By Priyashree Andley
On 27 August 2013, when a boy was killed for harassing a teen in Kawal village and then his alleged killers were lynched too, police caught all the suspects. Then, all eight were let off. Arrest warrants were issued on 18 September 2013 against six Uttar Pradesh politicians, who are accused of inciting violence in Muzaffarnagar, according to latest news reports. This list includes politicians from the BJP and the BSP.
The Uttar Pradesh police have cordoned off the state assembly where some of these politicians are attending proceedings. Meanwhile, BSP MLA Noor Salim Rana denied that he instigated the mob and said he is ready to face investigations and ready to face jail if proved guilty after probe. As many as 48 people have been killed, over 100 injured and more than 43,000 rendered homeless in the communal clashes that have affected the area since 7 September 2013. What were the faults of thousands of children, including new borns, who are now forced to live in makeshift tents in several relief camps in several villages in the riots-torn Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts in western Uttar Pradesh?
The fear psychosis and threat of facing the wrath of the politics in the state can force thousands of locals to leave the state. An estimated 1.25 lakh people who have escaped the communal clash and are seeking refuge in relief camps spread across Kairana, Kandhala and other villages of Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts. Women, children, young, old irrespective of their cast or religion have been driven out of their village.
In this scenario, the immediate future is bleak for these communities with returnees sceptical of help coming from the Indian government. It raises the questions on the state which is empowered by the community of citizens and can it represent and protect its citizens within its sovereign territory?
Even though the state government is claiming that the situation here is coming back to normalcy, but the ground realities make the governments claim void. The Army was called in to contain the situation. Economic and moral support from the state is a necessary pre condition to restore stability. The UP government has been criticised on several grounds for doing the opposite of what it should have done in this situation. First, it released the culprits after three people had died and communal discontent had risen. Second, the administration was stopped from carrying out thorough house-to-house search. Third, when the DM and the SSP persisted, they were moved out. New officers were brought in and the new DM gave a different direction to the probe. The Muslim member of Akhilesh Yadav’s Cabinet, recently criticized the government for failing to protect the minorities during the recent clashes, even refused to attend the party’s national executive in Agra last week. In a recent news channel investigation, state’s police officers had admitted on hidden cameras that the influential minister had asked them to go slow in Muzzaffarnagar.
It is important to understand that in the current unstable security situation, pressure and vote bank politics can play a major role in further exacerbating the communal divide in the state with increase in violence on civilians. Resentment against the ‘other’ community is not in the interest of a successful sovereign state in India.
Finally, we need to understand that the increasing combination of criminality, communal-ism and pressure politics is not just confined to UP but seen in other states like Bihar too. The state and central government needs to focus on this growing threat to the entire concept of diversity and equality.
The author is an independent analyst and focuses on International Relations, Foreign Policy and Current Affairs. She has several years of experience working in both the public and private sector. Her research has taken her across India with publications appearing in national as well as international media. Priyashree is a Felix Scholar from SOAS, London and has degrees from JNU and St. Stephens College, Delhi.