Youth and the Communal Agenda in India
By Professor Mirza Asmer Beg and Mr. Afroz Alam

Some issues in Indian politics have been emphasized upon by the rightist forces as the most important concerns for Indians. Against this backdrop, a set of questions were put to people in the age group of 14 to 34, in six districts of western Uttar Pradesh, to elicit their responses and to see as to what was the popular perception among the youth on these issues.

To assess the level of inter-community relations, in view of the increasing communal polarization in the society, the respondents were asked whether they had friends across religious groups. 34.7 respondents had more than three friends belonging to other religions, 11.9 percent had two friends of other religions and 19.2 percent had only one friend belonging to other religions. 34.2 percent of the respondents had no friends professing a different faith. These figures are indicative of a low level of inter-community

Interaction. A large section of the population has minimal or no interaction with people belonging to the other religious communities. This appears to be one of the major reasons for the misunderstandings and misperceptions at inter-community levels.

Opinion on the number of friends, respondents had, belonging to other religions

The BJP never tires of talking about Article 370 of the constitution of India. When asked whether the respondents had heard about it, 62.6 percent answered in the negative, only 30.6 percent had heard of it, but out of them 68.9 percent did not know anything about it. Only 21.9 percent knew that it was related to Jammu and Kashmir.  Interestingly, 1.4 percent felt that it was related to Pakistan. The data shows that whatever the BJP and its ilk may say, Article 370 is not a major issue with the people.

Percentage of respondents who had heard about Article 370 of the Indian Constitution

Opinion about what according to them Article 370 stood for

About the Babri masjid demolition, 11.4 percent of the respondents had not even heard of it, only 77.6 percent had heard of it. In this age of information overkill, even these numbers are startling, especially when they relate to one such issue which had defined Indian politics in the last twenty years. The response of those who knew about it, is even more interesting, 29.7 percent said that a temple should be built there, while 22.8 percent said that a mosque should be built there. 7.3 percent felt that a national museum should be built there. Although, 81.7 percent of the respondents were non-Muslims and only 16.9 percent were Muslims, the support for a mandir or masjid in Ayodhya does not reflect the community-wise composition of the respondents. It also shows that building a temple in Ayodhya is not the only concern for Hindus, as the rightist forces would like us to believe. Moreover, we cannot say that supporters of masjid were only Muslims, as only 16.9 percent of the respondents were Muslims, but those who were in favour of a mosque in Ayodhya were 22.8 percent. Hence, on this highly sensitive issue, opinions were not as communally polarized as one would generally tend to believe.

Percentage of respondents who had heard about the demolition of disputed Babri Mosque in Ayodhya

Opinion about what should be built there

There has been a sustained campaign in India by the rightist forces, propagating the myth that Muslims have more children than Hindus, and in due course they would outnumber the Hindus. 44.7 percent of the respondents agreed with this contention, but 33.8 percent did not agree with this. The figures indicate that the fear psychosis which has been created on this issue has quite successfully affected the popular perceptions of a large section of the population.

Opinion on the contention that Muslims produce more children in comparison with the people belonging to other religions

It is also commonly alleged, that it is because of Muslim opposition that India does not have a uniform civil code, which is one of the essentials for national integration. When asked about the uniform civil code, 57.5 percent of the respondents had not even heard about it. Of the 32 percent who had heard about it, 25.1 percent thought that it meant equal laws for all, only 0.4 of them believed that the absence of it would benefit the Muslims. The figures indicate that the uniform civil code is still not such a major issue for the people, as one would understand in the face of the sustained campaign of the rightist forces.

Percentage of respondents who had heard about the Uniform Civil Code

Opinion as to what it meant according to them

When asked, whether in India, problems of Muslims were being ignored by the government, 28.3 percent agreed that it was so, while 37.4 percent respondents did not agree with this contention. 3.2 percent believed that they were being ignored to some extent. 20.5 percent believed that the government was doing nothing for the Muslims, while 45.2 percent thought that the government was doing something for Muslims. Out of those, 11.4 percent believed that the government was out to appease the Muslims, 13.7 percent thought that Muslims were getting the benefits of reservation. Interestingly, 43 percent believed that the government was doing something for Muslims, but they did not know exactly what it actually was. The figures indicate that the allegation of the rightist forces that the government is bent upon appeasing the Muslims, is slowly being accepted by the people. Although only 11.4 percent believe in it directly, another 13.7 believe that Muslims are getting the benefits of reservation. More significantly, 43 percent believed ‘something’ was being done for Muslims. There appears to be a distinct possibility that these 43 percent may in due course accept the myth of Muslim appeasement. There is room for this apprehension, in view of the fact, that although there is no rational basis on which anyone may think that Muslims are being appeased- they being at the lowest level in all walks of life, even according to official figures, but still, if 43 percent feel that ‘something’ is being done for them, it could be nothing else but the effect of the relentless campaign in the media and in the public sphere about Muslim appeasement.

Opinion on the suggestion that, the needs and problems of Muslims are ignored in India

Opinion on the contention that the government is taking some steps for the development of Muslim community

Opinion on what they thought those steps were

As regards the propensity of some sections in India to blame Pakistan for all the problems we face in India, only 20 percent of the respondents agreed with this allegation, while 40.2 percent said that they did not believe  that it was true. When asked whether India should have good relations with Pakistan, 74.4 percent of the respondents answered in the affirmative. Only 6.9 percent did not agree with it. This shows that a majority of the population cutting across religious lines supports the government’s initiatives to have better relations with Pakistan.

Opinion on whether Pakistan was responsible for all Indian problems

Opinion on whether India should develop healthy relationship with Pakistan

It is often alleged that Muslim madrasas are the breeding grounds of terrorists and they carry out anti-national activities. When asked whether they had ever visited a madrasa, 41.6 percent of the respondents answered in the affirmative, 51.1 percent had never visited a madrasa. Those who had visited a madrasa, when asked about the type of education madrasas were giving, 38.4 percent said that the madrasas imparted religious education, only 0.9. percent said that the education there was anti-national but not even a single respondent believed that the education imparted in madrasas, was suited to terrorists. These figures again show that the highly malicious campaign against madaris, which was supported even by some important Ministers in the NDA government in the centre, and which continues to be sustained by the BJP and other rightist forces, has thankfully not been successful in poisoning the ordinary India’s mind to the extent these forces would have liked.

Opinion whether the respondents ever got a chance to visit any Madarsas in India

Opinion as regards the type of education imparted in Muslim Madarsas

The results of the above survey help us in making an assessment about the way youths think on issues, which have been put forward by certain sections of the Indian society, as the defining issues in Indian politics. They also help us understand as to what extent these claims are valid. The issues dealt with here, are communally sensitive ones, and are employed in the political discourse to divide the society on communal lines. The effort here is to see the ways the youths respond to these issues.

Reference- We have followed  a three stage stratified random sampling technique for selecting the sample for this youth survey, the target group of which is people in the age group of 14-34. The survey was carried out in twelve polling stations of six assembly constituencies of western U.P. The number of sampled respondents was 384. The educational, professional, communal, caste, residential and economic class composition of the respondents matched approximately with the actual percentages of these sections in the society.