Picking Heptullah, Baliyan: Is this Modi secularism at work?

As news reports dissect the number of women, the age and the regional affiliations of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet, the two names that seem to have escaped intense scrutiny are that of Najma Heptullah and Sanjeev Baliyan. The former has been appointed as the Minority Welfare minister, while Baliyan is the Minister of State in the ministries of Agriculture and Food Processing Industries. Both represent, in different ways, the most disappointing picks in the Modi cabinet. Let’s start with Heptullah, perhaps best known for publicly defecting to the BJP party after publicly denouncing Sonia Gandhi’s leadership of the Congress party in 2004. She was one of the most prominent anti-parivar voices long before Modi came along. Heptullah has held several senior parliamentary positions during her long stint in the Rajya Sabha, and was promoted to party vice-president under Nitin Gadkari, a post she lost after falling out of favour with Rajnath Singh. Modi now has elevated her to the ministerial ranks, but in a manner that reduces a distinguished politician to a mere carrier of minority identity. The sole Muslim in the cabinet has been put in charge of minority affairs – a double whammy of tokenism. Surely, Modi could have found better use for Heptullah’s talents, especially when he has been willing to bet bigger on far less tested faces, including the young Smriti Irani. If Modi included Najma as a gesture toward inclusion, then he ought to have entrusted her with a ministry that reflected her talent not her identity. Isn’t that what Modi’s version of secularism is all about? Why undermine that symbolism by relegating her to a ministry that signals Heptullah is on the cabinet not due to her skills or reputation but because of her religious identity? The message here seems to be: This is all Muslims are good for, looking after their minority interests, not those of the nation. [caption id=“attachment_1545195” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Najma Heptullah and Sanjeev Kumar Baliyan at the swearing-in. PIB[/caption] Sanjeev Baliyan represents a different kind and order of error. The Muzaffarnagar MP is  one of the accused in the recent riots. According to a Times of India report, “Baliyan was part of a mahapanchayat in September 2013 which was held despite prohibitory orders and allegedly inflamed tensions. UP police charged him with violation of prohibitory orders and promoting enmity between two communities.” Baliyan won by a margin of close to 4 lakh votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections. It is no secret that the BJP effectively won in the Muzaffarnagar-riot stricken area thanks to the polarisation of votes. In fact Baliyan had told the Hindu Business Line during the campaign that he was confident of getting 100 percent of the Jat vote. The party has predictably defended Baliyan and other Muzaffarnagar accused in the past, claiming that they were falsely charged under the National Security Act. BJP legislators Sangeet Som and Suresh Rana, among Baliyan’s co-accused, were felicitated on stage at a Modi rally in Agra – though they were careful to do it before Modi himself arrived. But in choosing Baliyan—from the 72 MPs from UP—Modi erased even that modicum of distance. And he has done so without any pretext about proven talent or background. Baliyan trained as a veterinarian and later shifted to real estate two years ago, when he also joined the BJP. So this isn’t a reward for long proven loyalty either. For months now, Modi supporters have claimed that his Hindutva signalling was just a campaign ploy, and that he would quickly pivot to a more inclusive and centrist position once he attained power. What Heptullah’s portfolio and Baliyan’s presence reveal is that Modi has neither learnt how to include minorities or to exclude the polarisers.  Let’s hope he learns soon.