- Bhim Army Chief Azad’s dramatic appearance after Friday prayers inside the Jama Masjid appears to be carefully scripted.
- Even his eventual surrender to the police next morning, after addressing a huge crowd of admirers in the walled city, was clearly orchestrated for maximum effect.
- It was an astonishing coup that Chandrashekhar Azad singlehandedly managed to turn a Friday religious congregation of the Muslim minority, seething with anger and resentment, into a celebration of Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution.
- For someone confined to only a section of Western Uttar Pradesh not so long ago, Azad has managed to make huge strides in a remarkably short period of time.
- Interestingly, Azad insisted that he was not interested in being just a Dalit leader or confine his politics to caste binaries.
- Much would depend on whether the Bhim Army chief can turn the growing support among active Dalit groups for him as well as the newfound goodwill within the Muslim community into core components of a larger launching pad to actually win elections.
Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad is emerging as a rising star in India’s fast changing political scenario. Electrifying images beaming across television screens and social media platforms – of him holding aloft a copy of the Indian Constitution, surrounded by a vast multitude protesting against the CAA and NRC in the heart of Delhi’s Jama Masjid – has overnight boosted his stature. Significantly, this comes barely a week after the Dalit activist from Western Uttar Pradesh announced his intention of forming a new political party.
Azad’s dramatic appearance after Friday prayers inside the Jama Masjid, which he followed by almost magically vanishing and reappearing several times within the premises of the ancient mosque, foiling repeated attempts by the Delhi Police to nab him, appears to be carefully scripted. Even his eventual surrender to the police next morning, after addressing a huge crowd of admirers in the walled city – urging them to carry on the agitation but always peacefully – was clearly orchestrated for maximum effect. Since then, a flood of messages have been pouring across Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp groups hailing the Bhim Army chief for his courage and flamboyant gesture in solidarity with the protesters at Jama Masjid.
CAA & NRC: Not Just a ‘Muslim Problem’
Many of the messages appreciating Azad are from Muslims who have compared him most favourably with the Imam of Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, who had earlier sought to buy peace with the government by downplaying the Citizenship Amendment Act as ‘irrelevant’ to Muslims in the country. This is perhaps the first time that a Dalit leader has received such unqualified admiration from Muslims, and is bound to have far reaching impact as Azad’s political career gathers momentum in the coming months and years.
The maturity and panache displayed by the 33-year-old Dalit leader so far has been impressive.
It was an astonishing coup that he singlehandedly managed to turn a Friday religious congregation of the Muslim minority, seething with anger and resentment, into a celebration of Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitution. Politely but with great determination, Azad, while giving dharna at the Jama Masjid, managed to sidestep provocative questions from television channels by repeatedly stressing that he had come to the protests at the mosque to highlight that the protests against the CAA and NRC were ‘not a problem concerning Muslims alone’ but also reverberated among Dalits and other marginalised populations who feared that they would lose their rights as bona fide citizens.
Chandrashekhar Azad Shines in Contrast to an ‘Ineffective’ Mayawati
For someone confined to only a section of Western Uttar Pradesh not so long ago, Azad has managed to make huge strides in a remarkably short period of time. Although over the past few years Chandrashekhar Azad had received recognition – as an intrepid Dalit activist who created a new grassroots Ambedkarite movement by running schools for Dalit children and standing up for the rights of his community to upper caste musclemen in Saharanpur and adjoining areas – the Bhim Army chief remained a marginal figure.
His first big move came some months ago when he assumed leadership of a massive demonstration by Dalits of Delhi and surrounding states against the demolition of the temple dedicated to Dalit saint Ravidas. He shone by contrast to the ineffective and non-confrontational approach taken by BSP supremo and Dalit leader Mayawati on the issue, and the impact of the demonstrations was so massive that both the government and the courts have had to backtrack and promise to restore the temple at its original site.
However, Azad’s declaration earlier this month – that he was planning to form a political party which has been followed now by his spectacular intervention on a nationwide issue, not strictly confined to Dalits – has put him in a new orbit.
Chandrashekhar Azad: ‘Not Just a Dalit Leader’
Some weeks ago, shortly before he declared his intention to form a political party, Azad, in a two hour long freewheeling informal conversation, said that he decided to do so after being persuaded by both Dalits and others supportive of the Bhim Army in his recent engagement with them. Surrounded by some of his close aides, Azad said, “Although I was initially reluctant to get directly involved in politics, the feedback I am getting from all over is that the time has come for me to take the plunge, because without political action nothing will move forward!”
Interestingly, Azad insisted that he was not interested in being just a Dalit leader or confine his politics to caste binaries. He felt that the era of narrow caste politics was over.
He was convinced that with growing political consciousness among Dalits and other marginalised castes, there was a need for an overarching approach bringing together an alliance of those who are being economically and socially oppressed, which would necessarily include the Muslim community.
It is not surprising therefore that the Bhim Army chief has so enthusiastically plunged into the protests against the CAA and NRC which have provided him an ideal platform to launch his party.
Azad also made it clear that although initially he was reluctant to antagonise Mayawati by launching a political party, he had decided now to take a bolder and more aggressive approach without openly criticising her or even responding to her constant vilification campaign against him as a ‘BJP agent’. At the same time he did not want to be defined as either a rival or successor to the BSP supremo.
“These are new times and yesterday’s politics will not work. Chandrasekhar Azad has to follow his own trajectory!” he declared.
What Will It Take For Bhim Army Chief to Realise His Political Dreams?
It remains to be seen whether Chandrashekhar Azad and his new party can indeed fulfil his potential as a major mover and shaker in Indian politics at a time when there is increasing public disenchantment with established political leaders and parties. For instance, Mayawati, once the stormy petrel of Dalit politics – whose astounding electoral success in Uttar Pradesh more than a decade ago had raised high hopes – is now a pale shadow of her former self, perceived by even her former followers and admirers as a leader who is both incapable and disinclined to lead from the front. It is significant that even as Azad was leading protest marches against the CAA and NRC in Delhi, Behenji was advising her followers not to go out and demonstrate on the streets, but merely submit memorandums to the authorities.
Much would depend on whether the Bhim Army chief can turn the growing support among active Dalit groups across the country for him as well as the newfound goodwill within the Muslim community into core components of a larger launching pad to actually win elections.
His big handicap is a palpable lack of financial resources and organisational infrastructure that established parties have. It may require both enormous innovative skills from the young leader as well as a sea change in Indian politics itself for Azad to realise his dream.
(The writer is a Delhi-based senior journalist and the author of ‘Behenji: A Political Biography of Mayawati’. This is an opinion piece. The views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)