Nupur Sharma is symptom of a deeper divide

India is presently in the middle of an intense public backlash—protests and riots, largely spearheaded by the Muslim community, along with a very displeased United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Oman, and Iraq amongst over two dozenMuslim-majority nations. At the centre of the storm is Nupur Sharma, a Bhartiya Janta Party spokesperson, and her party colleague Naveen Jindal. Reportedly, on 26 May Nupur Sharma made a comment in a heated TV debate on the Gyanvapi Mosque dispute about Prophet Mohammad, which she claims was a quotationfrom the Quran and the Hadith which the Muslim community has deemed very offensive. Jindal also shared a tweet later. In response, though much later, the BJP suspended Nupur and expelled Jindal from the party saying, “The BJP strongly denounces insults of any religious personalities of any religion. The BJP is also against any ideology which insults or demeans any sect or religion. The BJP does not promote such people or philosophy”.India's ambassador to Qatar, Deepak Mittal labelled Nupur and Naveen as "fringe elements' ' who did not represent the Indian government views.

Interestingly, the non-spontaneity of the public backlash, which did not start immediately after the remarks were made, but after India apparently buckled under growing protests in Qatar, UAQ, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations tells a different story. Soon protests spread across India, prompting a tough law and order response, especially in the state of Uttar Pradesh, where scores have been arrested, and many rioters have had their illegal properties bulldozed.

While Nupur withdrew her comments saying that it was merely a quotation, and in response to insult being hurled at Lord Shiva, the public anger seems to have abetted little. One must bear in mind that since a Shivling has been found in the water tank of the Gyanvapi Mosque, at the orders of a local court, social media has been flooded with memes and posts by celebrities, activists, politicians and general public to mock the Shivling, one including the photo of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. So, one must ask are Nupur’s comments really the source of the backlash, or is there something else that meets the eye? A closer look at India’s domestic politics will demonstrate that Nupur Sharma is merely a symbol of a much deeper divide between the Narendra Modi government and the Muslim community and the opposition, since May 2014. This divide has only deepened with the passage of time as a range of policy decisions were taken by the Modi government.

For starters, when Narendra Modi came to power with 282 seats in May 2014 ending the coalition era politics, his detractors were quick to dismiss the verdict saying only 31% had voted for him, therefore it is not a popular mandate. Ever since, every decision of the government has been mocked and dismissed, be it the Swatch Bharat campaign or the Jan Dhan, PM Awaas or Ujjwala schemes. His foreign visits were mocked as “hugplomacy”. Modi was being compared with Adolf Hitler. The left-liberals critics, overlooking the majority principle in a democratic polity, labelled the Modi government as Fascist and authoritarian and perpetuating majoritarianism.

Calling names became the new norm in the opposition ranks as BJP’s national rise continued ridingModi’s mass appeal and a slew of the government’s policy measures. Between 2014 and 2019 the party added another ten crore voters to its party base as a large number of public welfare schemes took effect. The BJP also swept elections in numerous states including Hayyana, Jharkhand, Goa, Gujarat, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and of course Uttar Pradesh.

But what seems to have irked his detractors and the Muslim community, particularly the most, has been the Triple Talaq Act, Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, Citizenship Amendment Act, and counter terrorism operations across the LoC against terrorist camps in the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and Balakot. A defiant and muscular standoff with China in the Ladakh sector further augmented Modi’s leadership and national image which received a further boost in the wake of the Supreme Court judgement to build the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

All these policy measures proved instrumental in delivering success to the BJP in state elections and also in the 2019 general elections taking its tally from 283 to 303 further deflating Modi critics’ wits and spirits.

Nupur Sharma

As seen during the anti CAA/NRC protests in Shaheen Bagh in Delhi and other parts of IndiaMuslim majority countries have continued to add fuel to the fire and supported public protests in India against the government. Many outfits such as the Popular Front of India and Social Democratic Party of India at the forefront of anti-government protests have been labelled as “Extremist organisations” by the Kerala High Court.

Today, Nupur Sharma lives under a strong police protection given the constant threat for rape and life to her and her family from a large number of groups and individuals from India and abroad. Therefore, in the context of the last eight years of domestic politics, seeing the current protests and backlash in isolation will be misplaced and shortsighted.