It is said that a crisis brings out the best or the worst in people. It has to be seen which of the two attributes come to the fore in India during the coronavirus pandemic with regard to communal relations. Elements of both have been seen. No sooner had the country become aware of the egregious violation of the lockdown rules by devotees of the Tablighi Jamaat in a New Delhi mosque than the right-wing pro-BJP television channels took up their patriotic cudgels to lambast the entire Muslim community.

Their venom was sharp enough to draw the US state department’s attention. When asked if the department is “tracking how coronavirus has exacerbated anti-Muslim activity” in India, trending on the hashtag “coronaJehad”, a spokesperson urged the government “to go out there in open messaging and say no”. It is gratifying that the authorities have done so. 

Among the first to say that “not a word” should be said against the Muslims was the BJP’s chief minister of Karnataka, B. S. Yediyurappa. He was followed by the party’s president, J.P. Nadda. Although there were sections in the BJP who described such statements as an example of Muslim “appeasement”, an accusation which has long been leveled against the Congress by the Hindutva lobby, the party’s top brass has shown restraint. Considering how deep-rooted anti-Muslim sentiments are among the BJP’s core supporters, the party has undertaken a tough task.

It has to be noted in this context that this change in its attitude has come only a few weeks after the party’s virulent outbursts against the Muslims during the Delhi assembly elections and during the communal riots which followed in parts of the city. The BJP was also calling the protests by Muslim women against the various citizenship laws as instances of a new caliphate that was being constituted. That the Muslims are still uneasy is evident from a recent letter sent to Home Minister Amit Shah by Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and other outfits about the “harassment” of members of the community by the police. It has to be seen, therefore, whether the BJP continues to show restraint once the coronavirus threat has passed. Or will it return to its earlier anti-Muslim line?

But, for the present, this is the first time that the party is apparently adhering to Modi’s “sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas” mantra of togetherness and trustworthiness. If this persists, it will be an example of good emanating from an apocalyptic evil.  However, no one can predict what the trajectory of communal relations will be when it is clear that so much will change in the post-corona period not only with regard to Hindu-Muslim ties, but in every other field that the scene in India will be quite different from what it is today.

For a start, the government’s primary concern will be the economy. If the growth rate sinks to 1.6 percent as Goldman Sachs has predicted or to 2.8 as the World Bank has said, then the country will be in for a prolonged period of distress of the kind which the migrant labourers are experiencing after having been left high and dry by the lockdown, without food, income and shelter. Up until now, the middle class has escaped the rigours of the stay-at-home-stay-safe diktat, except for being bored by the inability to go to their clubs or having convivial get-togethers with friends and relatives.

Their savings are sufficient to enable them to tide over the present crisis. But, if the economy takes time to recover, and the already high unemployment rate starts to climb, the middle class may no longer be in a mood to bang thhalis (metal plates) or light diyas (earthen lamps).

Along with the economic distress, what is worrisome is the psychological fallout of the present crisis. As is evident from the doubling of the incidents of domestic violence, as noted by the National Commission for Women, the nerves of some people are becoming frayed.  The signs of being on edge can also be seen from the attacks on medical and even police personnel. It goes without saying that this tendency can lead to the hounding of Muslims just as the people from the Northeast have been targeted because of their ‘Chinese” looks.

It has to be admitted that the Muslims themselves have to bear a part of the blame. Apart from the Tablighi Jamaat gathering, some madrasas have also been violating the lockdown rules by keeping children together. It is such behaviour which reinforces the standard stereotypes about them being backward and bigoted and plays into the hands of the saffron hardliners. Only an incorrigible optimist will believe that the social and economic shake-up as a result of the pandemic will herald the beginning of less fraught communal relations.

(The writer is a current affairs analyst)