The popularity of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his growing power in politics is generally attributed to his image as a poster boy of Hindutva. There are attempts to imitate him across the country these days. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has also been a follower of Yogi’s path. But now Sarma’s activities show that he is in a race to overtake Yogi soon or is trying to emerge as his tough rival. When Yogi Adityanath made a strict law against love jihad in Uttar Pradesh, Himanta also decided to do something similar in Assam. But now Himanta’s target is beyond love jihad. Himanta has started talking about many other types of jihad in Assam. Himanta feels that there is a need to curb the sale of land to Muslims in the state. He believes that to stop land jihad, the government can bring such laws that the consent of the Chief Minister is mandatory for land transactions between Hindus and Muslims. He sees a different kind of jihad in every incident that happens in Assam. Recently, he also mentioned fertilizer jihad in Assam. Currently, due to flood jihad, Sarma has targeted a Bengali Muslim educational institution. Sarma has said that students studying in this institution will not be able to get government jobs in Assam. Himanta can also bring a law for this soon.
1- How many jihads did Himanta have?
Himanta’s obsession to become the poster boy of Hindutva is not new. He had taken the path of hardcore Hindutva since joining the Bharatiya Janata Party. Be it the constant statements about the Muslim population, the attempt to obstruct Muslim marriages in the name of child marriage or the talk of CAA and NRC, Himanta spews fire against the Muslim community in such a way that even the staunch BJP members cannot compete with him. Now the situation is such that he is preparing to leave behind even the poster boy of Hindutva, Yogi Adityanath. On Wednesday, he intensified his attack on the privately owned University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM). Sarma said that his government is considering the possibility that students graduating from the university will not be eligible to compete for posts advertised by the Assam government.
The Indian Express writes that USTM is ranked among the top 200 universities under NIRF. The institute is run by a foundation owned by Mahbubul Haque, a Bengali-Muslim from Assam, who is also the chancellor of the institute. According to an Indian Express report, this month, Haque has faced several attacks from Sarma. Sarma alleges that the cutting of forests and hills for the construction of this campus is the reason why Guwahati has to face sudden floods. Sarma says that all this has happened due to flood jihad against Assam. The biggest example of this is the architecture of the university, the presence of three domes on the main gate which is a symbol of jihad.
Sarma has blamed deforestation in the hills for the floods in Guwahati. For this, he pointed to the construction work going on in the campus for the medical college there. He said that I think the USTM owner has started jihad. We talk of land jihad, he has started flood jihad against Assam. Otherwise no one can cut the mountains so ruthlessly.
Sarma had earlier accused Bengali-Muslim farmers of “fertiliser jihad” and said the uncontrolled use of fertilisers in growing vegetables had led to illness among people. He also accused Muslims in the state of land jihad and announced a decision to curb land sales to them and said the government would bring a law providing life imprisonment for love jihad.
The Assam government on Thursday introduced a bill to repeal the law that regulates marriages and divorces of Muslims, saying it allows marriages of minors from the community.
2-Yogi’s Hindutva will feel ashamed in front of Sarma
Yogi Adityanath has been a firebrand leader of Hindutva. He has not been dependent on the Bharatiya Janata Party for this. Before joining the BJP, Yogi Adityanath had formed his own Hindu Yuva Vahini in Gorakhpur. Due to his aggressive Hindutva in eastern Uttar Pradesh, he became the darling of the BJP. After joining the BJP, the aggression in his tone had somewhat decreased. After becoming the Chief Minister, he started talking about Rajdharma. But due to the crushing defeat in UP in the Lok Sabha elections, Yogi’s old form is being seen in politics for the last few days.
In late July, the state government introduced a bill to amend the anti-conversion law, making the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021, more stringent. The UP assembly passed the amendment bill on July 30, re-emphasising its intent to stamp out love jihad.
An order was passed for roadside vendors and shopkeepers on the Kanwar Yatra route to display their names outside their establishments. He also discussed the Bangladesh crisis and the situation of Hindus in neighboring countries. Yogi said that it is our duty to protect the Hindus of Bangladesh and support them in times of crisis and we will always stand with them. Whatever the circumstances, our values remain steadfast. Being a Hindu in Bangladesh is not a mistake but a blessing. He made the accused in the Ayodhya rape case being a Muslim an issue and also took strict action.
Political analyst Saurabh Dubey says that all the actions of Yogi show the feeling of protection of Hindus. Whereas Himanta’s decisions do not show good feelings towards a particular community. Perhaps this is a competition to get ahead of Yogi.
3-Why is there a competition to emphasize on Hindutva
The party has learned a lot from the defeat of BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The biggest thing is that they have understood that they are not going to get the vote of the Muslim community at all. Another thing is that the way Congress is constantly talking about caste census, increasing the reservation quota from 50 percent, the only way BJP sees the rise of Hindutva to counter it is the rise of Hindutva. The way the government seems excited to bring the Waqf Board Amendment Act is also the reason for this. If Hindutva gets polarized, BJP will get the strength to deal with all the arrows of the opposition. The second thing is also to deal with the challenge posed by other leaders and other factions within the party. Hindutva is working as a big weapon for this. If a leader is very aggressive about Hindutva, then his opponents in the party remain calm.
As has happened in Uttar Pradesh. Yogi Adityanath’s sharp stance on Hindutva has pacified Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak who were raising their heads against him. Last week, Keshav Prasad Maurya has praised Yogi Adityanath on at least two occasions. Himanta Biswa Sarma will also have to become the poster boy of Hindutva to survive in the party or to come to the forefront. However, the case of Assam is also different from other parts of the country.
