UP failed to move away from caste, religion, region

Let’s start from Mathura. Mathura, Varanasi and Amritsar are the three cities in North India that I consider to be brothers and sisters. All three of these cities have the allure of the distant past, and then there is religiosity. There is a conflict between tradition and modernity, behind which some hard truths are hidden. The stories of the widows of Vrindavan tremble till the end. This cruel tradition is losing its hold, yet its remains can be read in the wrinkles on the faces of widows. Many women were sent to Kashi or Mathura as soon as they became widows. They do not have the freedom to live like ordinary women. A ‘mother’ said that when she came to Vrindavan 50 years ago, there was no help. Waking up at 3.30, she used to take a bath and then used to sing bhajans in the temples. There he used to get his morning meal and some money. Getting food each evening was an uphill task. Due to the continuous efforts of some voluntary organizations and the Supreme Court, the suffering of his life has reduced somewhat.

You will not hear any discourse on the welfare of women, elderly and children during this election. So is our democracy sitting on a shabby tripod of castes, religions and regions?

Struggling with this question, I reached the birthplace of Lord Krishna, where there is heavy deployment of security forces in both the temple and the mosque. Police and paramilitary forces keep an eye on every visitor who comes there. But even such strong security arrangements cannot stop the conflict of ideas. There I met senior member of Shri Krishna Janmasthan Trust Gopeshwarnath Chaturvedi and member of Shahi Masjid Idgah Committee, Advocate Tanveer Ahmed. We had this meeting on the terrace of Shanti Dharamsala from where the stupa of the temple and the dome of the mosque can be seen together. They have been there for the last three and a half hundred years. The two have seen many waterfalls and autumns together. Is strange weather knocking this time? It is important to know that after Ayodhya and Kashi, the issue of Mathura is being raised somewhere. Chaturvedi was very aggressive. He said “We are the rightful owners of the land of this mosque, and we will free it. Tanveer was humble. Perhaps his profession has taught him rationality. He argued that he had legal rights over the mosque, but the matter was not disputed. Not easily resolved. Years ago, in the 1980s, when the Ayodhya movement was on fire, many people thought it was not a big issue. We all know what was the result of this kind of thinking.

In Mathura, at least for now, there is no visible surface tension. The idols of Radha Rani still wear hand-stitched clothes by Muslim artisans, all the items of worship pass through the hands of Muslim artisans. There are many similarities between the two communities. It is the same in Ayodhya even today. Will there be action replay in Mathura? It is not possible to answer this question right now.

With this question I went to some well-known faces of civil society. Some people were clearly convinced that an attempt was being made to change the atmosphere. We are apprehensive about this. While leaving this city, I was deeply shocked that even a week before the polling, the people of Mathura were not debating the issues facing the city.

Same is the case with Agra. The city is known for the Taj Mahal and the local sweet petha. Much has already been said about the Taj, so I reached Noori Darwaza to know about Petha’s condition. Business has halved. There is a heated debate about who can win from which seat, but what the winners will do for this city, there is no discussion. With bleak markets, and a historic city desperate to move on with the hunt for the 21st century, why are youth absent from the electoral narrative? In Karhal, this sorrow was somewhat dispelled. Akhilesh Yadav of Samajwadi Party (SP) is contesting from this seat. The Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Union Minister of State for Law SP Singh Baghel against him. Baghel was once a leader of SP. SP workers say that Akhilesh is beyond any competition. Baghel takes a jibe at this and says it is true, record will be set, but it will be SP’s defeat. Happily, once barren, green crops could be seen all around. Mainpuri district used to be the most barren land of the state. Irrigation work started in 2007. Today its results can be seen everywhere. Not only this, there are good roads inside the villages and wide highways in the outer parts.

Hope the elections will be fought on such noble achievements.

Shashi Shekhar is the editor-in-chief, India. views expressed are personal,