Battle for Muslim vote bank in coastal Karnataka

According to the government data, in Udupi, only 91 Muslim girl students were enrolled in PUCs, compared to the 2021-22 number of 178 girls

A 17-year-old Muslim girl preferred a private college instead of a government one so that she could wear a hijab inside the classroom. “I had two options. First to take admission in a government college and shun hijab and second to enrol in a private college, where hijab was allowed inside the classroom. I opted for the second,” she said.

Wearing a hijab in classrooms became a major political and religious issue in 2022 after the state government issued an order that effectively banned it in classrooms in government run colleges. (PTI)

She is not the only one in Udupi from where the hijab controversy erupted in January 2022 who has chosen a private college to express her religious identity.

According to the government data, in Udupi, only 91 Muslim girl students were enrolled in pre-university colleges (PUCs), compared to the 2021-22 number of 178 girls. Meanwhile, private PUCs saw a spike in Muslim girl students with 487 girls enrolling as compared to the 328 in 2021-22.

A similar trend can be seen across almost all of coastal Karnataka where wearing a hijab in classrooms became a major political and religious issue in 2022 after the state government issued an order that effectively banned it in classrooms in government run colleges. Last year, the Karnataka high court dismissed petitions filed by six hijab-clad Muslim students from a Udupi pre-university college. The Supreme Court gave a split verdict on the appeal filed against the high court order and now the apex court has referred multiple petitions to a three member bench.

The 17-year-old cited in the first instance, and who asked not to be named, believes wearing a hijab is their right, but said the issue was blown out of proportion because of the five Udupi girls.This reporter visited the homes of two girls but their families remained unavailable for comments. Residents of Udupi say the girls were active members of Campus Front of India, the student wing of now banned Popular Front of India (PFI), somehow suggesting that the protest was orchestrated.

“When the problem started, only one college was not allowing hijab but a lot of colleges were. But after the protests became big, all other colleges stopped allowing hijab because there was a government order,” she said. Standing next to her father and a few community leaders, she said she hoped that the Supreme Court would favour girls wearing a hijab and the entire controversy would come to an end.

Hijab is just one of several issues that confront Muslim voters in coastal Karnataka. According to people in the region, the passage of the controversial anti-conversion bill, a campaign against halal meat and use of loudspeakers in the mosques, and killings of Muslim men in 2022 by right-wing groups are some other talking points among the community in the region, considered most communally sensitive part of the state.

Although Muslims constitute 12.2% of the state’s population, they account for almost 20% in coastal Karnataka . Dakshin Kannada, a district which falls in the coastal region, has 24% Muslim population, the highest for any district in the state. Kodagu is second highest with 16% Muslim population as per 2011 Census.

Muneer Katipalla, the state president of the CPI(M) affiliated Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) said the hijab issue was blown out of proportion by SDPI to gain political ground . “Killing of 18-year-old B Masood which led to killing of Praveen Nettaru is (also) a big talking point among Muslims,” he added.

According to the police officers, the attack on 18-year-old B Masood on July 20, 2022, in Kalanja village in Sullia taluk in Dakshina Kannada allegedly by eight persons resulted in a spree of killings in the region. Masood died in a hospital on July 21.

Police said that it was in response to this that bike-borne assailants targeted Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha activist 31-year-old Praveen Kumar Nettaru in Bellare town, hacking him to death in July 26, 2022. The police have filed charges against 20 persons in the case. Members of the banned Popular Front of India members are believed to be behind Nettaru’s killing.

Police said that Netharu’s murder, resulted in the killing of 23-year-old Fazil Mangalpet who was hacked to death in front of a cloth shop in Surathkal town on August 6. In this case, seven persons affiliated to right wing groups were arrested .

But Katipalla said the Muslim community did not react when 45-year-old Abdul Jaleel was killed in Surathkal December 2022 over an alleged affair with a Hindu woman. Police arrested four Hindu men for the murder and said the accused had gone to question him over his alleged affair when the murder took place. “This time, the Muslim community did not react as they understood the impact it could have on elections,” he said.

Still, the situation, the DYFI leader said, is not very different from 2018, when several murders led to communal tension after which the BJP won 17 of the 21 assembly seats in the region. “Two months before the assembly polls in 2018, the BJP launched a four-day rally, Jana Suraksha Yatre , deeming the then Congress government led by Siddaramaiah “anti-Hindu” and highlighting the cause of “protecting Hindutva workers”. The Jana Suraksha Yatre was focused on highlighting the deaths of 23 alleged Hindutva workers and was strategically held in coastal Karnataka,” he said.

Five years down the line, the SDPI, which has announced 19 candidates in coastal Karnataka, is trying to become the voice of Muslims.

“Even though BJP government’s communal politics is haunting minorities, the Congress, which survives on the votes of the minority community, does not respond to the problems and challenges of the Muslims. When the Congress was in the power or while the Opposition, it didn’t speak in support of the community,” said SDPI district president Riyaz Farangipete.

SDPI poses a threat to the Congress, which was counting on Muslim votes . Farangipete said some sacrifices have to be made for the larger goal. “How many seats did the BJP have when they started, look at them now. So, we want to build that base and over the years in the next few elections ensure Muslim representation through SDPI in the assembly.”

UT Khader, a Muslim legislator from Congress, against whom Faranipete will be contesting said SDPI will not affect the Congress. He also said that the party would not strike any deal with the SDPI. “In 2008 SDPI didn’t contest the election in Bantwal but our candidate lost. In 2013, when SDPI contested against us, our candidate won. If they withdraw from the election, some communities that vote for us may not support us. So, we don’t have to worry about SDPI. Their (SDPI) political opponent is not BJP; their political existence is in targeting secular forces like Congress.”

“If they can split the votes, let them. But we are certain that it will be a small number. In my constituency, there are over two lakhs votes, even if SDPI gets 3000-4000 votes, it will not make a big impact. In fact, we want them to contest against us so that they know the voters are with us. If they (SDPI) don’t contest they will claim we got votes because they stood out the election,” he added. .

Haji Muhammad Masood, the president of The Muslim Central Committee for Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts said that, unlike in previous years, the Muslim apex body will be asking its followers to support one political party. “Earlier, we used to ask people to vote for the right candidates in their constituency, but this year, there is a feeling that the community has to come together for one party,” he said, without naming the party they would prefer.

That could well make a difference.