Bihar, probably the most backward state in the country (believe me I live here), is bad at many things. From education to policing to cleanliness, every field is a mooching ground for politicians here. Students have to flee the state after school just to get some decent education while politicians sell exam papers for lakhs. Industrialisation is a stuff of dreams for Biharis who have to go to Maharastra, Gujarat and other well-of states to earn a living despite being treated poorly.
And when it comes to crime Bihar comfortably sits atop every crime matric imaginable. One aspect however that is very well maintained in Bihar, not by the politicians but the Biharis is the religious harmony.
You must be hearing a lot about religious tension among Hindus and Muslims in India in the past few years. The religious tension between these two religious groups has been even more fired up by BJP the current party in power in India.
BJP have been a political failure for more than 70 years but have landed onto a solution that others have no answer to. In a secular country with the major religion making up 80% of the population, they have figured out a way to bring the majority of votes by inciting hatred among religions. They have falsely shown that Muslims are bad and are detrimental to this country and cornered Hindus into their camp using fear.
The efficiency and success of the BJP’s plan is certainly something to be applauded, from a strategic standpoint.
India today is massively broken into parts be it Hindu vs Muslims, Hindu vs other languages, hardcore nationalists vs normal people and many other such divides plague the country today all thanks to BJP.
This brings me to Bihar, a state which ranks among the lowest among many development matrices and higher on crime ones. It however fares far better in terms of religious harmony among Hindus and Muslims. While news of religious tensions all over India is a common sight, you rarely see anything like this coming from Bihar.
Why is religious harmony still alive in Bihar?
The biggest reason for Bihar being exempt from all the religious tensions is because politics here is done on caste and not religion. OBC which is the biggest class of collective castes is enough to win elections here and hence no one needs to do Hindu vs Muslim politics here.
Most Chief Ministers including the current one are themselves from the OBC category and hence do not need to lure the upper cast Hindu population to win elections. Since enraging Hindus into one corner is not the need of Bihar’s politics, we don’t see any political party induced hatred towards Muslims.
A Hanuman Mandir and Mosque reside side by side in the heart of Patna and function properly despite all the religious tension in the country. It seems like, when left on their own, modern humans are really friendly with each other. It is often some sore of dirty politics that murkies the water among two groups.
Bihar | A temple situated 50-meters apart from a mosque in Patna turns off its loudspeakers during Azaan while the mosque takes care of temple devotees as a mark of reverence towards each other pic.twitter.com/56OFaTuiFL
— ANI (@ANI) May 1, 2022
There is nothing to be gained by politicians from creating Hindu- Muslim hatred in Bihar and hence they don’t do it. It is as simple as that!
