Integration or othering tactics? What's behind BJP's Sufi outreach?

Long before Narendra Modi ascended to the Prime Minister’s chair, the BJP’s cunning political praxis involved appeasing individual sects of Islam while its leaders and affiliates in the wider Sangh Parivar went full steam demonizing Indian Muslims as a whole.

The Shias, sizeable in number in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow and Allahabad, the trading community of Dawoodi Bohras, the numerically vast but politically weak Pasmandas (backward caste Muslims) have all been courted by the saffron party over the years; the experiment constantly fine-tuned to respond to BJP’s changing electoral needs while Hindutva rolls out unhindered.

Modi's praise a far cry from poll rhetoric?

On February 28, as Modi attended the 25th edition of filmmaker and designer Muzaffar Ali-backed Jahan-e-Khusrau festival in Delhi, his outreach to followers of Sufism was evident. In what may have surprised bleeding heart liberals, radical Hindus and Muslims alike, Modi praised the syncretic traditions of Indian Islam and the contributions of Amir Khusrau, the 13th-century court poet of Alauddin Khalji, who the Hindu right often vilifies as a barbaric Muslim Sultan.

Modi’s speech at Jahan-e-Khusrau, rich with platitudes on India’s pluralistic past, was a far cry from his electoral rhetoric that never misses to both dehumanize and demonise Indian Muslims. But, in doing so, was the Prime Minister signaling a course correction in the polarising politics he has often been accused of practising or simply finessing an outreach his party had begun toying with nearly a decade ago towards followers of Sufi Islam?

BJP's outreach not new

The BJP’s overtures to Sufi Islam are nothing new. In October 2023, the party’s Minority Morcha in Uttar Pradesh, where Muslims account for nearly 20 percent of the population, organised the "Sufi Samvad Maha Abhiyan" in Lucknow, inviting around 200 representatives of various Sufi shrines for a dialogue. Years before this outreach, Modi himself sought to project Sufism as the defining character of Indian Islam with his address at the 2016 World Sufi Forum. Modi’s speech at Jahan-e-Khusrau was, in fact, reminiscent of his 2016 speech as he spoke of Sufism being the “voice of peace, co-existence, compassion, and equality”.

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If his tweet announcing his scheduled presence at Jahan-e-Khusrau mentioned his eagerness to witness “Nazr-e-Krishna” (compositions in praise of Lord Krishna), Modi’s address at the event paid rich tributes to 16th Century Sufi poets Raskhan and Rahim. “Raskhan's devotion to Krishna and Rahim's couplets on the Gita and Quran show how India has always had a tradition of interfaith harmony,” Modi said.

A key figure in the BJP’s outreach, Atif Rasheed, a member of the BJP OBC Morcha National Executive, argued that Modi’s engagement with Sufi Islam is an effort to promote harmony between different communities. “Sufism has always been rooted in local traditions, promoting peace and coexistence. The Prime Minister has been reaching out to Sufi leaders for years, recognizing their role in shaping a more inclusive society,” he said.

'BJP's outreach not just limited to Sufis'

Rasheed further asserted that Modi's outreach is not limited to Sufis but extends to all Muslims, emphasising that the BJP wants to counter extremism through the promotion of Sufi traditions.

To those who may have followed the BJP’s selective appropriation of history and constricted celebration of some Indian Muslims, Modi’s admiration of Raskhan and Rahim, given their religious identities as Muslims, wouldn’t strike as odd. “This is a classic BJP tactic of creating a binary of who, according to the party, is a good Muslim and who is a bad Muslim. Muslims, not just historical figures but even contemporary voices, who have written in praise of Hindu deities or Hindu traditions or who do not conform to the BJP’s view of Islam or align with the BJP’s systematic vilification of Islam and ordinary Indian Muslims are cited as examples of pluralism while all others are branded as fundamentalists, traitors, Pakistanis, anti-national and so on,” says writer, documentary filmmaker and cultural commentator Sohail Hashmi.

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Navaid Hamid, former president of the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, too sees in Modi’s Sufi outreach “an attempt to pit one sect of Islam against another”. Hamid told The Federal, “By selectively championing Sufism, the government is essentially ‘othering’ Deobandis and others who do not fit into its vision of a domesticated Islam.”

An attempt to bolster party's image

Modi’s critics also believe that by selectively hailing one sect of Islam as a flag bearer of India’s syncretic traditions, the BJP is attempting to bolster its image as a party that respects Muslims while simultaneously differentiating between 'spiritual' Islam and 'political' Islam. This outreach serves to neutralise Opposition from politically assertive Muslim groups while creating a perception of inclusion that appeals to both moderate Muslims and Hindu voters who view Sufism as less confrontational.

Hamid also believes that Modi’s myopic view of Sufism glosses over the historical role of Sufis as voices of resistance against oppression and instead promotes a commodified, apolitical version of Sufism that serves state interests rather than genuinely empowering the community. “Sufism has always stood for resistance and justice. The version being promoted today is stripped of its revolutionary ethos and is being used to divide those who conform from those who resist… This is not about integration; it is about co-opting a section of Muslims while isolating others; it is an attempt to redefine and control what is considered acceptable Islam in the eyes of the state,” he added.

'Clear attempt at division'

Like Hamid, scholar and journalist Vishal Arora sees Modi’s engagement with followers of Sufism or his party’s ongoing Pasmanda outreach for that matter as a tactical move and not as a sincere attempt at inclusivity. The BJP's engagement with Sufi and Pasmanda Muslims, Arora says, aims to “divide the Muslim community, weaken collective opposition to the party and expand its support base within the community”.

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There are, however, also those who do not share this skepticism and, instead, are optimistic that Modi’s latest outreach effort has the potential to rein in Hindu fundamentalists who, particularly since 2014, have been aggressively targeting Muslims through mob lynchings, physical and online harassment and attacks on Islamic places of worship.

Arshad Alam, a sociologist and former faculty at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, suggested that Modi's outreach serves the twin purposes of sending a message to the global community that he is “not against Muslims” while simultaneously signaling to Hindutva hotheads to pipe down. “This could be a jolt to the extremists who leave no stone unturned in portraying the community as a threat,” Alam said.

Whether this outreach will lead to genuine integration or deepen existing sectarian divisions remains an open question. What is clear, however, is that Modi’s embrace of Sufism is not just about celebrating a cultural tradition — it is a strategic manoeuvre in the BJP’s broader game of political chess.