Details of a confidential report submitted to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath by the judicial commission constituted to probe last year’s violence in Sambhal town, during a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid there that killed four persons and injured several others, have mysteriously come to light. Selective ‘leaks’ of the report, which will be made public only after its findings are approved by the state cabinet and placed in the Assembly, indicate a well-known pattern—raising the bogey of demographic change and instilling fear in the majority community. The violence in Sambhal was triggered after Hindus claimed that the mosque was built over an ancient Harihar temple, an extremely holy site, while the Muslims rejected the claim that there was a temple under the mosque. The survey team’s arrival led to violence resulting in the fatalities. The report’s findings, as revealed by ‘sources’, claim that the Hindu population in Sambhal has come down to 15 per cent from 45 per cent in 1947, while that of Muslims has gone up from 55 per cent in 1947 to 85 per cent. This huge demographic shift is attributed to minority appeasement and repeated riots that have led to a fear psychosis and an exodus of Hindus from the town. The report apparently cites instances of 15 riots in Sambhal since 1947 and said the Hindus bore the brunt of the violence. It has pointed to the upsurge in terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and the presence of illegal arms networks and also the decline in Hindu pilgrimage sites in the area. It is obvious that the findings of the report have been leaked to create an atmosphere of apprehension and uncertainty among the Hindus. The ‘corrective steps’ the commission has suggested include a stepping up of law enforcement and social restructuring. The Opposition has called it a diversionary tactic to veer away from actual issues like joblessness and the row over the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.
This oft-repeated saffron template of ‘Hindu khatre mein hain’ or ‘the Hindu population is facing danger of demographic displacement as the Muslim population overtakes them’ has no significant scientific basis to it. The substantial decline in the fertility rate in India does not apply only to Hindus, as there has been a sharp decline among Muslims too. The bogey of multiple marriages and an exploding Muslim population that is often raised by the Hindutva ecosystem has no basis. It is interesting that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, at a press conference to mark the centenary celebrations of the organisation, said every Indian family should have three children to set right the population imbalance that is the result of repeated conversions. The supposed demographic transformation caused by illegal immigration and conversions is a pet theme of the present dispensation at the Centre, and it is often used to whip up communal passions during poll campaigns. With the Bihar elections round the corner, the Sambhal report is well-timed to make an impact.
