extent that it can redeem its lost space among the Hindu community. Instead, it appears to have made itself dependent more on the minority communities, primarily the Muslims.

 

The Congress has strong credentials when it comes to nationalism. Despite the fact that the Congress has a glorious past with its leaders like Indira Gandhi having sacrificed her life not only for the country but also for protecting secularism, it rarely mentions her. It was her unfailing belief in nationalism and secularism that cost her life. She was assassinated by her own security guards in revenge for her having ordered Operation Bluestar. Her bodyguards, who happened to be Sikhs, were withdrawn from her security detail after the ‘operation’. But she objected to the withdrawal and intervened and got them back only to be shot dead by them. The Congress leaders rarely refer to her great sacrifice that has hardly any parallels in the country's contemporary history.

 

Instead the party has been making itself to be seen as distinctly “secular”, bordering “appeasement”. Some recent instances prove the point. The top Congress leadership avoided visiting the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. It is a fact that the movement to build the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya was led by the radical Hindu outfit, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and it was popularised by the veteran BJP leader Lal Kishen Advani. But now, after the Ram Mandir was built up, it has emerged to be an important centre of faith for the Hindu community across the world; something akin to what Mecca is to Muslims and Amritsar is to the Sikhs. Mecca is the birthplace of Prophet Mohammad, and Ayodhya is the birthplace of Lord Rama. It is not that all those millions and millions of Hindus who are paying obeisance at Ram Mandir are only the BJP supporters.

 

When Udhayanidhi Stalin, the Deputy Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and the son of Chief Minister MK Stalin publicly said that Sanatan Dharam deserves to be wiped out, the Congress observed complete silence. So much so, senior party leader from Tamil Nadu P Chidambaram defended Stalin during a press conference from the AICC podium.

 

Recently when anti-Waqf Act riots took place in the Muslim majority Murshidabad district of West Bengal, which left two people belonging to Hindu community dead, the Congress did not utter a single word to condemn the killing or express sympathy with the victims, who were lynched in their home.

 

The Congress may have its reasons, which though do not sound convincing, that as a secular party it prefers to avoid religious issues. But the argument loses the logic when the Congress takes up the issues like Waqf from its platform. The party took a principled stand against the Waqf Amendment Act in the parliament. Since the BJP led NDA has majority in both the houses, it was passed.

 

Now that the Waqf Act has been challenged in the Supreme Court of India, the Congress has practically become a party to it. Not only does the senior party leader and MP, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who also happens to be the Chairperson of the Law, Human Rights and RTI department of the AICC, appear in the court against the Waqf Act, he also held a press conference from the AICC podium opposing the Waqf Act.

 

That may sound fair enough. But does anyone remember the Congress party or any of its leaders ever going public on the issues concerning the Hindu community. The party maintains complete silence where it must come out with a principled stand. As a secular party, the Congress should ideally be avoiding taking public stand on religious issues, but if it takes, it must be fairly impartial towards all religions. It must not only “be”, but should also “seen to be” so. But, somehow, the party does not want to be seen like that. May be intentionally.

 

The BJP cannot want anything “better” from the Congress. In fact, the Grand Old Party, with its stand on various issues is only helping the BJP consolidate its position among its core constituency. The Congress probably does not realise whether it is really appeasing the Muslim community or not, but it is “seen to be appeasing” the community. And that suits the BJP more than it suits the Congress.

 

Biggest example of the Congress’ lack of “policy making ability” while keeping the sentiments of the people into consideration is best reflected in its changing stand on the abrogation of the Article 370. When the Article was abrogated in August 2019, the Congress opposed it tooth and nail. But over a period the party realised that the abrogation was hailed across the country by people irrespective of their party affiliations. It eventually climbed down. During the General Elections and the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections last year, the party avoided any comment on the restoration of the article, even the party president Mallikarjun Kharge publicly saying that the Abrogation of Article 370 was now a closed chapter.

 

The Congress cannot hope to revive itself depending on one minority community alone. Even in that “constituency”, the party has a tough competition with the regional parties like the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal.

 

As of now, the BJP has completely secured its “core constituency” that once used to be the “Congress’ core constituency” and has pushed it to the margins along with the regional parties like the SP and the RJD. The Congress’ actual fight for political space is not with the BJP now, but with the parties like the SP, the RJD, the DMK and other smaller parties.

 

The BJP has made the Congress walk into a trap, where the party is seen primarily as a “pro-minority” party, while overlooking the interests of the majority community. There appears to be no interest or inclination in the party to correct that impression and make the relevant amends. Till the Congress does not do that, it will not be easy for the party to come out of the margins. And the party cannot defeat the mighty BJP while remaining “trapped” along the margins.