LUCKNOW: Nearly a decade after it was hit by communal riots in 2013, the west UP district of Muzaffarnagar is all set to hold a BJP-backed mega-convention on “Hindu-Muslim unity”. The convention, titled ‘Sneh Milan: Ek Desh Ek DNA’ is likely to be organised between March 15 and March 20, according to a proposal moved by UP BJP Minority Morcha, which has also invited CM Yogi Adityanath as the chief guest.
The morcha chief, Basit Ali, maintained that Muzaffarnagar has been chosen for the event because it is the land where former PM Chaudhary Charan Singh experimented with the idea of Jat-Muslim unity which was later “hijacked” by the Congress and Samajwadi Party in their bid “to attain power”.
“The idea is to bring together the leaders of Muslim and Hindu communities on one stage and project their unity,” Ali said, while speaking to TOI. Sources said that the party plans to invite regional leaders of various communities including Jat, Gujjar and Thakur from nearby west UP districts, including Meerut, Bijnor, Shamli and Saharanpur, to the event.
Ali insisted that every community needs to understand that their ancestors were the “same”. “All they need to acknowledge it publicly...this would strengthen the social and political fabric of the region and elsewhere,” he said.
Observers said that the BJP has been making concerted attempts to nibble at the very foundation of the opposition by reaching out to the Muslims which account for around 20% of the electorate in UP. BJP’s overtures towards minorities have been attaining much significance in UP where the saffron outfit faces stiff political resistance from the SP-RLD combine.
BJP sources pointed out that the party has been seeking to tweak its strategy and win over the minorities after PM Modi gave a clarion call to reach out to socio-economically backward Pasmanda Muslims.
