BHARATA BHARATI

“Mahapanchayat goers, travelling in tractor-trolleys, came under stone pelting by Muslims at Shahpur. Many returnees faced worse. They came under firing from Muslims waiting in sugarcane fields. The sudden firing led to a stampede. Half-a-dozen persons were injured, while two others went untraceable. It was rumoured that their bodies had been dumped in Upper Ganga Canal. The attacks on Mahapanchayat participants added fuel to the fire. Violence spread like wild-fire to the rural belt.” — Priyadarshi Dutta

Blood is spilling in Muzaffarnagar, the western Uttar Pradesh district located between Ganga and Yamuna. The ‘Ganga-Yamuni sanskriti’ – the Hindi expression for communal syncretism – is gone. Muzaffarnagar is no stranger to communal riots. It has seen 11 of them between 1939 and 2006. But reports in Dainik Jagran and Amar Ujala agree that the latest riot is unprecedented in both ferocity and reach. It is for the first time that communal animosity has deeply penetrated the rural belt. Even the Army is reportedly having a tough time in quelling the riots accompanied by exceptional savagery.

Eve teasing and cattle trafficking

The Annual Reports of the Ministry of Home Affairs – before it discontinued the practice in 2012 – used to list most common factors for Hindu-Muslim communal incidents in India. Cattle trafficking and ‘eve teasing’ (an Indian euphemism for sexual harassment) were most common factors. The Jat belt spanning across Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh are currently suffering both. If trafficking of cattle has become a hot issue in Haryana, eve teasing and ‘Love Jihad’ are greater problems in western Uttar Pradesh with substantial Muslim population. Both the issues saw convening of Jat Mahapanchayats last month. It began at Palachand village in Aligarh district where Jats decided to boycott the Muslims. It happened after a Jat woman had run away with a Muslim man. But developments in Aligarh were soon overtaken by events in neighbouring Muzaffarnagar district.

Eve teasing, revenge killing and fake video

At Kawal village near Jansath of Muzaffarnagar, a Muslim named Shah Nawaz, who had allegedly harassed a Hindu (Jat) girl, was stabbed to death by her bothers Sachin and Gaurav. The two men were killed in a revenge attack. As per a Dainik Jagran report, the police found their bodies at a busy square. The YouTube video circulating on the Internet (allegedly showing how the two youth were killed) has been declared as not authentic. The initial spark that flew from Kawal village near historic Jansath township has refused to die down.

Attack on mahapanchayat participants

The violence in the district took a turn for the worse on September 7. Nagla Mandor, where a Mahapanchayat was convened, became a symbol of Jat resistance on Saturday. Tens of thousands of Jats from Rehmatpur, Tejalheda, Baseda, Kakrala, Bhokarhedi, Chachroli had converged on the village for Mahapanchayat. It was held at Intermediate College ground of the village. The participants were aggrieved that the administration was biased against Hindus. The Hindus had appealed to the District Magistrate for impartial action, which was allegedly ignored.

But several Mahapanchayat goers, travelling in tractor-trolleys, came under stone pelting by Muslims at Shahpur. Many returnees faced worse. They came under firing from Muslims waiting in sugarcane fields. The sudden firing led to a stampede. Half-a-dozen persons were injured, while two others went untraceable. It was rumoured that their bodies had been dumped in Upper Ganga Canal. The attacks on Mahapanchayat participants added fuel to the fire. Violence spread like wild-fire to the rural belt.

Currently Muzzafarnagar has been turned into a fortress. All Dharm Sansads and Mahapanchayats have been prohibited. While most political parties are busy blaming each other, few are ready to acknowledge the real reasons behind the communal malaise in western Uttar Pradesh. — NitiCentral, 10 September 2013

» Priyadarshi Dutta is an independent researcher based in New Delhi.

Series of rapes behind Muzaffarnagar riots? – India Wires

Is a series of rape incidents and support of politicians to the accused a reason behind communal riots happening in Muzaffarnagar? If you go through recent incidents happened in the town, such a question definitely arises. Before concluding that an eve-teasing or a Youtube video caused the violence, we need to go back to these incidents happened in last one year.

Here is a list of such incidents reported:

• Dec 21 2012: Muzaffarnagar panchayat offers rape victim Rs 1.5 lakh to keep quiet (Source)
  
• Dec 24  2012: Minor girl gang-raped by three youths in Muzaffarnagar (Source)
• Dec 29, 2012: Girl, school teacher sexually assaulted (Source)
• Dec 30, 2012: Two women injured in acid attack in Muzaffarnagar (Source)
• Feb 18, 2013: Woman gang-raped by four men, filmed in Muzaffarnagar (Source)
• Apr 3, 2013 Acid attack on three teachers, student in Muzaffarnagar in UP (Source)
• June 03, 2013: Minor girl raped Muzaffarnagar (Source)
• July 8, 2013: Man shot dead for demanding arrest of gangrape accused  (Source)
• July 29 2013: Woman forcibly married and gang-raped as ‘honour’ punishment after her brother eloped with village girl  (Source)
• Aug 24, 2013: Class IX student raped by youth in Muzaffarnagar (Source) 
• Aug 23 2012: Schoolgirl gangraped by 5 youths in Muzaffarnagar (Source) 
• Aug 30, 2013: Muslim cleric arrested for abducting 11-year-old girl (Source) 
• August 27, 2013: In Kawal village, an eve-teasing incident led to clash, burning bikes and the murders of three youths
• Aug 28, 2013: A mob returning from the cremation ground indulges in arson.
• Aug 29, 2013: Stoning between both sides. Women devotees molested near a place of worship.
• Aug 30, 2013: Huge mob assembles at a mosque in Shaheed Chowk after Friday prayers.
• Aug 31, 2013: Nearly 40,000 people assemble at Nangla Mandoud  Panchayat. Mob attacks a family going in a car on Khatima road, sets fire to their car.
• Sept 1, 2013: Police files FIRs against leaders who had spoken at meetings in Shahid Chowk and Nangla Mandoud. Affected family in Malikpura threatens self-immolation.
• Sept 2, 2013: Walls of places of atemple broken in Sanjhak and Titavi. BJP calls Muzaffarnagar bandh.
• Sept 3, 2013: Case filed for circulating fake video of Kawal incident. Violence in Shamli town.
• Sept 4, 2013: Sporadic violence in Muzaffarnagar.
• Sept 5, 2013: Mahabandh call given across Muzaffarnagar district. The Khap panchayat then announced to organize a ‘Bahu Beti Samaan Bachaoi Mahapanchyat‘ on September 7, at Nagla Mandaur
• Sept 7, 2013:  The panchayat was organized by the Jat community at Nagla Mandaur, 20 km from Muzaffarnagar city, where over 1.2 lakh people participated. People going to panchayat attacked.
• Firing  in Muzaffarnagar town as stoning, arson go unabated. Army called in and town put under indefinite curfew.  21 killed, more than a score injured in violence. — India Wires, 9 September 2013

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