The contentious Hubbali-Dharwad region in Northern Karnataka went to polls on May 7. Once called 'Ayodhya of the South' due to the Eidgah Maidan conflict, the region has been a BJP stronghold in Northern Karnataka since 1996 with the party once again banking on union minister Prahlad Joshi for a fifth consecutive win.
Ahead of elections, however, Muslim voters who form the second largest population in Dharwad Lok Sabha constituency once again felt the pinch of communal polarisation.
Outlook tried to look at how hate politics impacts lives of ordinary people, especially Muslims in the region, many of whom complained of unemployment, and lack of basic amenities.
With the end of Lok Sabha 2024 elections, voters are hoping for an end to politics of hate.
In Video: Rakhi Bose
Videographer: Vikram Sharma
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#Dharwad #Muslims #Karnataka #LokSabhaElections2024
Ahead of elections, however, Muslim voters who form the second largest population in Dharwad Lok Sabha constituency once again felt the pinch of communal polarisation.
Outlook tried to look at how hate politics impacts lives of ordinary people, especially Muslims in the region, many of whom complained of unemployment, and lack of basic amenities.
With the end of Lok Sabha 2024 elections, voters are hoping for an end to politics of hate.
In Video: Rakhi Bose
Videographer: Vikram Sharma
Follow us:
Website: https://www.outlookindia.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Outlookindia
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outlookindia/
X: https://twitter.com/Outlookindia
Whatsapp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaNrF3v0AgWLA6OnJH0R
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@OutlookMagazine
Dailymotion: https://www.dailymotion.com/outlookindia
#Dharwad #Muslims #Karnataka #LokSabhaElections2024
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Yes, we are scared and we are Muslims.
00:02 We are targeted, we are told that we are 'Ghospati', 'this' and 'that'.
00:08 It hurts our hearts.
00:10 I am in Hubli city.
00:15 Hubli city is in Karnataka and is a part of the Dharwad Lok Sabha constituency.
00:20 With around 18 lakh voters, Hubli went to polls on May 7
00:24 in the third phase of Lok Sabha elections
00:26 after a highly polarised campaign by the Bharatiya Janata Party
00:30 of which the Election Commission also took note.
00:33 Communalism has nevertheless been a dominant driver of politics in North Karnataka
00:38 which is a high percentage of Muslim voters,
00:40 especially in Hubli where the issue of Eidga Maidan
00:43 has been a bone of communal contention since the 90s.
00:47 The issue of Eidga Maidan was a worldwide issue.
00:51 It was a flag-waving issue.
00:54 This issue has been created, it is not there.
00:57 This land belongs to corporation
01:00 but the Muslim community has the right to prayer twice a year.
01:06 This issue has been created day by day for the past 2-3 years.
01:09 The permission to build the Ganapati temple has been asked for.
01:12 Because the majority of the people here were BJP,
01:15 the Mayor was BJP, he passed the permission.
01:19 Since 2014, the national level BJP has come to power
01:24 again such activities to gain political mileage and to win the elections
01:30 these have again started happening in recent years.
01:32 While the Eidga issue remains on the back burner,
01:35 this year the murder of local student Neha Hiramath by her classmate Fayaz
01:40 became a point of polarisation with local BJP leaders calling it a case of love jihad.
01:46 Local residents however feel that the issue was politicised for elections.
01:51 What Fayaz did was wrong, this is very wrong.
01:56 As a Muslim we don't support him.
02:00 He had taken out a rally for DC, he had taken it to the DC office.
02:06 As you can see, it mentions 'Unhuman Islam Darwad'.
02:10 As a Muslim, we all condemned him for this.
02:14 He closed his shops that day.
02:17 Unity is here, Hindus and Muslims live together.
02:21 He should be condemned for the incident of the girl from that house.
02:25 And the issue of elections should not be raised.
02:29 But Muslim residents in Hubli Darwad feel that such issues have an impact on Hindu-Muslim relations.
02:35 It does have an impact, it has an impact on the environment.
02:38 We target people, we say that Muslims are like this, Muslims are like that.
02:44 One member made a mistake, so all people should not target him.
02:50 Many feel that under the noise of polarisation,
02:53 real issues of Muslim voters like unemployment and lack of basic facilities remain unaddressed.
02:59 Young girls are sitting idly, they are illiterate.
03:04 They are not getting any work. There are so many such girls and boys.
03:09 They are yearning for a small job, a job worth Rs 10,000-15,000.
03:14 There is no job.
03:16 I used to go every year.
03:18 Since the 10th, I have been left.
03:21 Because of my house, because of my problems, I have been left.
03:25 There is a little problem with water here.
03:28 Water comes here every 10 or 12 days.
03:31 And in between, 4-5 days, the water used to come from the chamber.
03:39 BJP Minister and incumbent Dharwad MP Prahlad Joshi has accused the Congress of appeasement politics.
03:46 The Hubli police station incident, where the mob gathered all of a sudden.
03:53 And they pelted the stone on the police station.
03:59 But as soon as they came, some Congress ministers, MLA writes, they are innocent people.
04:06 They should be released.
04:08 If this is the approach, then how can we combat terrorism?
04:12 That's why I think this Neha Erehmat murder also took place.
04:16 Because they are feeling that it is a safe haven for those people.
04:20 But families like that of Asif Yelivar, who was arrested under UAPA for a rioting case at Old Hubli police station in 2021,
04:28 allege discrimination against Muslim youth by lawmakers as well as the police.
04:34 My father went out for work after drinking tea in the morning.
04:38 I don't know why he was arrested. My father was not there.
04:42 After 10 months in prison, Yelivar is now paralysed and unemployed,
04:47 out on bail and fighting a lengthy legal battle to prove his innocence.
04:51 His family is struggling to make ends meet.
04:54 We were in a lot of pain. We left school and two brothers and went to work.
05:03 We make these vials. It costs Rs 50 to make four of them.
05:07 It is very painful in the back. You have to sit for a whole day to make them.
05:11 One day you can make four of them.
05:13 With increasingly communal speeches being made by leaders of the BJP,
05:17 voters in Hubli are hoping for an end to communal hate.
05:21 Hindu-Muslims have never come to our village.
05:24 We are all Muslims. We are all one.
05:33 We want the government to give all the rights to Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, etc.
05:43 [MUSIC]