Yadavs, Yahudis, and tales of yore in Uttar Pradesh Premium

At a time when the SP and the Congress are drumming up support for a caste census, the BJP seems to be repurposing the Israel-Hamas war and diluting the opposition’s cry for social justice. In its brand of social harmony, reason and intellect are often superseded by emotion.

On October 22, the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict found political resonance in Uttar Pradesh when Sudarshan News, a pro-Hindutva channel known for its shrill and provocative programmes that have come under judicial scrutiny in the past, aired two episodes that drew parallels between Yadavs and Yahudis (Jewish people) and alluded to similarities between the lives of Moses and Lord Krishna.

Days later, while addressing an election rally in the Tijara constituency of Rajasthan where the Congress has fielded a Muslim candidate, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath equated the Israel-Hamas war with the fight between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress.

In the programme titled ‘Kya Yadav Hi Yahudi Hain (Are Yadavs Yahudis?)’, the prime-time voice of Sudarshan News, Suresh Chavhanke, said most Yadavs affirmed the channel’s “research”, except the political ones because they needed Muslim votes. It was obvious that he was pointing to the leadership of the Samajwadi Party (SP), the principal opposition party, which managed to galvanise Yadavs and Muslims in the post-Mandal-era and emerged as a major player in Uttar Pradesh despite the Hindutva wave after the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.

The channel’s clickbait hashtag ‘YahudiYadavHai’ is meant for the Yadavs, a backward agrarian group whose representation in police and other armed forces went up after reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) came into effect in the 1990s. It is intended to provide mythical links that give a sense of upliftment to the community in the social hierarchy and bring it under the Hindutva umbrella. It is interesting to note that despite the folk theory that lies at the core of the Yadav community, which says that all pastoral castes descend from the Yadu dynasty to which Lord Krishna belongs, the community hasn’t shown any concerted interest in pushing the cause of the Krishna Janmabhoomi movement. A post-poll study conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies indicated that 83% of Yadavs voted for the SP in the 2022 Assembly polls.

Mr. Adityanath, who directed officials to take strict action against those spreading hatred over the Israel-Palestine conflict, showed little restraint while addressing the election rally in Rajasthan. Using some low-hanging metaphors, he said that a Talibani mindset could only be cured through Bajrangbali’s (Lord Hanuman’s) mace. Hailing Israel and accusing the Congress of Muslim appeasement, he added, “We are seeing how Israel is crushing the Talibani mindset in Gaza.” At a time when the SP and the Congress are drumming up support for a caste census, the BJP seems to be repurposing the Israel-Hamas war and diluting the opposition’s cry for social justice. In its brand of social harmony, reason and intellect are often superseded by emotion.

Last month, while addressing Dalit conferences in constituencies where Scheduled Castes (SCs) form a sizeable number, Mr. Adityanath emphasised the Dalit origins of the poet Valmiki and the sage Ved Vyasa, who composed the Sanskrit texts of the Ramayana and Mahabharata, respectively, while talking about social cohesion in Hindu society. This came after the SP’s non-Yadav face, Swami Prasad Maurya, repeatedly attacked Santana Dharma and the Ramcharitmanas by describing certain sections in the text as being ‘anti-Dalit’ and ‘anti-women’. Moreover, the Nishad Party, a BJP ally which represents the politically influential boatmen community that considers Ved Vyasa as their ancestor, is invoking the community’s role in the Ramayana and Mahabharata to demand a place of pride in the Hindu pantheon as well as reservation under the SC category.

This is a test case for the ruling party as the contentious issues of assimilation of all Hindus under Hindutva and the reassertion of caste identity overlap. The U.P. government has sanctioned a huge statue of Lord Rama embracing Nishadraj (the head of the riverine clan who helped Lord Rama cross the river during his exile) near Prayagraj, but the community, while appreciating the gesture, seems more keen on being accorded SC status. While the BJP is trying to woo Dalit votes, in March this year, citing data of the National Crime Records Bureau, the Centre told Parliament that of the 1,89,945 cases of crime registered against Dalits in India 2018 to 2021, the highest (49,613) were in U.P.