Thread by @rubusmubu

In March 1990, Lalu Prasad Yadav came to power, and remained there till 2005. What did he do about the Bhagalpur riots that had raged on till March 1990? #BiharElections2020

Dwivedi was not tried in a court. The ‘messiah of the Muslims’, Lalu Yadav, continued to give political patronage to the likes of Kameshwar Yadav, who were actively involved in the riots. #BiharElections2020

The biggest irony was that Kameshwar Yadav was given a reward for ‘maintaining communal harmony’ by the Lalu administration. He was imprisoned only in 2007,
#BiharElections2020

when Nitish Kumar was CM in alliance with the BJP. Kameshwar got bail from Patna High Court in July 2017. But there was no appeal in the Supreme Court from the JD(U)-RJD government of Bihar. Yet, there was no outcry from Muslims against the then Dpt CM Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD.

Similarly, in October 1992, communal violence broke out in Sitamarhi and Riga. The Lalu Yadav-led government largely succeeded in controlling the violence. But nobody pursued for justice — not even an enquiry report came out, which the Muslim leadership didn’t even ask. #Bihar

Selective Amnesia The 2000 riots in Bihar Sharif were not so much between Hindus and Muslims as between Yadavs and Muslims. Again, for Lalu Yadav (Rabri Devi was then CM), it became a choice between securing his primary base (Yadavs) or his Muslim alliance. He chose the former

Why didn’t the Muslims ever demand Lalu during 1990-2005 to initiate action against Dwivedi? Why did Lalu take Kameshwar Yadav into the RJD even though the latter had led riots against Muslims in 1989? Why did Muslims not raise a voice, voting en bloc for Lalu 🗳 after 🗳? #Bihar

Did #Bihar’s Muslims ever ask the three consecutive CMs of Uttar Pradesh — Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav —why they ‘protected’ Yogi Adityanath in Gorakhpur during the communal violence of January 2007? #BiharElections2020

The point being made here is this: the Muslim leadership — both intelligentsia (modern, educated and religious) and political — need to ask themselves why their concerns and protests vary from regime to regime. #BiharElections2020

Why do Muslim voices against victimisation become louder only when they feel having been wronged by the BJP and its allies? Why do similar ‘failures and misdemeanours’ from ‘Muslimfriendly’ regimes not invite outrage? #BiharElections2020

Muslims pursuing the politics in the name of secularism need to do some serious soul-searching, make some confessions as well as course corrections. That is, if they are really serious about resisting the ‘saffron’ onward march. #BiharElections2020

I have tweeted above from this article by Mohammed Sajjad Saab Alig economictimes.indiatimes.com/blogs/et-comme…