He was referring to the tirades of the saffron trolls against a Pakistani athlete, who was called a terrorist by the Netizens and accused of tampering with Chopra’s javelin. According to Chopra, “sports teaches us to be together and united. I am extremely disappointed to see some of the reactions from the public”.

Among those who echoed his sentiments was another Tokyo Games medalist, Bajrang Punia, who said that “whether the athlete is from Pakistan or any other country … he is a sportsperson first … there should be respect for athletes”.

It is unlikely, however, that those who have been diligently pursuing the “dirty agenda” of polarization will turn over a new leaf in favour of communal amity. For the BJP, Islamophobia has become even more important with the approach of the U.P. elections, which is why the state’s chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, recently stoked anti-Muslim sentiments by accusing the opposition leaders of wearing a “topi” (a skullcap favoured by the Muslims) and saying “mubarakbad” instead of promoting the Kumbh mela.

This was only one of Yogi’s many attempts at widening the communal divide such as when he categorized the people into Bajrang Balis and Alis. He was also in the forefront of enacting anti-love jehad laws to stop interfaith marriages and was avidly followed by other BJP chief ministers to emulate him. But such attempts have lately hit a few roadblocks as in Gujarat where the high court has invalidated an anti-conversion law by upholding an interfaith marriage.

The “dirty agenda” encompasses not only the Hindutva Gestapo’s old communal tricks like using the love jehad laws to harass couples belonging to different religions, but also to indulge in the crude saffron propaganda of airbrushing the BJP’s bete noire Jawaharlal Nehru’s name and portraits from the posters put up by the previously venerable but now a spineless camp follower of the ruling party at the centre, the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), to observe the 75th anniversary of Indian independence.

It is possible to detect in such patently partisan approach both a sense of nervousness about the BJP’s political prospects, especially in U.P., and a desperation to get the party’s viewpoint across before it is too late. Like the ICHR, another previously well-regarded but currently pusillanimous University Grants Commission is feverishly engaged in rewriting Indian history at the behest of its Hindutva masters by focussing more on Hindu mythology and less on the Muslim rulers, who have been called “glorified dacoits” by a saffron poet and screenwriter.

It is possible that a recent opinion poll, which said that Narendra Modi’s popularity has dropped from a high of 66 per cent a year ago to 24 at present, has had a jittery effect on the Hindutva camp. There has been a fall in Yogi Aditynath’s ratings also while those of his rivals in U.P., the Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav, and the Bahujan Samaj Party’s Mayawati, have gone up.

It has been fairly obvious to observers in recent times that the U.P. chief minister is gradually emerging as Modi’s successor in Amit Shah place, presumably because Yogi’s hardline policies have the support of a large number of the BJP rank and file.

But a decline in the popularity of both is a worrying sign for the party. It has to win next year’s elections in U.P. at any cost. Otherwise, the BJP will begin to have doubts about the 2024 general election as well, especially when the opposition is trying yet again to get its act together though with limited success so far.

In such a situation, the BJP has no option but to play the communal card with greater vigour by mobilizing not only the cadres, but also utilizing the various “autonomous” institutions, both investigative and academic, to the best of its ability. Hence, perhaps, an added emphasis by the saffron camp on traducing the Mughals and obliterating Nehru, who was derided as a “nationalist Muslim” by the BJP’s latest icon, Vallabhbhai Patel.

Since depicting the Muslims in the darkest of hues has long been saffron camp’s game plan in aid of its political objective, the latest attempts at demonization should not cause any surprise except for the fact that the efforts in this direction have obviously been stepped up, emphasizing a greater urgency than before in propagating the “dirty agenda”. (IPA Service)