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Locals wary of calm ahead of Madhya Pradesh elections

Anita Joshua

The last two Assembly elections were preceded by a round of trouble

DHAR (M.P.): Dates do not mean much to them, but the locals do remember that the last two Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh were preceded by a round of trouble over the Bhojshala-Kamal Maula complex. So, it is with a degree of wariness and weariness that they watch the run-up to next week’s elections despite the calm that has prevailed for well over a year now.

The police post, barricade and the “dos & don’ts” board outside the complex are the only reminders today of the controversy that was stirred up around this structure ahead of the last elections. The disputed structure – where the Sangh parivar wants to ban Friday namaaz and install a statue of Goddess Saraswati – wears a deserted look and hardly finds mention in the campaign.

But, as a propaganda vehicle of the Bharatiya Jan Shakti (BJS) – the party floated by the former Chief Minister, Uma Bharati – went around the lanes of the town on Saturday announcing a public meeting by her close associate K. N. Govindacharya on Sunday, locals could not help but wonder if it would signal the end of the brokered peace of the past couple of years.

After all, Ms. Bharati – as Bharatiya Janata Party’s flag-bearer then – had fuelled the controversy in 2003 with the help of the Hindu Jagran Manch (HJM), and the fledgling BJS is eager to make its presence felt in this election. Will Mr. Govindacharya – known to have a way with words – be able to rekindle the embers of the controversy that appears to have run out of steam. Unlikely, insists a bureaucrat who has served in the district. “He may talk about it but the BJS does not have the machinery that the Sangh parivar provided Ms. Bharati then.”

So much so that barely a hundred locals turn up to offer “aarti” on Tuesdays, according to a policeman manning the post. “Earlier, the numbers used to be larger as HJM and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh members would go from house-to-house asking people to join the “aarti” at the complex on Tuesday. Now, no more than 20 HJM/RSS activists turn up.”

Namaaz on Friday in the complex, however, draws a full house with close to a 1,000 Muslims turning up; keeping alive a practice that predates Tuesday’s “aarti” which began in April 2003 when the Archaeological Survey of India issued a directive to this effect. Till then, Hindus were allowed to offer prayers at the complex only on Basant Panchami day, whereas Muslims have been offering namaaz here since 1995.

Having weathered many a curfew in this town over the controversy, Shanti Tai rues that the calm can be deceptive and possibly short-lived.

“Politicians have lost interest for now, but there’s no saying when they will be back to fuel the controversy. Even now, on Tuesdays and Fridays extra police force is posted to ensure that no one makes trouble.”

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