Even as alienation constitutes one element of the story of Muslims in contemporary India, political introspection constitutes another. They are thinking hard about political choices made in the past, and the political choices they ought to make in the future. All options are on the table.

Four years ago, Manzar Islam was teaching social science at the Azad Academy in Bihar. During a conversation about BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in 2013, he had said, the irritation palpable in his voice, “why are you asking a Muslim this? You think we can like him?” He added, confidently, that Modi would not win—for, Hindus themselves opposed him, citing the Late U R Ananthamurthy and Amritya Sen.

Islam is now retired. His tone has palpably changed.

“What do we do now? Even backwards and Dalits are going towards Modi. He will win in 2019.” Islam also speaks of the polarization on the ground. “Even at the ward level, if there are Muslim candidates, the other side would rally together behind the Hindu candidate. This mindset has percolated. We will have to accept that the majority will decide.”

Islam—a Nitish supporter—says the situation leaves the community with no choice but to now engage with Modi and BJP. “The community and BJP should talk to each other. See Modi himself as fine. He has not discriminated. It is not even the followers who cause problems. It is people acting in his name. If he can keep them under check, we can find a common point.”

This is a voice one increasingly hears from elders in the community.

In Bareilly, Maulana Shahbuddin Rizvi, in his 40s, is the general secretary of the All India Tanzeem Ulema-e-Islam. He says Muslims have accepted that the PM, and now the UP Chief Minister are from the BJP. “There are problems. But I am in favour of talking to them; of telling them that we want to be partners in Sabka saath, sabka vikas. We should remind the PM of his statement that he wants to see Muslims with Quran in one hand and laptop in the other and ask him to implement it.” He adds that Yogi Adityanath too, after taking over as CM, has become more sensitive.

It was catering to these impulses of critical engagement within Muslim society itself that a delegation of Jamiat-Ulama-I-Hind met the PM.

A recent survey by the Centre for the Study of Development of Societies (CSDS) substantiates anecdotal evidence. It says 18% or almost one in every five Muslims said they would like Modi to return as PM in the event of an election now. Back in 2014, the figure was 9% or one in every 10. The survey also found Muslims supporting the BJP in much greater numbers than they did in 2014. Support for the BJP among Muslims has gone up from 8% to 15%.

This approach, however, has many critics, particularly among the younger Muslims. This school believes that the community must wait for the secular parties to get their act together and this is only a passing phase.

A group of young Muslims in Deoband laugh off those who want to give BJP a chance. “In that party, the route to success is abusing Muslims. Look at Yogi – what was his politics except hatred for us? And yet there are Muslims who cannot see this,” says Shah Alam, sitting in a cloth shop.

A maulana at the Darul-Uloom—Deoband pointed to the futility of this approach. “We need to remember BJP does not want Muslims because that is how they unite everyone else”.

Instead, he argues that Muslims should remember that despite the aura of electoral invincibility, the BJP had only been winning 30-40 per cent of the vote. “This means that a majority is against them. Secular parties need to strategize better, get united and consolidate this vote. I refuse to believe all Hindus are communal and hate us. Then the BJP would have won a majority of votes, and elections for 60 years. Even now it is a battle between secular and communal Hindus.”

The fact that the BJP could wait so long to emerge on the national stage has a lesson for Muslims, Maulana added — of patience. “We can wait for a few elections if they can wait 60 years”. (IPA Service)