Clashes erupted in Jharkhand’s Jamshedpur after the ‘desecration’ of a religious flag sparked brick-batting and arson between two groups, according to officials. Prohibitory orders have been issued under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in Shastrinagar, Jharkhand’s Jamshedpur, after shops and vehicles were set on fire during the clashes. According to ANI, internet services have also been suspended.

Tensions had been building in the area since Saturday night, when members of a local organization discovered a piece of meat tied to a Ram Navami flag, according to police. “Forces are carrying out an early morning flag march. In the area, Section 144 is in effect. Internet services are prohibited until the next order,” said Jyoti Kumari, Executive Magistrate.

On Sunday evening, the warring factions set fire to two shops and an auto-rickshaw. To disperse the mob, police used tear gas shells to gain control of the situation. Both sides were accused of brick-batting.

Meer Faisal, journalist Maktoob Media, also tweeted on the said issue. according to his tweet, “On April 8, in Shastri Nagar, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, local Hindus expressed apprehension about getting beef. SDM sent the meat to the lab for testing, and the report said that the meat is chicken. After which the army was deployed in large numbers, and in the presence of the army, the shops of the Muslims were set on fire by a Hindutva mob.”

The tweet can be viewed here: 

On April 8, in Shastri Nagar, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, local hindus expressed apprehension about getting beef. SDM sent the meat to the lab for testing, and the report said that the meat is chicken. After which the army was deployed in large numbers, and in the presence of the… pic.twitter.com/ty8gK5dHBV

— Meer Faisal (@meerfaisal01) April 9, 2023

Report by the authorities- ‘Anti-social elements trying to disturb peace’

“Prohibitory Orders under Section 144 of CrPC were clamped in the area,” Sub-Divisional Officer (Dhalbhum), Piyush Sinha, provided, while SSP Prabhat Kumar told PTI that adequate police force has been deployed at Shastrinagar to maintain law and order. “The situation is under control and the warring groups have been dispersed… We have also taken a few persons into custody,” he said. An adequate police force has been deployed at Shastrinagar to maintain law and order, police said. Security forces conducted a flag march in Jamshedpur’s Kadma police station area following the clash, reported ANI.

East Singhbhum District Deputy Commissioner Vijaya Jadhav said some anti-social elements are trying to disturb peace, and sought the cooperation of people to foil their plot.

More than 50 people have been arrested in connection with violence following the alleged desecration of a religious flag at Shastrinagar in Jharkhand’s Jamshedpur, police told PTI.

Report on violence in West Bengal

Meanwhile, the interim report of a fact-finding committee has revealed that the recent incidents of violence in Howrah, Hooghly, and Rishra, among other areas of West Bengal, were pre-planned. “The riots were pre-planned, orchestrated, and instigated,” the interim report of the Fact-Finding Committee headed by Justice L Narasimha Reddy (Retd) states.

Notably, violence and arson were witnessed during the Ram Navami festival in Howrah and Hooghly recently. Earlier, BJP had questioned the administrative capabilities of the Mamata Banerjee-led state government.

Updates on violence in Bihar

Bihar Police arrested five more people on Sunday in connection with its investigation into the communal violence during the Ram Navami procession in Bihar Sharif town in Nalanda district. The Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of the Bihar Police has made fresh arrests in the case, the news agency PTI reported. Two more accused who were involved in some other cases and also wanted by the EOU in Nalanda communal clashes surrendered before the police on Sunday. The EOU will now seek their custody. EOU sleuths are also probing the association, if any, of the surrendered accused with some particular outfit.

This comes after communal tension had flared up at Sasaram and Nalanda during Ramnavami celebrations. In Bihar Sharif, over a dozen people were injured in stone-pelting and firing by miscreants and about 10 shops were gutted. One person died following the violence. According to the Additional Director General (ADG) of Bihar Police (Headquarters), the accused used WhatsApp groups to spread hatred among people of different communities, as reported by Indian Today News.

Arrests in violence in Maharashtra

Mumbai Police have found that the accused in the case of stone pelting at a Ram Navami procession in suburban Malad had allegedly hatched the conspiracy of violence while sitting together near a mosque, officials said, as reported by PTI. More than 20 persons have so far been arrested in connection with the incident which took place in Malvani area of Malad on March 30. A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against more than 200 people, they said. A team of Malvani police probing the case of violence recorded statements of an Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) officer and another policeman from the Malvani police station on April 2, an official said.

Both the police personnel in their statements told the police that the violence was created by the accused persons, including those arrested and wanted, deliberately and intentionally, he said. They sat together near a mosque, by violating the orders prohibiting unlawful assembly, and hatched the conspiracy of the crime, the official said.

Related:

Moradabad Police debunks false communally charged claims made by Panchjanya, warns of taking legal action if misinformation is spread

Hot on the heels of the violence of Ram Navami, MHA issues advisory to states to ensure law and order during Hanuman Jayanti celebration

Police to closely monitor Ram Navami processions in Hyderabad and Mumba

Majoritarian Politics via Ram Navami Processions and Opportunist Muslim Elites

Ram Navami violence by Aaj Tak calls into question the lopsided portrayal of communally sensitive news

Hindutva mobs in Bihar run amok, cause loss of Rs. 6 crores

Hindutva’s role in riots and official complicity

What was CJP’s PIL seeking directions for implementation of law for regulation of religious processions all about?

Ram Navami: West Bengal administration on alert as 2000 celebrations planned

Exaggerated or ominous, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) claims it has plans for 1500-2000 rallies during Ram Navami in Bengal

Violence over Ram Navami procession in Bengal’s Howrah, state a particular target

The post Section 144 imposed in Jamshedpur; arrests made in Bihar and Maharashtra over instances of violence during Ram Navami appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Prohibitory orders have been issued in Shivamogga after clashes broke out between two groups in Shivamogga town of Karnataka, on Independence Day. Violence broke out after one group protested the display of a picture of Hindutva leader VD Savarkar at a local business hub, by trying to replace it with a portrait of Tipu Sultan.

According to the Times of India, Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), that prohibits a gathering of four or more people, has been imposed and will stay in effect till August 18. Moreover, schools will also remain shut today, not just in Shivamogga, but also in neighbouring Bhadravathi town. 30 platoons of armed police and Rapid Action Force (RAF) have been deployed in the area.

Trouble began when one group placed a portrait of Savarkar at a business hub in the Ameer Ahmed Circle area of the city. Soon another group protested, as the business hub was located right next to a mosque. This group in turn tried to place a portrait of Tipu Sultan at the spot, leading to an outbreak of violence.

Police had to resort to lathicharge to disperse the crowd. One person was arrested following a complaint by the Shivamogga City Corporation for allegedly forcing the staff of the business hub to remove the picture of Savarkar. In wake of the violence, local businesses downed their shutters.

Superintendent of Police Laxmi Prasad told NDTV, “We have imposed Section 144. Tension flared up so we had to resort to lathicharge.”

According to TOI, a youth, identified as one Prem Singh from Rajasthan, was reported stabbed at Gandhi Bazar, barely 200 meters from the spot. The youth has been admitted to hospital, and police are verifying if the attack on him was related to the clash. SP Prasad told Hindustan Times, “We will probe if the stabbing is related.”

HT also reports that later in the day, right-wing groups such as Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal held a flash protest in the city.

Related:

Whose FREEDOM@75?

75th Anniversary: What Do Indians Want?

The post Shivamogga: Tensions prevail after two groups clash on Independence Day appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Attitudinal violence and structural violence contribute immensely to physical violence in the forms of communal riots and mob lynching. This was the scenario facing India in 2019. There were 25 incidents of communal riots in India in 2019, and 108 incidents of mob lynching, according to the monitoring of Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS). CSSS monitors reportage of communal riots and mob lynching in the Mumbai editions of five leading newspapers- The Indian Express, The Hindu, Times of India, Inquilab and Sahafat. As per the reportage in these newspapers, the number of communal riots in 2019 (25) is lesser than 2018 where 38 communal riots were reported in the same newspapers.

Though the number of communal riots has declined, the discourse of communal violence driven by ideology of Hindutva supremacy remains the same. Newer issues are being used to heighten the discourse of communal violence- for instance the discriminatory legislation of Citizenship Amendment Bill which excludes Muslims linked with NRC, the abrogation of article 370 in Kashmir and the clamp down on communication subsequently, the demand for construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Thus, though it appears that the number of communal riots has declined, that in no way can be construed as decline in communal discourse leading to communal violence itself. If at all, through discriminatory legislations and increasing dismantling of democratic institutions which were expected to safeguard democracy, communal violence is taking deeper roots in our society. The discourse promoted by the ruling party in conjunction with the impunity and patronage given to police and non state cadre is effectively perpetrating violence against the marginalized. Even if the number of communal riots is low, communal violence has stronger manifestations in structural and attitudinal violence.

Methodology of Monitoring:

The findings of Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS) are based on the reportage of communal riots reported in Mumbai editions of five newspapers- The Indian Express, The Times of India, The Hindu, Sahafat and Inquilab. This is also the limitation of the findings since they are based on the city editions of only these five newspapers. In the past, CSSS could give a fair comparison between the number of communal riots emerging from its monitoring and the number of communal riots reported by the National Crimes Report Bureau (NCRB) which used to routinely place this data in the public domain. It’s interesting to note that though the Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy claimed that the Centre has zero tolerance for incidents of communal violence, it hasn’t proved this claim through figures and stopped giving out data(Scroll in, 2019). The NCRB ceasing to publish data of the communal riots from 2017 is no mere coincidence. In the past, the number of communal riots reported by the NCRB or the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) was way higher than that reported by CSSS.

Sections: Communal riots and Mob Lynching

As explained last year in its report, CSSS reported that though there is a decline in the number of communal riots in India in 2018, it doesn’t imply that there is a decline in communal violence (Engineer, Dabhade, Nair, & Pendke, 2019). Communal violence is a broader term encompassing communal riots as well as mob lynching. While the number of communal riots is declining according to the reportage in the Mumbai edition of these five newspapers, the number of mob lynching is increasing. Mob lynching is an instrument to achieve the objective of sustained communal polarization by involving communal symbols like cow, the issue of love jihad or even the more innocuous pretexts like theft etc targeting the Muslims. In 2019 too, the same pattern continued where though the number of communal riots decreased, the number of mob lynching were high. Thus the report of communal violence which manifested itself in the form of physical violence is divided into two sections: Communal riots and Mob lynching.

This section will attempt to understand the salient features of communal riots in 2019.

Salient points:

Religion wise break up of deaths and injuries:

In 2019, from January 1 to December 31, according to the above mentioned newspapers, 25 communal riots took place in 2019. In these 25 riots, 8 lives were claimed. Out of the 8 persons deceased, three killed were Hindus, three killed were Muslims and the communities of two persons killed were not specified in the reports. The two Hindus were killed in Maharashtra and UP. In the communal riot in Maharashtra, a fight broke out between the two groups which got a communal angle. The fight broke out during a game of gambling in the Amravati resulting in the death of one Sham Phelwan. A riot ensued and subsequently two Muslims were killed in the riots. In the Muzzafarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, again, a personal conflict over a trivial issue of kite flying between some children assumed the communal colour. Both sides confronted each other and one group entered the house of the deceased, Raj Kumar and attacked him and other family members. Raj Kumar got critically injured in the clash and later died while being taken to hospital. One Vishnu Yadav died after being attacked over the issue of stone pelting during a procession of immersion of some idols in Bihar’s district of Jehanabad. One more Muslim, Jamiruddin Tapadar died in Hailakandi, Assam. This riot was resulting from a traffic congestion caused due to Friday prayers. 54 persons were injured in these 25 incidents of communal riots.

Graph 1: Religion wise break up of deaths and injuries:

Religion wise break up of Arrests:

In 25 incidents of communal riots, there were a total of 48 arrests. 47 of the arrested from 48 arrests were from unspecified community whereas one was a Muslim. There were no arrests of specifically any Hindu.
 

Graph 2: Religion wise break up of Arrests:

Region wise break up of communal riots:

The state of Uttar Pradesh continued to top the list of states which had the most number of communal riots. Out of 25 communal riots, 9 took place in UP. This is contrary to the claim of the Chief Minister of UP who claimed that there have been no communal riots in UP after BJP came to rule (Times of India, 2019). UP was followed by the state of Maharashtra where 4 communal riots were reported in 2019.  Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir each had two communal riots in 2019. In the states of Karnataka, Haryana, Assam, Delhi, Bihar and West Bengal reported one communal riot each.

These figures indicate that communal riots have mostly been reported in the northern zone of the country and the north has been the theatre of violence with deep faultlines. The western zone of the country has been prone to communal violence traditionally. Interestingly, though no communal riots from Gujarat were reported in the Mumbai editions of the five newspapers, the local newspapers in Gujarat have reported 9 incidents of communal riots in 2019.

However it will be misleading to believe that there is little or no menace of communal violence in the South and Eastern parts of the country only because of the low number of communal riots reported from these regions. The communal discourse replete with hatred and hate speeches is very much prevalent in the east and south. The discourse is infused with newer issues like Citizenship Amendment Bill, National Register of Citizens, abrogation of article 370 in Kashmir and the overall narrative of Muslims being disloyal and second class citizens of India. Such a discourse manifesting in structural and attitudinal violence has sharply polarized the communities along religious lines. 

Graph 3: Region wise break up of communal riots:

Triggers/ Immediate causes:

In total, nine incidents of communal riots are associated with religious processions, festivals or celebrations. As observed in the previous few years, aggressive sloganeering, deliberate loud music to instigate the other communities, deliberating planning procession routes to clash with other religious communities has been used as a pretext to trigger communal riots. Out of the – riots, four took place in the state of UP, two in Rajasthan, one in Maharashtra, one in Madhya Pradesh and one each in West Bengal and Bihar.

Graph 4: Triggers/ Immediate causes:

In 2019 too like in 2018, the use of religious processions and festivals has been instrumental in fomenting communal tensions leading to violence. Out of the 25 communal riots, nine were triggered off by or during religious processions. The Kanwariyas or the Kavadyatras have been given protection and state patronage in a way that the State has favoured them. Out of the nine communal riots triggered due to issues related to religious procession, three took place in UP itself. In the Badaun district of UP, stone pelting took place during a Kanwariya yatra which coincided with the timings of Id namaz. The Muslims objected to the loud religious music played in the yatra which led to the riot. In Agra, members of Bajrang Dal protested against the Muslims offering the Id namaz on the road. 70 Bajrang Dal members who were not allowed to pass through the road due to the prayers threatened to recite Hanuman Chalisa on the road. In Balrampur district of UP, stone pelting took place during the idol immersion ritual on Dussera over playing of music.

In 2019, in Hingoli district of Maharashtra, the participants in the Kavad Yatra came in conflict with a group of Muslims who were together to offer Eid prayers. The procession had devotional songs playing on speakers. Both the groups started shouting religious slogans. In Jaipur, Rajasthan, communal riot ensued after a Haridwar bound bus was pelted by stones by some Muslims and blocked the Delhi Highway. This was a fall out of the tensions with the Kanwariyas. In Tonk district of Rajasthan, stones were pelted at a Vijayadashmi procession in the town, triggering vandalism and arson. Locals staged a sit-in outside the Malpura police station and refused to burn the effigies of Ravan till their demand for immediate arrest of the miscreants was met.

In Shajapur in Madhya Pradesh, stones were pelted on a Muharram procession. During the violence some two wheelers were set on fire. In Jehanabad, Bihar, riot broke out when a stone was thrown at the procession being taken out for immersion of idols near the Arwal More. The devotees blamed by-standers belonging to another community for the same after which both sides indulged in heavy stone-pelting which had left 14 people injured. The riot claimed two lives. Several shops in the area were set on fire by the rampaging mobs and the situation was brought under control after prohibitory orders were issued.In Purba Medinipur in the state of West Bengal, Christmas celebrations in a Church were disrupted when a group of men entered the church premises raised slogans “Jai Shree Ram”, attacked about 100 worshippers and vandalised the church and a vehicle belonging to the pastor. According to police, one was severely injured and others few had minor injuries and the locals appeared to be associated with the BJP as per the initial investigation.

Though religious festivals or processions remain the main reason emerging from the reportage of communal riots, there are other triggers that have led to communal riots which are insightful as far as understanding the patterns of communal riots are concerned. Rumours of cow slaughter/ beef and eve-teasing of women by members of “other” communities are still triggers for communal riots. However there is a more overt and aggressively emboldening shift in the pattern where Muslims are targeted and attacked and told to go to Pakistan, sending a message that they are second class citizens of the country and don’t belong to India. In a blatantly shocking incident in Dhamaspur in Gurgaon, members of a Muslim family and guests who had come to visit them were beaten with sticks and rods, allegedly by 20-25 men, who barged into their home and attacked them on Holi evening. The incident took place when some of the accused allegedly approached the boys from the family, who were playing cricket outside, and demanded that they “go to Pakistan and play”. During the attack the family members were beaten up mercilessly and their house was damaged along with 2 motorbikes and a car. The accused also fled with valuables from the house. This is not an isolated incident but comes in the wake of the persistent attacks on individuals across the country demanding them to chant “Jai Shri Ram” or asking Muslims to go to Pakistan, especially after the re-election of BJP in general elections.

Role of the State:

The State in its response to communal riots is guided by its ideology of Hindutva or supremacism based on religion. Muslims and other minorities are targeted by state and non- state taking cue from the hate speeches of those in power and the active network of patronage. This has allowed the violent supremacist to wreck violence with impunity. The police did not only fail to prevent the riots or bring the culprits to justice, but the police itself have indulged in violence against the innocent. The response of the police at Jamia in the midst of protests against the discriminatory CAA was starkly telling of this pattern. In unprecedented action, the police entered the Jamia Milia Islamia campus in Delhi on 15th December, 2019 and beat up the students with batons and used tear gas. The police have reportedly used stun guns used in terrorists operations to attack students of Jamia in their hostels and libraries leading to one student losing one of his eyes and other one losing one arm. The police action at Seelampur was also condemnable. One can’t help but notice that the police have become a brute force or army of the ruling party and wrecks violence on innocent students and Muslims whenever ordered to do so with no regard to law and order. The police indulge in shoddy investigation to allow the culprits to exploit the loopholes and go scot free.

The judiciary too has been tardy and not hearing these cases with priority, thereby delaying and now clearly denying justice. The role of the executive and the police in Uttar Pradesh has been particularly disturbing given how it has violently targeted the Muslim community leading to 23 deaths, and recovering the cost of damage from the Muslim community with a vengeance to break the very morale and backbone of the protest against the CAA.

Instead of acting as an antidote to hatred and violence, the State has actually turned against its own citizens and is attacking them in the most brutal. The State has become so overbearing that it has influenced all arenas of public knowledge and debates like it has in terms of state institutions. The media especially is influenced to only present the narrative weaved by the state and achieving this with whatever means necessary- manipulation of facts and highly partial coverage of news. Such incredibly biased reportage is shaping the popular imagination of the country and shrinking the spaces for impartial and objective public debates.

Conclusion:

2019 sees the brazen communal attitude of the State which is using all its organs to maintain a highly polarizing communal discourse. This discourse doesn’t depend on communal riots alone but has in fact found many other forms to seep into the Indian society. However, the year 2019 ended with re-invigorating energy and hope when citizens across religious identities came together to put up a determined and spirited protests to save the constitution of the country in the face of discriminatory laws pushed by this government matched only by its brutality to defend these laws. Such unity may be the anti-dote required to counter communal riots.

The post Communal Riots 2019: Communal Discourse Raging On in India appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Representation Image / Reuters

 A resident of the village located in the Kalol taluka has alleged that persons from a different community came to various farms in the early hours on Wednesday .The group allegedly set ablaze a tractor, water pumps, electric meters and wires.They also damaged water supply pipelines in farms. The victims have alleged that the incident had its roots in an altercation and a clash that had taken place last week over sexual harassment of a girl in the village.Separate offences for sexual harassment and rioting between members of different community were registered at that time.

 Deputy superintendent of police V R Bajpai said that attempts were being made to bring the two communities together.The district administration is also cooperating with the police in these efforts.

 “The village has Hindu and Muslim community members staying in close vicinity. If one looks at the incidents of trouble there, they are due to petty issues,“ Bajpai said. Last year, two incidents of rioting took place in Eral in May and June over petty reasons. In 2002, seven persons were killed and two women were raped in the village.

In 2002, Communalism Combat had reported, first hand on the violence that had racked Eral Gaon, Kalol taluka, Panchmahal district . Eye witness: Mustafa Ismailbhai, interviewed at tjr Kalol Relief Camp on March 22) 2002 had given this heart wrenching account: “Seven persons from my family have been killed. Shabana, my 18-year-old daughter, was raped in front of my wife, Madinabibi Mustafa, before being killed. Two of my sons and my wife survived. I am a driver by profession and was out when the incident happened.

My daughter Shabana, Ismail Master, Uribibi, Adambhai Ibrahimbhai (my brother-in-law), Rukaiya Adambhai (my sister), Tajoobibi and Suhanabibi were all killed. Tajoobibi’s four-year-old son’s finger was cut off. I filed an FIR at Kalol talukapolice station but even after 22 days there has been no arrest. My wife who is an eyewitness has named the accused.The deceased: Seven members of a family killed, including Shabana (18) who was raped in front of her mother, then killed. The accused: Rajubhai Vithalbhai Talati, Purshottambhai Gordhanbhai Parmar, Ganabhai Chandubhai Parmar, Bhailalbhai Maganbhai and Narendra Singh Chandulal.

On October 30, 2007, a district court at Godhra sentenced eight persons to life imprisonment and three others to various prison terms while acquitting 29 persons in the 2002 Eral rape and mass killing case. Seven persons were killed in this post-Godhra riot incident, with three of the woman being raped by the mob before they were murdered.

While the acquitted heaved a sigh of relief when the judgment was passed, Madina Sheikh, eyewitness and complainant, said she was unhappy with the acquittals and quantum of punishment and said the guilty should have been sentenced to death. Simultaneously, the prosecution said they would move the High Court for a death sentence.

This was then, the first 2002 riot conviction in Panchmahals, which witnessed large-scale tarheted communal violence. 61 persons, all Muslims being targeted in two tempos (the infamous Kidiad massacre) resulted in no justice for the survivors. Similarly, the Pandharwada case wherein 42 persons were targeted and killed in a village had seen no convictions of powerful perpetrators.

In Eral, the Muslim community had, in 2007, cheered the convictions even as they said the punishment was not strong enough. Speaking to The Indian Express, at the time Madina had said: “We identified 40 of those who massacred my family and only 11 were convicted, and only life imprisonments at that. All those men were guilty and deserved the death penalty.” She said she had spoken to the prosecution and they would appeal to the High Court about increasing the punishment.

Defence counsel Rajendra Trivedi said they would also move the High Court against the sentences. Trivedi said, “As many as 29 of the 40 suspects were acquitted of various charges, which is a good thing. We will move the High Court about the 11 others.” 

Panchmahals Joint District Judge H M Dholakia sentenced main accused Chandrasinh Parmar alias Kahabhai Dada, a former panchayat president of Kalol, to life imprisonment along with former village sarpanch Ganpathsinh Parmar, Ashok Parmar, Mahendrasinh Parmar and Dalsinh Parmar for murder. Dholakia also found three others, Narendra Parmar, Mahesh Chandrasinh and Kanu Bharat guilty of rape and murder, including that of 17-year-old Shabana Sheikh, Madina’s daughter. Vinodbhai Vadad, Raju Parmar and Bhailal Maganbhai were sentenced to three years in prison on charges of rioting and let off on bail.
 

The post Its Election Year in Gujarat & Communal Violence Grips Eral, Gujarat appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image: Indian Express

From what we know so far:
1. A Facebook post was made on Sunday (July 2) by a teenager Souvik Sarkar, resident of Rudrapur, which comes under the jurisdiction of Baduria P.S. and Municipality. It was an outrageous, deliberately inflammatory FB post which contained a morphed, sexually explicit and derogatory image of the Prophet Muhammad at the Kaaba. It cannot be mistaken as a mere prank. It was meant to incite and provoke.

2. Local Muslim residents of Baduria started protesting against the FB post from Sunday evening, demanding action against the provocateur. The matter was initially diffused with the intervention of the local police, which promised action.

3. The provocateur was arrested on Monday (July 3) evening. By that time, violence had spread in the neighbouring areas of Basirhat, Deganga and Swarupnagar. Angry mobs of Muslims blocked the roads, vandalised shops and houses, attacked a police station and set police vehicles on fire. A mob gathered outside the Baduria police station and demanded that the provocateur be handed over to them. Souvik Sarkar’s house was also attacked and torched. There was counter mobilisation by Hindu mobs too who set up road blockades and vandalised shops.

4. The violence continued unabated till Tuesday (July 4) afternoon. After that, paramilitary forces were deployed and the situation has improved somewhat, but the atmosphere remains tense.

In the light of these incidents, the State Government must ensure the following:
a. Criminal charges of incitement, provocation and spreading enmity between communities should be filed against Souvik Sarkar and there should be a speedy trial. It should also be probed whether other political elements had a hand behind his Facebook post.
b. The criminals who attacked the police station in Baduria and torched Souvik Sarkar’s house should be identified and arrested.
c. The fundamentalist elements within the Muslim community, who utilised the situation to spread violence in the neighbouring areas of Basirhat, Deganga and Swarupnagar should be identified and arrested.
d. The fundamentalist elements within the Hindu community who have organised violence in the neighbouring areas should also be identified and arrested.

If these criminal miscreants from both the Hindu and Muslim communities are not identified and arrested, the society will never know who exactly are responsible for the violence which continued for over 48 hours. Both communities will remain divided and look at each other with suspicion.

It is the failure of the State Government in conducting fair and impartial investigations in successive cases of communal violence that is emboldening the criminal elements among Hindus and Muslims alike, and is leading to the recurrence of such incidents. If the State Government fails in its responsibility to identify and arrest the culprits of Baduria and elsewhere, it will be unpardonable.
 

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Image: Indian Express
 

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Image: Hindustan Times

Last night, agency reports say that members of both communities clashed and pelted stones. A police team that rushed to separate the warring members and restore peace was also targeted. Rajiv Ranjan, a police officer, sustained head injuries. The people also reportedly fired bullets into the air. The clashes in Sukurhutu village lasted for over two hours. The situation was brought under control after additional force was rushed, a police officer said.“The situation in Sukurhutu is under control. Forces are camping in the village,” Ranchi Senior Superintendent of Police Kuldeep Dwivedi told reporters.

This is the second incident of communal clash in Ranchi in a week. Last week, a clash took place between the members of two communities at Bargai, also in Ranchi. The clash took place after the members of a community objected to the music being played at a marriage party. The marriage party members, including women and children, were also thrashed by the members of other community.

Jharkand has been seeing recurrent, if individual bouts of violence, where minorities have been a target. On March 18-19, 2016, brute lynchings reminiscent of 18^th century Middle America, a 12-year-old Muslim boy and a Muslim man herding eight buffaloes on their way to a Friday market were beaten up and hanged to death from a tree by suspected cattle-protection vigilantes. The initial report and photographers were pasted on facebook by Ashif Nawaz. The double murders  of the two Muslims [Mazlum Ansari, 32, and Imteyaz Khan] took place in Balumath, Latehar district of Jharkhand yesterday. This incident was shockingly reminiscent of the Dadri lynching, of September 28, 2015. In May this year, a village mob chased the car of a group of cattle traders and lynched three of them near Jamshedpur in a hunt that stretched through Wednesday night and spilled over to Thursday afternoon, the Telegraph has reported. Those killed were Sheikh Naim, 35, Sheikh Sajju, 25, and Sheikh Siraj, 26. The fate of a fourth, Sheikh Halim, 28, is remains unknown.

In mid-May this year (2017), unrest continued in many parts of Jamshedpur city in Jharkhand as fresh clashes between protestors and an apparently callous police continued on Sunday morning. Prohibitory orders under Section 144, which disallows more than four people from gathering at a place, were imposed in four parts of the city after violence in and around the areas on Saturday, reported PTI. The unrest has been sparked by the lynching of four Muslim men in Saraikela-Khushwahan district on Thursday. The local police sought to act on rumours that were being spread on What's App for over a month on alleged 'child kidnappers' on the prowl.

In April this year (2017), Ram Navmi became the occasion for the further intimidation of the minority. Reports of members of Hindutvawadi organisations entering a mosque while the namaz prayers were on and assaulting five worshippers including the Maulvi have come in from Kodarma district of Jharkand. The village with a 300 strong population is in a thickly forested area. The assault was launched on Ram Navmi day (April 4) after the Hindutvawadi organisations issued an ultimatum that there should be no namazi or iazaan (call to prayers) between the two evening prayers on that day. The refusal of the local Muslim population to comply with this ‘ultimatum’ led to the attack, while prayers were on, inside the mosque. Five persons were brutally injured while the Maulvi of the mosque is serious, it is learned. A social organisation called Insaf India reached the spot and has been trying to register an FIR regarding this assault that took place.

National Minorities Commission report on Latehar (2016)

The Report of the National Minorities Commission (NCM) on the Latehar Hangings in Jharkand had severely indicted the Jharkand Police and the Political Class for Failing to Reign in the Gauraksha Samitis who are taking Law into their own hands. Deep and widespread communalisation of sections of the Jharkand police force, and slogans like ‘go-to-Pakistan’ were frequently used by the local police against the Muslims, pointing towards a larger communalisation of the state police, says a report of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) after a team visited Latehar on the brute violence. The report, finalised on May 18 is an indictment of the authorities. Chairperson of the NCM, Naseem Ahmed speaking to Sabrangindia said that the findings contained in the report were self-explanatory. The Report can be read here.

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PTI reports that members of two communities in old city area in Bhopal clashed and pelted stones at each other Tuesday night, leaving some persons, including policemen, injured.

Around a dozen vehicles were torched during the clashes and the police lobbed teargas shells and fired gunshots in the air to bring the situation under control. The tension subdued in the early hours of Wednesday.

Heavy police force has been deployed in the area to avoid any untoward incident, said police. "We have rounded up eight people," Bhopal (North) Superintendent of Police (SP) Arvind Saxena said on Wednesday.

Efforts are on to settle the differences between the two communities by initiating a dialogue between them, the SP added.

The tension started when a structure reportedly surfaced during digging work for construction of a building in a hospital premises in Bhopal, two days ago.

Members of the two communities claim that the structure belonged to their respective faiths, sparking off the tension.

"Situation is peaceful now," district Collector Nishant Warwade said.

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“We arrested 13 persons yesterday after a combing operation in villages neighbouring Vadavali from where the crowd came and attacked residents,” said Inspector of Chanasma police station, C P Sadiya.
 

“Those arrested so far belong to Sunsar and Dharpuri villages. More arrests are likely today,” the officer said.

One person had died and six others sustained severe injuries after violence broke out following a minor fight between two students of different communities on Saturday over a petty issue.

Some vehicles and a few houses were also set on fire by the clashing crowd.

Cross FIRs were filed at Chanasma police station against a total of 45 accused and a crowd comprising over 3,000 people under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including 302 (murder), 147, 148, 149 (rioting armed with deadly weapons, unlawful assembly), 395, 397 (robbery), 435 and 436 (mischief by fire).

Sadiya said over 100 police personnel and two companies of State Reserve Police were posted at the village.

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दरअसल तालाब के उत्तरी किनारे पर लगभग 40 वर्ष पुरानी हनुमान जी के मूर्ति को प्रशासन बलप्रयोग करते हुए हटा रहा था। स्थानीय लोगों को विश्वास में लिये बगैर किये जा रहे इस प्रशासनिक कृत्य का लोगों ने जमकर विरोध किया। इस कारण पुलिस और लोगों के बीच हिंसक झड़प हो गई। पुलिस ने पहले लाठीचार्ज किया और इससे जब लोगों का आक्रोश और बढ़ गया तो पुलिस ने कई राउंड हवाई फायर भी किया। दोनों तरफ से हुई पत्थरबाजी में पुलिस बल और आम लोगों को चोटें आयी हैं। 
 
लोगों का कहना है कि तालाब के समीप पहाड़ी पर दो-तीन वर्ष पूर्व मस्जिद बनायी गई है। जिला प्रशासन द्वारा अतिक्रमण हटाने के नाम पर 40 वर्ष पूर्व स्थापित मूर्ति को हटाने को हिंदुओं ने एकतरफा कार्रवाई मानते हुए इसे मुस्लिम तुष्टीकरण का मामला बताते हुए तूल दिया और मामले ने सांप्रदायिक रूप लेना शुरू कर दिया। इसके बाद लोगों की भीड़ बढ़ती चली गई और बेकाबू हो गई। 
 
बताया जा रहा है कि मामला जमीन खरीद-बिक्री का तथा कब्जा मुक्त करने का है, लेकिन मौकापरस्त लोगों द्वारा इसे दो कौम का विवाद बता अफवाह फैलाई गई। शांति एवं सदभाव मंच (जमात-ए-इस्लामी-हिन्द) की ओर से डॉ. सलमान हिन्दी तथा कुमार संतोष द्वारा घटना स्थल पर पहुंच कर स्थिति का जायजा लेने के बाद बयान जारी कर इसे प्रशासनिक चूक का संगीन मामला बताते हुए, दोनों संप्रदायों से शांति-सदभाव बनाये रखने की अपील की है। न्याय मंच ने भी लोगों से शांति बनाये रखने और अफवाहबाजों से सावधान रहने तथा गैरजिम्मेदार ढंग से काम करने वाले प्रशासनिक पदाधिकारियों पर कार्रवाई की मांग की है। 

बताया जा रहा है कि तीन दिन पूर्व ही टूटी हुई मूर्ति बदली गई थी और नई मूर्ति स्थापित की गई थी। इसकी जानकारी पुलिस को मिली तो भागलपुर सदर एसडीओ कुमार अनुज भारी संख्या में पुलिस बल लेकर गणतंत्र दिवस के दिन ही पहुँचे और मामले को गहराई में जाकर समझे बगैर आनन-फानन में मूर्ति हटा दिया। इसकी खबर मिलते ही आस-पास के लोग भड़क उठे और विरोध करने लगे। इसी क्रम में एसडीओ के हिन्दू संप्रदाय को टारगेट कर दिये गए वक्तव्य से आहत होकर लोग और भी उग्र हो गये। अंततः प्रशासन को पुनः उसी स्थान पर मूर्ति लगानी पड़ी। इस स्थिति का फायदा उठाते हुए भगवा ब्रिगेड के लोग सोशल मीडिया और समाज में सांप्रदायिक उन्माद फैलाने में लग गये हैं और इस पूरे मामले का सांप्रदायीकरण करने पर उतारु हैं। फिलहाल मामला शांत हो गया है किन्तु भगवा ब्रिगेड की बढ़ती सक्रियता को देखते हुए स्थिति कभी भी नियंत्रण से बाहर होने की आशंका जतायी जा रही है।

Courtesy: National Dastak
 

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