The dynamics of Bihar elections have not only internal facets but external ones as well. The internal facets include caste, candidate, corruption, development, and nation-building. The external facets, however, are linked to imported ideologies, namely pan-Islamism, Pakistan’s influence, jihadism, and Maoism.
These imported ideological outfits treat elections as opportunities to entrench, extend, and enlarge their ideological infrastructure, with the aim of contesting the nation-building agenda and nationalist narrative.
Dynasts, Jihadis, Criminals, and Nation-Building
Inevitably, such forces find political partners, most conveniently among dynastic political outfits and the jihadi-criminal nexus. For dynasts, who are essentially political mafias, the dynasty itself represents nationhood. For the jihadi-criminal combine, both the dynasty and Pakistan’s interests constitute their idea of nationhood. The dynasts and jihadis feed off each other.
It is for this reason that Shahabuddin was a natural political partner of Shri Lalu Prasad Yadav. He was no ordinary criminal. Along with Atiq Ahmed and Mukhtar Ansari, he was a kingpin of the jihadi-crime corridor running from Allahabad to Bihar, a network that had the tacit support of Pakistan’s ISI. This corridor encompassed the Darbhanga module, the Madhubani module, and, further east, the Seemanchal module.
Convergence of Pan-Islam, Jihad, and Bihar Politics
It is in these areas that pan-Islamism and jihadism converge with Bihar’s politics. As per the 2011 Census, Bihar’s Muslim population stands at about 17 million, roughly 17% of the total 104 million. Nearly 28.37% of these Muslims are concentrated in Seemanchal, which includes Kishanganj, Katihar, Araria, and Purnea districts. The region borders West Bengal, and the Bangladesh frontier lies only a few kilometres away.
This proximity, coupled with the border with Nepal, makes Seemanchal strategically sensitive. It forms part of the extended “chicken’s neck”, the Siliguri Corridor, which the Delhi riots mastermind Sharjeel Imam had threatened to “cut off” during the CAA agitation. Imam hails from Jehanabad in Bihar, and his father Akbar Imam was a JD(U) candidate in the 2005 elections.
The Kishanganj Factor
As one travels eastward from Madhubani to Araria and Kishanganj, the concentration of the Muslim population intensifies, peaking in Kishanganj. Consequently, it has become almost
impossible for a non-Muslim candidate to win elections there. India’s secularism, metaphorically speaking, ends at the gates of Kishanganj.
This demography influences the Muslim politics of the entire Seemanchal region, where the Pakistani jihadi discourse and pan-Islamic narrative are palpably present. The Muslim electorate in this region is largely driven by pan-Islamic concerns and agendas in its voting preferences. Recognizing that there is no concept of “Bihari Islam,” it is pan-Islam that has brought Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM into Bihar, particularly in the Seemanchal region.
SEEMANCHAL AND INDIA’S STRATEGIC VULNERABILITIES
The demographic and electoral dynamics of Seemanchal accentuate India’s strategic vulnerabilities in its eastern and northeastern frontiers. The strategic focus of major powers, including the U.S., China, and Pakistan, has shifted to this region, which holds both land and maritime significance. The land dimension involves India, China, Bangladesh, and Myanmar, while the maritime dimension centres on the Bay of Bengal.
The extra-regional player, the U.S., through its deep state, has effected a coup in Bangladesh and installed the illegitimate Yunus regime. This regime has removed the lid that Sheikh Hasina had earlier placed on jihadi elements such as Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), who are now on the rampage.
Post Operation Sindoor, and with the tacit support of Yunus, Pakistan has shifted its India-centric jihadi proxy instruments into Bangladeshi territory. Since Yunus usurped power, Bangladesh has effectively become a de facto East Pakistan.
Several Pakistani military delegations have visited the northern stretches of the India– Bangladesh border, adjacent to Seemanchal. Together with Bangladeshi jihadi groups, they are attempting to strike an Islamic resonance of the jihadi variety among Muslim voters in Seemanchal, and in Bihar at large.
The Pakistan Within Bihar
The visits by Lalu Prasad Yadav (2003) and Nitish Kumar (2012) to Pakistan served as tacit signals to the “Pakistan within Bihar.” Although Bihar shares no border with Pakistan, such politicians perceive that visits to Pakistan evoke Muslim sentiments that can be converted into votes.
In the past, Lalu Prasad Yadav blatantly used an Osama bin Laden lookalike in his election campaign, a clear demonstration that pandering to pan-Islamic emotions resonates strongly with sections of the Muslim electorate.
The Bangladesh Factor
In the post-Sheikh Hasina and post-Operation Sindoor period, Bangladesh’s transformation into a de facto East Pakistan has sharply increased the threat of electoral subversion. Recently, Pakistan’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff visited Bangladesh. His visit coincided with the
presence of Ibtisham Illahi Zaheer, a key aide of Hafiz Saeed, and the Yunus regime’s decision to
roll out a red carpet welcome for Zakir Naik, who remains banned in India.
The 2016 jihadi terrorist attack on Dhaka’s Holey Artisan Bakery, which killed 29 people including 20 hostages, was inspired by the teachings of Zakir Naik. Both Gen. Mirza and Zaheer have reportedly visited areas close to the Siliguri Corridor, with Zaheer currently camping in Rajshahi to deliver jihadi discourses.
The timing of these visits adds unprecedented threat dimensions to the ongoing Bihar elections.
Pro-Pakistan and pan-Islamic electoral outcomes could render India’s strategic vulnerabilities in the region deeply pernicious.
The Indian establishment is aware of this external threat emanating from Bangladesh, not only to Bihar’s elections but to India’s eastern frontier, including the Siliguri Corridor. Reportedly, Indian military manoeuvres have been conducted in the Thakurganj area, near the extreme northwest of Bangladesh and close to Seemanchal, to pre-empt any jihadi mischief by the Pakistan– Bangladesh combine. These manoeuvres elicited helicopter reconnaissance by Bangladesh Army Chief Gen. Waker-Uz-Zaman.
Additionally, India has issued multiple Notices to Air Missions (NOTAMs) across all fronts, from the western border with Pakistan to the northeast near Bangladesh, and even over the Arabian Sea and central India, signalling vigilance to inimical forces.
Operation Sindoor Factor
The jihadi subversion of Bihar’s elections emanates not only from Bangladesh but also from Nepal. On 28 August this year, the Bihar Police issued a high alert after receiving inputs from central agencies that three Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists, Hasan Ali (Rawalpindi), Adil Hussain (Umarkot), and Mohammad Usman (Bahawalpur), had entered the poll-bound state via Nepal.
JeM suffered extensive losses during India’s Operation Sindoor. Following this devastation, the outfit raised a women’s brigade, Jamat-ul-Muminat, complicating the proxy war scenario further, as detecting burqa-clad women jihadis poses new challenges.
The Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) already has a strong presence in Bihar. Ishrat Jahan, an LeT operative tasked with assassinating Narendra Modi and neutralized in 2004, hailed originally from Bihar. Nitish Kumar had reportedly referred to her as “Bihar ki Beti.”
It may also be recalled that in October 2013, an assassination attempt was made on Prime Minister Modi during his Gandhi Maidan rally in Patna. Multiple blasts killed six people and injured 85. Investigations revealed the involvement of the Indian Mujahideen (IM), which has deep ties to the LeT.
The shadow of jihadi terror over Bihar’s elections has only darkened since then. LeT maintains a strong presence in north Bihar, especially in the Madhubani and Darbhanga modules. In June 2021, the NIA arrested two LeT-linked terrorists, Imran Khan and Mohammad Nasser Khan, after an explosion on Platform 1 of Darbhanga Railway Station. The parcel, booked from Secunderabad, was intended to ignite a running passenger train, highlighting the significance of the Secunderabad–Darbhanga link.
Electoral Route of Maoism And Jihadism
Prime Minister Modi has pledged to eradicate Maoism by 2026. However, this menace cannot be eliminated until urban Naxals, those pursuing power through parliamentary means like the CPM, and those taking semi-parliamentary routes to capture power in tandem with terrorism, are relegated to history, along with their ideology.
The CPI(ML) is contesting 20 seats in Bihar. These semi-Naxals have a natural affinity with jihadis, one seeks to capture the state, the other to turn it into Dar-ul-Islam. Both aim for totalitarian control.
The Congress under Sonia Gandhi has often aligned with such forces, as illustrated by Kanhaiya Kumar, who effortlessly transitioned from the tukde-tukde gang to the Congress party. Products of foreign ideologies like Maoism and jihadism constitute the backbone of this ecosystem. These are murderous doctrines that would rather see India splintered than subdued.
Conclusion
The bahubalis and dynasts in India’s political arena are natural allies of tukde-tukde forces, because their idea of Bharat is confined to their fiefdoms. If unsuccessful through electoral routes, such elements often resort to the George Soros prescription, capturing power by undermining democracy through orchestrated chaos.
This pattern has been witnessed in country after country, the latest being Bangladesh. By questioning the Election Commission, Rahul Gandhi appears to have kept this disruptive option open.
Elections today are no longer a guarantee of political stability. Vested interests and inimical international forces may well attempt to replicate the Bangladesh model, this time, in Bihar.
By RSN Singh
(The content of this article reflects the views of writer and contributor, not necessarily those of the publisher and editor. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only)
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