‘Siddaramullah Khan’ and ‘Bommaiyullah Khan’: Islamising Hindu names as a taunt by BJP, Congress in Karnataka

If there was any doubt that communalism would be the cornerstone of the upcoming elections in the state, the taunts by the BJP and their counters by the Congress should put all doubts to rest.

ByAnusha Ravi Sood

Published Dec 08, 2022 | 7:56 PMUpdatedDec 08, 2022 | 11:39 PM

Collage of media put out by social media handles of Karnataka units of BJP and Congress.

“Our Maulvi Siddaramullah Khan”
“If not Khan, can we call him Keshava?”
“Should we perhaps call you Mir Sadiq?”
“May we call him Bommaiyullah Khan?”
“Will you name them Jabbar Khan and Ashwaq Inayat Khan?”
“Will you rename him Mohammed Gadkari Sheikh?”

Islamising Hindu names, implying that a Khan or a Sheikh or a Mullah is an insult, is what encapsulates the above sentences. As similar in tone and intent as they may be, they come from two different sources.

While the first three are from the official Twitter handle of the BJP, the last three are from the official handle of the Congress.

BJP plays to its gallery

The supposed political takedowns in poll-bound Karnataka came at the cost of Muslim identities. If there was any doubt that communalism would be the cornerstone of the upcoming elections in Karnataka, the taunts by the BJP and their counters by the Congress should put all doubts to rest.

The BJP doesn’t have a single MLA from the Muslim community. The party didn’t even give tickets to Muslim candidates in the 2018 election. The BJP’s leaders have often publicly announced that they don’t need votes from Muslim citizens.

For a party that is keen on making majoritarian Hindutva its primary poll pitch, villanising Muslim names or Islamising Hindu names as if they were a taunt or insult comes as no surprise. The BJP is simply playing to its gallery. Islamising names of a Congress leader such as Siddaramaiah helps the party reiterate the perception it wants to build — that the Congress is ‘anti-Hindu’ by virtue of being ‘pro-Muslim’.

“The Congress has only indulged in appeasement politics. Siddaramaiah’s policies are all aimed at appeasing only one community. Take Shaadi Bhagya for example, it doesn’t apply to poor brides of all communities but only one community. People get monikers depending on what they do. Nobody will call me with a Muslim name now, would they?” CT Ravi, national general secretary of the BJP, told South First.

The now-defunct Shaad Bhagya or Bidaai scheme was meant for all minority communities including Christians, Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists but the largest claims under the scheme came from the Muslim community. The release of funds under the scheme has been stopped since 2020.

Related: Restore communal harmony in Karnataka, citizens urge CM Bommai

Congress speaking in BJP language

The Congress, which has been successful in putting the Basavaraj Bommai government on the backfoot with its sustained campaign on corruption and maladministration, ended up walking into the Hindu-Muslim narrative set by the BJP earlier this week when it took to posting photos of saffron party leaders in Muslim community events and even suggesting Islamised names for them.

In effect, the Congress was speaking in the BJP’s language — something the party has claimed to be opposed to.

Throughout the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi has been insisting that his party does not indulge in communal politics and is inclusive.

The Karnataka Congress’s series of tweets with Islamised names being used as taunts or “counter” to the BJP seems to contradict its own stance. For a party that claims to be inclusive and enjoys political favour from the Muslim community, the Congress speaking in the BJP’s language drew criticisms from within.

“There are no second thoughts about us not wanting to speak BJP’s language. The Congress has empowered our leaders with roles and responsibilities and there are individuals with discretionary powers,” a senior office-bearer of Congress told South First, acknowledging that there were disagreements on the tone and language of the reactionary tweets.

Delhi lesson for Karnataka Congress

If there is a lesson for the Congress to learn from the MCD elections and the AAP’s performance, it is that Muslim votes are not to be taken for granted.

Out of the nine seats that the Congress won in the MCD polls, seven were by Muslim candidates. The loss of the AAP’s vote share in Muslim-dominated areas is credited to that party’s reluctance to raise the concerns of the community publicly.

The Congress in Karnataka has been treading carefully over the issues of hijab in educational institutions and calls of economic boycott of Muslims in the last year out of fear of upsetting Hindu votes much to the disappointment of the Muslim community.

Indulging in a taunt war with the BJP with phrases bordering on Islamophobia has only made the party more prone to distancing itself from the Muslim community in Karnataka. And in exchange, the Congress is not going to get the BJP’s dedicated voters to switch sides by taunting saffron leaders with Muslim names. It is at best whataboutery and at worst hypocrisy.

‘Happy about Siddaramullah’

Some damage control came in the form of Siddaramaiah, who, a day after the fiasco, said he would be happy to be associated with a Muslim name.

“Many people have recognised the work I have done as chief minister and called me various names including ‘Annaramaiah’, ‘Raitharamaiah’, ‘Kannadaramaiah’, ‘Dalitaramaiah’. Likewise, if I am called Siddaramullah for the work I have done towards the welfare of the Muslim community, I will be happy about that as well,” Siddaramaiah said, careful to add he has opposed extremism of all sorts.

Whether Siddaramaiah’s more-measured counter to the BJP’s religious binary can offset the hurt to the Congress’s Muslim voters is to be seen.

Also read: When his aide’s anti-Brahmin comment proved costly for Siddaramaiah