Bihar awaits fallout of Uttar Pradesh’s hate politics

The Fraying Fabric of India's Secular Soul

The recent altercation in Uttar Pradesh over the phrase “I Love Mohammad” is not merely another instance of communal friction — it is a searing reflection of the deep ruptures in India’s secular conscience.

What began as an expression of personal faith quickly escalated into a polarised confrontation, exposing once again how fragile the nation’s commitment to egalitarian pluralism has become.

A Script of Manufactured Outrage

The uproar surrounding this incident has less to do with sentiment and more with strategy. The ruling dispensation, adept at sculpting outrage into electoral currency, appears to thrive on orchestrated divisions.

By converting symbols of faith into battlegrounds of identity, it keeps the public gaze fixed on emotional tribalism rather than on the mundane yet urgent questions of governance — unemployment, agrarian distress, inflation, and social welfare. The outrage industry operates like a well-oiled machine: every personal expression of belief becomes a provocation, every disagreement a threat to public order.

Such deliberate politicization is hardly accidental. It serves a calculated purpose — to consolidate the majority vote bank through fear, to stigmatise dissent as disloyalty, and to paint minorities as perpetual outsiders.

The Supreme Court has repeatedly cautioned against the normalization of hate speech and the criminal neglect of constitutional morality, yet these admonitions echo in vain. Institutions, once the sentinels of the republic’s secular ethos, now tremble at the spectre of executive displeasure.

The Politics of Persecution

The continuous persecution of minorities — whether through targeted rhetoric, selective policing, or digital vilification — corrodes the moral steel of the republic. Each incident, dismissed as “isolated,” adds another cut to the collective wound.

When public displays of devotion become grounds for arrest or mob fury, the state ceases to be a neutral arbiter and turns instead into an instrument of intimidation. India’s secular fabric was woven with threads of tolerance and mutual respect; today, it stands stretched, stained, and perilously close to tearing.

This creeping normalisation of hostility carries grave implications for the social imagination of India. The idea of the nation as a shared civilizational space — where faiths coexist without fear — is being systematically replaced by a narrative of exclusion, where belonging is conditional and citizenship layered with suspicion.

Ripples Reaching Bihar

The political implications of this episode will not end at the borders of Uttar Pradesh. Bihar, on the cusp of assembly elections, is already being drawn into the vortex of religious rhetoric. The ruling party’s strategists are likely to weaponize the “I Love Mohammad” incident to stoke anxieties among the majority community, portraying themselves as guardians of cultural pride.

Yet, Bihar’s complex caste arithmetic and history of social justice politics might resist such polarisation — or at least complicate it. The electorate there has often responded to communal provocation with pragmatic defiance, though the national mood of charged sentiment cannot be ignored.

If the flames fanned in Uttar Pradesh find kindling in Bihar, the consequences could extend beyond mere electoral arithmetic — they could further erode the democratic idea of India. The choice before the voter is thus no longer just between parties or leaders, but between two visions of the republic: one constitutional, inclusive, and humane; the other divisive, coercive, and drenched in prejudice.

In the final reckoning, the “I Love Mohammad” controversy is not about a slogan, but about the soul of a nation standing at the edge of its own reflection. Will India choose the path blazed by its founding visionaries — a republic radiant with diversity, compassion, and constitutional equality — or will it allow itself to be dragged into the shadows of hate, where faith is suspect and freedom conditional? Each echo of intolerance, each silence in the face of injustice, pushes the tricolour’s threads further apart. The question now is not merely who will win Bihar, but what idea of India will survive.