Riot politics?

The shame of Muzaffarnagar

 Table of contents

Riots for votes?

Muzaffarnagar riots: How BJP, SP and BSP fanned the flames 04
What Muzaffarnagar taught us: How low our parties can go 09
Muzaffarnagar: Azam Khan attacks sting implicating him in riots 11
Muzaffarnagar riots: Mulayam is playing a dangerous game 13
Muzaffarnagar riots: The inciteful speeches that fanned rioters’ fury 15

Who gains from riots? politician

Muzaffarnagar riots: The start of the 2014 election games 17
Muzaffarnagar: Narendra Modi hasn’t visited but BJP will gain 19
Muzaffarnagar riot politics: Why SP’s loss could be Congress’ gain 21
Why Muzaffarnagar riots may point to a SP-BJP fight in 2014 23
How Muzaffarnagar riots highlight tragedy of police 25
Citing Muzaffarnagar, Mulayam govt bans BJP rally in Agra 27

The blame game

Muzaffarnagar: Ready for arrest, want CBI inquiry into the riots, says BJP MLA 29
PM’s visit to Muzaffarnagar is ‘secular tourism’, says BJP 30
Mulayam Singh is trying to be UP’s Modi, says Ajit Singh 31

Akhilesh’s Agony
Akhilesh Yadav met with angry protests in Muzaffarnagar 33
Muzaffarnagar riots: Akhilesh turned out to be a damp squib 34
Ground report: Why Muzaffarnagar is trial by fire for Akhilesh 36
Papa kehte hain: Akhilesh Yadav and his Mulayam problem 37
HC tells Akhilesh govt to tell them about all riots since it came to power 39
Muzaffarnagar riots: Timeline of UP violence under Akhilesh Yadav 40

Victims of votebank politics

Muzaffarnagar: Looking for the ‘missing’ at Shahpur police station 43
UP riots: Death toll touches 47, curfew eased in Muzaffarnagar 46
Muzaffarnagar riots and viral video: Why social media isn’t the villain 48

Copyright © 2012 Firstpost

Riots for votes?

Copyright © 2012 Firstpost

Muzaffarnagar riots: How BJP,
SP and BSP fanned the flames
A sustained hate campaign continued for days, even
as political leaders in power in Lucknow watched
silently, in the build-up to the Muzaffarnagar
violence. All political parties feasted on
the circumstances.
Raman Kirpal, Sep 16, 2013

M
uzaffarnagar: Was it really one mur-
der in a part of Muzaffarnagar nobody
had heard of until now that led to the
worst ever riots in the district, leaving over 45
people dead with the Army having to be called
in for the first time since the 1992 post-Babri
conflagration? Or was it the leaders of three ma-
jor political parties – the Samajwadi Party, the
Bharatiya Janata Party and the Bahujan Samaj
Party – who feasted on the incident and its im-
mediate counter attack, strategically adding to it
their hatred and falsehoods?
portedly killed a Muslim boy named Shahna-
waz. In retaliation, Shahnawaz’s relatives killed
Gaurav and Sachin. All three murders took
place in the tiny village of Kawal, Jansath tehsil,
over 20 km away from Muzaffarnagar city.
While it has been widely reported that the fight
was sparked off when Shahnawaz harassed
Gaurav and Sachin’s cousin sister, the FIR in
the murder astonishingly makes no mention of
sexual harassment or molestation. According to
police records, Gaurav and Sachin picked a fight
with Shahnawaz over a motorcycle accident.

But more significantly, within two hours of the

Mahapanchayat at village Sikhera on 7 September.
Image by Manish Kumar
The face-off between the Jats and Muslims,
which led to riots that spread to villages in the
interior of the district for the first time in the
history of Uttar Pradesh, is in fact rooted in a
systematic hate campaign initiated by leaders of
all political parties over the past several months.
Ostensibly, the narrative begins on August 27,
when two Jat boys – Gaurav and Sachin – re-
incident, the District Magistrate (DM) Surendra
Singh of the 2005 batch of the IPS along with
SSP Manzil Saini, another young and dynamic
IPS officer, were transferred. If you think the
transfer was an administrative rap on the
knuckles for non-performance in a crisis, think
again -- former Rajya Sabha MP and Muzaffar-
nagar resident Amir Alam Khan not only called
Singh a “communal” officer, but also admit-
ted to Firstpost that he had himself repeatedly
written to the chief minister seeking the DM’s
transfer.
To put it simply, Amir Alam Khan did to Suren-
dra Singh and Manzil Saini what Samajwadi
Party leader Narendra Bhati did to Durga Shakti
Nagpal in Greater Noida.
According to locals, Surendra Singh had refused
to toe the line of the ruling Samajwadi Party
(SP). Known to be a good, honest officer, he
had come down hard on his own administration
for corruption and had even started a massive

Copyright © 2012 Firstpost

campaign against encroachments and illegal
constructions. This kind of administration had
never been witnessed earlier in Muzaffarnagar,
and Surendra Singh was immensely popular for
it. But even as he earned kudos from the public,
SP politicians were gunning for him. They used
his caste (Surendra Singh is Jat) to plan his
ouster.
“Surendra Singh is communal. He should have
been removed much earlier. In fact, it is he who
instigated an attack on Muslims to take revenge
for his ouster,’’ claimed Amir Alam Khan to
Firstpost. Khan expects to be the SP candidate
from the Bijnor Lok Sabha constituency in
2014.
Did you write to CM and the party high com-
mand for Surendra Singh’s removal?
“I did, on several occasions,” admits Amir Alam
Khan.
In fact, Amir Alam and his MLA son Nawajish
(from the Budhana Assembly constituency in
Muzaffarnagar) had prepared the grounds for
Surendra Singh’s removal. The latter had writ-
ten to and personally complained to SP leader
Azam Khan who is in charge of Muzaffarnagar
district, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, his fa-
ther Mulayam Singh Yadav and his uncle Ram-
gopal Yadav.
But the diabolical politicking was only starting
with the ouster of Surendra Singh at the first
opportunity the political class got.
Suddenly, there were two new entrants in the
administration of a communally sensitive dis-
trict – Kaushal Raj Sharma in place of Surendra
Singh and Subhash Chandra Dubey replacing
Saini. When Additional Director General of
Police Arun Kumar visited Muzaffarnagar on
August 27 after the murders to take stock of
the situation, he assured that the situation was
under control. Arun Kumar is better known in
connection with the Aarushi murder case – his
probe had led to the arrest of three domestic
help.
Despite his assurances of calm, there is compel-
ling evidence to show that the Muzaffarnagar
administration was controlled from Lucknow
from August 27 onwards. Subhash Chandra
Dubey, another young IPS officer considered
‘difficult’ by politicians, could not be remote-
controlled and he too would be silently removed
four days later. The replacement was Praveen
Kumar Tripathi, on the pretext that Tripathi has
worked in Muzaffarnagar earlier.
Senior bureaucrats and police officials in Luc-
know had precise knowledge of the gravity
of the situation, evident from their frequent
rounds to Muzaffarnagar by helicopter.
By now, Amir Alam Khan having done his job,
it was now the turn of the BSP and BJP’s local
leaders to take over. Even a couple of Congress
leaders shared the dais with the BSP in the lat-
ter’s show of strength for Muslims.
That was when, as tension over the 27 Au-
gust killings continued, a video emerged on
YouTube, allegedly showing the killing of Gau-
rav and Sachin. Those who watched said it was
gruesome, simple butchery. The Investigating
Officer’s diary in the case states specifically that
BJP MLA Sangeet Som had clicked ‘like’ along-
side the YouTube video and had commented
against the barbaric murder.
The video was fake – it was online since 2010.
But that didn’t stop it from going Bharitya Kisan
Union (BKU) leaders Naresh and Tikait Tikait
promptly called for a panchayat on August 31.
BJP leaders Umesh Malik, Sadhvi Prachi, BJP
MLAs Kunwar Bhartendu and Suresh Raja,
former BJP MLAs Yograj Singh and Ashok
Kansal also jumped on the bandwagon, call-
ing the killing of the two brothers an attack on
Hindu samaj. Immediately, BSP MLAs Maulana
Jameel Ahmad, Noor Saleem Rana and Qadir
Rana turned a namaaz gathering into an as-
sembly at Meenakshi Chowk, Muzaffarnagar on
August 30, a day before the Jat panchayat.
BSP leaders made vociferous demands for jus-
tice for the Muslim boy killed in Kawal, alleg-
ing that Muslims were falsely implicated in the
murder of Gaurav and Sachin. Shockingly, the
new DM Kaushal Raj Sharma and senior police
officers shared the dais with the Muslim leaders
at Meenakshi Chowk.
Asked about the wisdom of such a move, Kaush-
al Raj says Muslims wanted to give their repre-
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
sentation for justice and he had gone there to
assure them of action in the case.
Look at the facts: The DM had slapped Sec-
tion 144, preventing any assembly of people.
He had ordered arrests if any leader organized
a people gathering. And then he attended a
meeting, sharing the dais with Muslim leaders.
It’s little wonder then that the DM and police
were dubbed biased and untrustworthy the
the following day’s panchayat of Jats at village
Sikhera.
About 2,500 people, including BKU and BJP
leaders, gathered at a school ground in Sikhera
on August 31. They were furious. They demand-
ed action from the Jat Samaj against the Mus-
lims. And they called for a ‘Mahapanchayat’,
where members of 17 Khap panchayats and
the entire Hindu biradari (people of 35 castes)
would attend.
The mood was so aggressive that dispersing
members of the panchayat forced a Maruti
Wagon R carrying four Muslims near Sikhera to
stop. The passengers were beaten. Though local
police came to their rescue, the car was trashed.
The local police registered a case against eight
persons.
The same day, August 31, Additional DG Arun
Kumar also descended in Muzaffarnagar, along
with a new SSP, in a helicopter. He came to
Sikhera, watched the panchayat proceedings
though the local police’s imposition of Section
144 was still in place. He gave a few interviews,
installed the new SSP Praveen Kumar Tripathi
who was replacing the three-day-old SSP Sub-
hash Chandra Dubey, and then left for Lucknow
by the same chopper.
Arun Kumar found the situation under con-
trol. Local police stations of villages Sikhera
and Kawal sent daily reports to DM Kaushal
Raj Sharma about the tense situation. Kaushal
Raj Sharma dutifully forwarded these with his
observations to Lucknow. And yet, it was agreed
that the September 7 mahapanchayat may be
allowed.
Weapons of all the policemen were deposited
with the police station. Rapid Action Force
(RAF) and Provincial Armed Constabulary
(PAC) were also deployed, but their weapons
were also kept in the deposits, because the local
administration completely ruled out any action
against the Mahapanchayat.
BJP leaders including Sangeet Som and Sadhavi
Prachi at dais on the panchayt day at village Sikhera on
31 August. Image by Manish Kumar.
“Let them gather and keep your restraint,” was
the message to the police. The PAC force, which
has earned notoriety for communal bias in the
past, was kept on the margins.
Between August 31 and September 7, no ac-
tion was taken to prevent the mahapanchayat.
“People come in tractor-trolleys to the ma-
hapanchayat. It was quite possible to instruct
all the police stations to stop all tractor-trolley
movement and prevent the Jats from attending
the mahapanchayat,’’ a senior policeman said
on request of anonymity. “But our hands were
tied.”
It is not true that the administration was not
expecting violence. The entire jamboree of bu-
reaucrats – the DGP himself, ADG Arun Kumar;
SSP Praveen Kumar Tripathi and DM Kaushal
Raj Sharma – were present at Sikhera when
the mahapanchayat began. Even Anita Singh,
secretary to CM Akhilesh Yadav, was aware. But
clearly, the message from the political bosses
was to take no decisive action.
The mahapanchayat saw a huge turnout. Ar-
rangements were made for them to leave their
tractor trolleys about two km away from the
venue.
The atmosphere was charged. Jats on the trac-
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
tor trolley were flashing their lathis, farm imple-
ments and were raising anti-Muslim slogans,
whenever they passed the Muslim areas. The
Muslims retaliated by showering stones and
bricks from rooftops.
Many rallyists got injured on their way to the
Mahapanchayat. This aggravated the situation
more. On the dais were BKU leaders Naresh
Tikait and Rakesh Tikait, all the Khap panchay-
ats’ heads, BJP MLAs Suresh Raja, Sangeet
Som, Kunwar Bhartendar Singh, former Lok
Dal MP Harender Singh Malik, former BJP MP
Sohanvir Singh, Chairman of the District Coop-
erative Bank Vandana Verma, Sangh Parivar’s
Sadhavi Prachi and many more.
According to the FIR recorded at Sikhera police
station, they made provocative speeches, seek-
ing revenge for the killing of Gaurav and Sachin.
The FIR booked 40 persons.
The mood was so charged that Muslim police-
men either went on leave or removed their
name-tag badges. The mob at Sikhera lynched
a Muslim lensman, Israar, who was filming the
mahapanchayat for the Muzaffarnagar police.
The Sikhera police station, however, did not
register any death. Policemen say Israar died of
a heart attack.
However, hospital records in which his name
is recorded as Isaar, say none of the victims
brought as riot victim died of a heart attack.
Rallyists returning from the Mahapanchayat
were attacked on their way back. Amit Kumar,
a student and resident of Kakada, told Firstpost
that the trolley was full of people and there was
a sudden shower of stones from the rooftops
of Muslim-dominated villages. Those who fell
down from the trolley were killed.’’
About 49 deaths are confirmed and bodies are
still being fished out from the canal. Majority of
the people who died were Muslims (37).
When the mayhem began on September 7 after
the mahapanchayat, Amir Alam Khan was in
Lucknow with Mulayam Singh Yadav. “I had
gone to Lucknow to discuss the situation and it
is only at his instance that the army was called
in,’’ Amir Alam Khan says.
Amir Alam Khan came back to Muzaffarnagar
and he held his first press conference on 12
September, raising his voice for the first time.
“The administration has failed miserably. The
local administration, and bureaucrats in Luc-
know, including CM Akhilesh Yadav’s secretary
Anita Singh misled the party high command
over the ground situation in Muzaffarnagar. Lo-
cal SP MLA Anuradha Singh is also responsible
for hobnobbing with BJP leaders,’’ Amir Alam
Khan roared at his press conference, then set-
tling down with no further explanation.
Simultaneously, the hate campaign went on
unabated. The local administration was com-
pletely controlled by politicians from Lucknow.
“Reports from local police stations, SSP and DM
office to Lucknow and subsequent visits by sen-
iormost police and administration officials from
Lucknow is documented evidence that everyone
was in the know about the hate campaign un-
leashed by political leaders and Khap panchay-
ats. Only a CBI enquiry will further bring out
the truth,” says a senior administration official.
“Rioting in the far-flung villages is very hard
to fight. In fact, if a chopper was rather taken
over these rioting villages to serve a warning,
some lives could have been saved,’’ he adds. The
chopper was instead used to ferry VVIPs and
bureaucrats to Muzaffarnagar.
The country may never know how Israar was
killed. Or whether the eight ‘unknown’ bodies,
including that of a 10-year-old child, were ever
identified. And whether the 25,000 Muslims
who fled their homes will ever go back.
Scarred, the Muslim community is looking to
the SP government for help, as indeed expected.
And in their attempt to emerge as a messiah for
the Muslims, the SP government is now alleg-
edly making efforts to dilute FIRs.
At Kawal police station, two FIRs were regis-
tered on August 27. The first FIR was registered
at 2.45 pm against eight accused, including
Shahnawaz. And the second FIR was filed at
9.30 pm against eight accused, including Gau-
rav and Sachin, who were killed.
Both the FIRs cite a fight over motorbike acci-
dent as the immediate cause of fight and mur-
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
der. Neither FIR mentions any sexual harass-
ment. The ‘bahu-beti bachao’ slogan of the
panchayats then appears inexplicable.
Only one person, Furkaan, has been arrested
so far in the Kawal murder case. According to
sources, the pressure on the Investigating Of-
ficer is on to remove names of accused from
the first FIR on the pretext that they were not
present in the village at the time of the incident.
On August 30, the Muzaffarnagar police station
registered a case against BSP leaders for hold-
ing the Muslim gathering at which the DM and
senior policeman were present. No arrests have
been made yet.
On August 31, Sikhera police station registered
two cases – one against 16 persons for unlaw-
ful gathering and another against eight men for
burning a Wagon R and the attack on its Mus-
lim occupants. On September 7, Sikhera police
station registered another FIR against 40 per-
sons, including BKU, BJP and RLD leaders.
For the 31 August panchayat, only nine arrests
were made. No political leader has been ar-
rested so far.
Investigating officers at these small police sta-
tions are under tremendous pressure. They have
not carried out any investigations so far. They
have just been writing their case diaries to fill in
the details of the mahapanchayat before appear-
ing in court for the next date.
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
What Muzaffarnagar taught us:
How low our parties can go
It is getting clearer that all parties - SP, BSP, BJP and
Congress - all played some role in the riots.
Akshaya Mishra, Sep 19, 2013

A
zam Khan will contest and contest hard
the content of a television sting opera-
tion that links him to the Muzaffarnagar
communal riots. As one of the top leaders of the
Samajwadi Party and a senior minister of the
Uttar Pradesh government, he cannot afford to
be seen as being involved.
However, if at all he is actually guilty of what he
is being accused of - allowing the riots to spread
by delaying police action - it should come as no
real surprise. It is par for the course in the per-
verse communal politics in Uttar Pradesh and
elsewhere in the country.
SP, the BSP, the BJP and the Congress - played
some role in the riots. It took a good 15 days for
the SP government to act, the BSP and Congress
leaders sided with the Muslim community and
the BJP leaders were, as usual, busy playing the
Hindu card.
Everyone was instigating the rioteers by their
actions, overt or covert, and there was hardly
any effort from them to ensure peace in the ru-
ral towns witnessing communal conflagration of
this magnitude for the first time.
Everyone wanted the situation to fester.

Now it is getting clearer that all parties - the With a big election around the corner, the
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
political intention is no mystery. The SP, which
has a weak presence in western Uttar Pradesh, a
Rashtriya Lok Dal stronghold, had a vested in-
terest in destabilising the Jat-Muslim vote bank
of the latter; the Sangh Parivar has been trying
to create a communal polarisation in the state to
bolster the BJP’s case in 2014; and the BSP and
the Congress have been trying to capitalise on
the Muslim grievance against both the parties.
When such ‘high’ goals dictate political behav-
iour, the loss of lives - 49 in Muzaffarnagar so
far - and the large scale displacement of people
are hardly of significance. How cynical can it
get!
Let’s face it. There’s nothing spontaneous about
cases of long-drawn communal violence. These
are planned in advance and planned well so
that they last much longer than a normal street
corner fisticuff between members of different
communities.
There are commanders in place to lead foot
soldiers during rioting and there is a hate-
mongering machinery at work to maintain the
emotional heat. And there’s always a design
behind all this, which is almost invariably politi-
cal. And yes, the success of the exercise depends
on the calculated indifference, if not active or
passive connivance, of the state governments
concerned.
We have seen this pattern in Gujarat and other
states too. Muzaffarnagar is only 478 km from
UP's capital Lucknow. Had the government
been serious it would have acted much quicker.
It is possible that with this communal incident
the parties have achieved their primary objec-
tive. If they haven’t, they will simply wait for
another such incident or a few more. The ques-
tion the country should be asking at this point is
who is accountable for the deaths.
The state government, under which over two
dozen communal violence cases have taken
place already in about a year-and-a-half, will
not take the blame. Nor will the BJP, which has
long been using the services of hardline Hindut-
va outfits such as the VHP and the Bajrang Dal
to promote its cause, nor would the Congress
which is no less culpable for taking advantage of
communal situations.
Going by the experience in earlier cases, police
action against these politicians - we last heard
that a local court has issued arrest warrants
against six politicians - is likely to go nowhere.
Azam Khan, the Muslim face of the SP and the
minister in charge of Muzaffarnagar, won’t ac-
cept any charge of wrongdoing. "Such things
aren't in my character, I would prefer dying
rather than living such a life," he has said re-
sponding to the sting operation. His govern-
ment has sprung to its defence, transferring
the police officials quoted on the tape the day it
became public. If only it had been as fast in ad-
dressing the communal tension.
BJP leader Uma Bharti has warned the govern-
ment of dire consequences if any of the BJP
leaders accused in the riots are arrested. Other
parties will also soon find ways to defend the
guilty.
It is a sorry situation indeed. Do we resign our-
selves to accepting that people must be sacri-
ficed in political games? In an ideal polity the
answer would be no. But there is nothing ideal
about our polity.
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
Muzaffarnagar: Azam Khan attacks
sting implicating him in riots
Pointing out that none of the policemen featured in the
sting operation videos had named him, he said that
the media seemed to be playing the role of
‘investigator, judge and executioner’.

FP Politics, Sep 18, 2013

A
shocking new media expose has im-
plied that the state government in Uttar
Pradesh was probably complicit in al-
lowing the riots in Muzaffarnagar to get out of
hand, forcing policemen to release rioters and
purposely not equipping stations in affected
areas with enough personnel.
Meanwhile UP Minister Azam Khan, who re-
acted strongly against the riots, even choosing
to skip a key party strategy meeting in protest,
held a press conference on Wednesday, decry-
ing the fact that media channels were naming
him as one of those responsible for fanning the
riots.

A sting operation carried out by the Headlines

Today television channel spoke to police offic-
ers who said that they had been prevented from
taking action against rioters by Samajwadi Party
leaders.

The report quotes RS Bhagaur, a police officer

attached to the Fugana police station, which
saw some of the worst violence, as saying that
he did not receive adequate police personnel to
control the riots, adding wryly that "everything
is practical'.

Another report based on the same sting opera-

tion quoted Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM)
RC Tripathi and Circle Officer JR Joshi who had
returned from a tour of riot affected areas. Joshi
had detained the eight men who had allegedly
killed a teenage boy, the incident which is wide-
ly believed to have triggered the riots. However
he told the channel that he had been forced to
file a 'weak FIR' and release them.
"When I saw the FIR, it had only one person's
name. We're helpless. A 'weak' FIR was filed.
"We were told their name is not in the FIR,
what's the need to detain them?", the channel
was told.
(Read the full transcripts here)
Pointing out that none of the policemen fea-
tured in the sting operation videos had named
him, he said that the media seemed to be play-
ing the role of 'investigator, judge and execu-
tioner'. "Don't blame me for the Muzaffarnagar
riots. If I had a role to play, then you must show
the records", he said before dramatically declar-
ing that he would prefer to "die rather than live
if such charges are found to be true".
"In the sting operation, it was the TV channel
that forced the SHO to talk about Azam Khan.
But when they play the video they have beeped
out their voice. I challenge them to find tele-
phone records from all districts, Muzafarnagar,
Saharanpur, Meerut, which ever one, you won't
find records where I have called up the police. If

Copyright © 2012 Firstpost

somebody else has done it with my name then I
cannot be held responsible for that", he said.
He added that it was "not in his character" to
carry out such a course of action.
Interestingly, the two police officers featured in
the sting operation, Budhana Inspector Rishipal
and the Inspector of Fugana have been trans-
ferred.
While Budhana Inspector Rishipal was sent
back to Crime Branch from where he was
brought a day ago, Inspector of Fhuwana Police
Station was sent to police lines, Zee News re-
ported, quoting sources.
However, the UP police later termed the trans-
fers as routine.
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
Muzaffarnagar riots: Mulayam is
playing a dangerous game
Secularism in India is merely an assurance to protect
minorities from alleged majoritarian excess. That’s
why political parties want to keep alive a
constant perceived fear among minorities,
to emerge as their saviours later
Dhiraj Nayyar, Sep 9, 2013

M
ulayam Singh Yadav wears secularism
on his sleeve. So how does he square
that with the communal murder and
mayhem in Muzaffarnagar that has already cost
30 lives? Or indeed in several other pockets of
Uttar Pradesh over the last one year even as his
son and sundry relatives preside over the ad-
ministration in Lucknow?
Now, the protection of the life and property
of every individual (including minorities) ir-
respective of religion and other such identities
is a different principle from secularism. Syria’s
Bashar-al-Assad is staunchly secular but doesn’t
hesitate to brutalise a section of his citizens.
Saddam Hussein was secular too, but cared lit-
tle for his citizens' life and limb. And then there
are countries, like the United Kingdom, which
are not secular (The Queen is the Head of the
Church of England) but where individual and
religious freedom is a reality.

For secularism to serve its political purpose in

India there needs to be a perpetual fear in the
minds of minorities about a potential threat to
their lives and property from the majority. It
suits politicians of all colour to allow this fear
to simmer because they can then fashion them-
selves as saviours. That is why the Samajwadi
Party has been pussyfooting about the commu-
nal violence in its backyard for several months.

It’s simple. For Mulayam, and for his fellow
travellers across the political spectrum, secular-
ism is not as much a constitutional principle as
an instrument of political power. In principle,
all that secularism requires is a complete de-
tachment of the state and religion, even as the
state protects every individual’s right to worship
their own faith. In India, the state has always
dabbled in religion, whether by subsidising Haj
pilgrims, passing legislation on religion-based
civil law or by managing temple trusts. Secular-
ism in India is practised quite differently, as
the matter of protecting the life and property of
minority communities against alleged majori-
tarian excess.
Needless to say, this is a dangerous game.
Politicians assume that they can close the lid
when the simmer comes to boil. Mulayam Singh
Yadav’s recent admonishing of Akhilesh Yadav
is a case in point as things began to get out of
hand in Muzaffarnagar. But at some point, like
in Muzaffarnagar, the toll (in terms of human
lives) begins to rise sharply as violence cas-
cades.
Politics is the art of the possible. The Samajwadi
Party is desperate. It has singularly failed to
provide governance in UP. Its political trajec-
tory is heading south. But it wants to see itself
as a King-maker after the next General Election.
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
It is, therefore, trying to shore up its core vote
among the state's Muslims. The Durga Shakti
Nagpal episode last month was a perfect exam-
ple of such cynical politics, where an honest IAS
office was painted by politicians as a communal
fanatic who destroyed the wall of a mosque.
Unfortunately, the run up to the General Elec-
tion will witness more of this dangerous game.
Beyond Mulayam and the SP, the Congress, also
desperate after a second term spent in corrup-
tion and misgovernance, will build up a fear
factor around the BJP and their Prime Ministe-
rial candidate Narendra Modi and then claim to
be the sole guardian of ‘secularism’. This, they
hope, will consolidate minority votes for Con-
gress. Of course, Modi and the BJP carry the
baggage of majoritarianism and they haven’t
ever dumped it convincingly enough, giving the
SP and Congress a window to exploit. Still, let’s
face it. The SP and Congress don't practise true
secularism. They just use it as an instrument of
political power. In the end it is just communal-
ism by a different name.
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
Muzaffarnagar riots: The inciteful
speeches that fanned rioters’ fury
The real culprit behind Muzaffarnagar violence is not
social media but the politicians who keep fanning
violence between communities.
FP Staff, Sep 12, 2013

F
rom social media to Whatsapp, from the
so-called polarisation of Uttar Pradesh
after the arrival of Narendra Modi-aide
Amit Shah in the state to the bogey of 'love
jehad', the causes cited for the Muzaffarnagar
riots have ranged from the suspect to the bi-
zarre. Now, television grabs of speeches made
by political leaders belonging to either commu-
nity, show exactly what hate-speeches fanned
the rioters' fury.
According to a report in Headlines Today, these
speeches by political party leaders played a key
role in setting the stage for the violence that
subsequently claimed at least 38 lives.
The police have now almost agreed that it was a
bad decision to allow the maha-panchayat to be
held on Saturday as part of the religious fanning
seems to have happened from there. Accord-
ing to reports, there were provocative speeches
against Muslims made in the panchayat largely
attended by Jat Hindu farmers.
As Praveen Swami of Firstpost had earlier
pointed out, blaming social media and a video
of two boys being lynched in Sialkot is missing
the point completely. The growing clamour call-
ing for curbs on social media because of some
imagined connection with rising political vio-
lence ignores politicians who thrive on violence.

The report points to comments made by Qader As the Headlines Today report asked, Who will
Rana of the Bahujan Samaj Party who was ad- bring these politicians to book?
dressing the Muslim panchayat, Saeed-Ur-Zama
of the Congress party and Rashid Siddiqui of the
Samajwadi Party.
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
Who gains from riots? politician

Copyright © 2012 Firstpost

Muzaffarnagar riots: The start of
the 2014 election games
Clearly, minus any governance successes, the Akhilesh
Yadav government is playing with fire, stoking
communal tensions in the run-up to 2014.
FP Staff Sep 9, 2013

B
y various accounts, anywhere between
39 and 100 riots have taken place in
Uttar Pradesh since the suave, iPad-
carrying Akhilesh Yadav became chief minister
of arguably India’s most communally sensitive
state. During ten days preceding the violence in
Muzaffarnagar and its surrounding areas in the
powder keg known as Western UP, there were
incidents of violence, counter-attacks, various
groups calling for bandhs and protests and fi-
nally a Mahapanchayat on Saturday where over
1 lakh Jats were in attendance. Emotions were
running high since 27 August with the killing of
a young man accused of molesting a girl, fol-
lowed by the revenge killing of the two men who
had killed apparently to protect their sister’s
honour.
The glaring fact is that there was simply no
overarching issue or context that can explain
how the violence not only escalated rapidly,
claiming the lives of nearly 30 people including
a journalist, but also spread to neighbouring
districts.
A separate, unrelated incident appears to have
triggered the mob violence in Shamli, the neigh-
bouring district that has also suffered major

Copyright © 2012 Firstpost

damage to life and property over the past week
– that incident reportedly involved a sweeper
being assaulted, followed by a large group from
the sweeper’s community raging on the streets.
It is obvious to anyone who considers the Muz-
affarnagar riots with more than a casual glance
that there is wilful political incendiarism.
The Akhilesh government has now promised to
arrest BJP leaders, including one for allegedly
stoking communal tensions with a video that
was actually made in Pakistan nearly two years
ago. There is no doubt that that arresting senior
BJP leaders will only further politicise a sharply
polarised region.
Needless to add, amid all the action, there have
been no arrests for the three murders that start-
ed it all on 27 August. Which begs the question
then, just who is playing with fire in the run-up
to 2014 in a state where a young new govern-
ment has been an abysmal failure on all fronts?
And not so long ago, Akhilesh’s government
was bringing its might down upon an upright
woman IAS officer for supposedly endangering
communal harmony.
Not only has the Samajwadi Party government
come in for criticism for its brazen inaction
leading to the current violence, but it has also
watched mutely as Hindutva forces have at-
tempted to communalise the state in prepara-
tion for electoral skirmishes.
A report in the Economic Times says there were
39 incidents of communal riots in the state ac-
cording to police records between March 2012,
when Akhilesh took over as CM, and August
2013 – a score of over two riots a month. Op-
position parties peg that number as nearly 100
incidents. “Muzaffarnagar itself has seen three
cases of communal riots in 2013 including the
latest one. In June last year too, Muzaffarnagar
had seen clashes which left 20 people injured,”
says the report, pointing to the Samajwadi
Party’s pro-minority policies and the introduc-
tion of Amit Shah, close aide of Narendra Modi,
as BJP’s campaign in charge in the state, as
further causes for the deep political rifts among
communities in Uttar Pradesh.
In fact, without political compulsions, large-
scale communal conflict is no longer perceived
as a clear and present danger in India, not like
in the 1980s and 1990s anyway.
“While there have been intermittent episodes
across north India in the last few years, the fear
of large-scale communal conflict has mostly
ebbed in the national consciousness. Unlike the
turbulent 1980s and '90s, when the Hindutva
mobilisation was being shaped and sharpened,
there is no framing context for its eruption
now,” says an editorial in The Indian Express,
going on to argue that a new politics of aspira-
tion has overtaken religious issues with the BJP
itself attempting to paint itself as a “party of
government”.
Amid the massive failures of governance in Ut-
tar Pradesh, exploiting old communal tensions
appears to be the ringing of the bell for the start
of election games, 2014.
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
Muzaffarnagar: Narendra Modi
hasn’t visited but BJP will gain
The emerging social equations are such that BJP is
back in the reckoning in UP, the state that sends
80 MPs to Lok Sabha, one-seventh of its
total strength.
Sanjay Singh, Sep 17, 2013
T
he aftermath of Muzaffarnagar riots,
where 48 persons were killed and as per
official UP government estimates around
42000 persons of both communities have been
displaced have brought that unfortunate reality
to the fore.
A flying visit by the three seniormost Congress
leaders has done little to inspire confidence
among Muzaffarnagar's people. Beyond the
sound bites and photo-ops with some chosen
few at the two relief camps in Bassi Kalan and
Tawli, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA
chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress vice-
president Rahul Gandhi had little to offer to the
victims of the communal riots.
The single issue that has captured minds in
Uttar Pradesh now is whether the Muslim com-
munity will now trust the Congress vis-à-vis the
Samajwadi Party when it comes to the crunch
-- at the polling booth. Will the BSP succeed in
forging a winning combination of Jatavas and
Muslims?
The Jats, the other affected community, as the
emerging situation on the ground suggests now,
will move to the BJP, leaving virtually no space
for Union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh’s
Rashtriya Lok Dal.
When Parliamentary elections are only six
months away, politics seems to have an over-
powering effect on moves and counter moves by
all parties. So, while it may have been a sincere
call of duty, the way the top three arrived to-
gether in the riot-torn district was indicative of
how desperately the Congress wants to be seen
as a friend in need to the Muslims, particularly
when UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav was
booed by members of the community during his
visit to the region only a day ago.
They would have done well to consider the flip
side.
The images of Manmohan Singh, Sonia and Ra-
hul Gandhi talking only to members of the Mus-
lim community is hurting the other community,
the Jats in particular -- there are 42,000 people
in relief camps, belonging to either community.
The other thing the Congress think tank would
have done well to consider is that the party does
not have an organizational network of leader-
ship on the ground to follow up the assurances
made during a flying trip. Law and order, and
land (the displaced are demanding alternative
plots and houses) being a state subject, there
is not much that the Congress-led UPA at the
centre can offer.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s words were
general in nature and spoken in a manner as
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
if he was playing as per a script. Even if that’s
symbolism, it has certainly not gone down well
with the members of the other community.
The Jats are now aggrieved again -- this time
because their woes were not taken note of by
either the state government or the visiting
Congress dignitaries. The truth is that a large
number of Jats have been affected in the riots.
Though the government has not released the
names of the those killed in the riots along with
a community-wise break-up like union Finance
Minister P Chidambaram did -- standing in for
an unwell Sushilkumar Shinde, with poor re-
sults -- for the Kishtwar violence in Parliament,
some Jats are claiming that they suffered more
because those returning from the Mahapan-
chayat on September 7 were taken by complete
surprise when the attack began.
These claims may be unsubstantiated, but will
have their impact on the polity nevertheless.
The problem is the riots, originated with a mi-
nor incident in Kawal village with unfortunate
death of Shahnawaz, Gaurav and Sachin spread
to the social psyche of rural areas of the region
where Jats and Muslims lived without any his-
tory of social tension.
The resentment among members of the com-
munity is so high that Sompal Shastri, a former
Union minister and a respected Jat leader
surrendered his ticket to Mulayam Singh Ya-
dav to contest as a Samajwadi Party candidate.
Shastri had won on BJP ticket against Ajit Singh
in 1998 but had subsequently switched sides.
There is a strong possibility that he may return
to the BJP.
The emerging social equations are such that
BJP is back in the reckoning in UP, the state
that sends 80 MPs to Lok Sabha, one-seventh
of its total strength. Narendra Modi’s rivals
should watch out for the BJP's rising graph in
India’s most populous state. While the BJP is
surely buoyant about its prospects, a number of
Muslim leaders and intellectuals from the state,
albeit with some apprehension, admit that this
time the BJP's optimism may not be misplaced.
Narendra Modi may not have visited UP yet but
his ghost is fast catching fancy.
BJP president Rajnath Singh held a core com-
mittee meeting of the party’s UP unit to devise
its strategy for the Lok Sabha elections. The
Muzaffarnagar riots and the aftermath was the
focus of attention.
The party’s general secretary in-charge of UP,
Amit Shah, and the party’s most popular face in
the state Varun Gandhi were part of the meet-
ing. Meanwhile, all parties noted the disap-
pointment of Muslim leaders who met Prime
Minister later in the evening on Monday, after
he returned from Muzaffarnagar.
After the meeting, Maulana Mahmood Madani
of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind, the largest body of
Sunni Muslim clerics, was quoted by Times of
India as saying, "Our meeting with the PM was
very disappointing. We had expected he would
at least give us some hope, some strong assur-
ance that such communal violence won't be
allowed to happen. But he did not even say that
the Muzaffarnagar riots were bad or unfortu-
nate, especially since he had just returned after
seeing the extent of damage and brutality."
The number of persons who migrated to re-
lief camps is unusually high. In fact, Jats were
asked by the administration to immediately
move out from such villages where Muslims
were in a majority.
Likewise, Muslims were asked to move out from
villages where they were in a minority. There
are more Muslims in the camps also because
they, like the administration, feared more retali-
atory attacks from the Jats.
The only silver lining is, as some say, that this is
still not a Hindu-Muslim conflict. It remains a
Jat-Muslim conflict. Even among the Muslims,
it's the Qureshis who are believed to be more
aggressive.
Either way, nothing can be more torturous for
the victims, refugees in their own homeland.
The state and union government have the most
difficult challenge at hand, restoring communal
amity. Success or failure will determine who
votes for whom. In the meantime, Modi's team
would be planning how to cash in some more.
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
Muzaffarnagar riot politics:
Why SP’s loss could be Congress’ gain
The BSP is a good alternative when it comes to the
assembly elections. But with the possibility of the
Narendra Modi-led BJP grabbing power at the centre
looming large, the Congress option works better.

Akshaya Mishra, Sep 17, 2013

R
est assured, the communal conflagra-
tion in Muzaffarnagar won’t be the last
one in Uttar Pradesh before the general
elections next year.
There’s too much at stake in the state for politi-
cal parties - the BJP has to secure at least 50
seats out of the 80 to be a strong claimant to
power at the centre; the Samajwadi Party has to
secure as many if not more seats if it wants to
be the potential leader of a third front, and the
Congress needs to do better than its 22 seats in
2009 to stay in the hunt for power.
dence, both BJP and the SP benefit from com-
munal violence and the subsequent polarization
of votes. The former secures a big chunk of
Hindu votes, while the latter gets Muslim votes
on the rebound. Ever since the arrival of the SP
on the political scene in the state, the Congress
is no longer a favourite among the Muslim com-
munity. Yet it also gains in case there is intelli-
gent voting against the BJP.
In 2009, the party had secured 24 percent of
the Muslim votes, compared to 30 percent for
the SP and 18 percent for the BSP. The strategic
voting in favour of secular parties saw the BJP
relegated to 10 seats.

This time, however, the equation might change

to the advantage of the Congress at the cost of
the SP. This has to do with factors both local
and national.

The Muslims, deeply divided along caste lines

In the perverse realpolitik that we are familiar
with now, everyone has a chance to gain, by
design or default, if there is communal polarisa-
tion.
The Muzaffarnagar riots were not the first inci-
dent of communal violence in UP: AP
The Muzaffarnagar riots were not the first inci-
dent of communal violence in UP: AP
So who stands to benefit most from the cases
communal violence in UP? Going by the evi-
within, are not the monolithic vote bank as they
are painted to be by many political analysts. The
BJP is not the party of choice for the community
- it accounts for 20 percent of the voters and has
the potential to make or mar the prospects of
candidates in at least 25 seats if it votes strategi-
cally. But it votes differently when it comes to
secular parties in different elections.
Yet, when there’s a perceived threat to the com-
munity, the votes consolidate in favour of one
party. The party on the receiving end of the
votes this time, could well be the Congress.
At the local level, the community which voted
resoundingly for the SP in 2012 assembly elec-
tions seems to have lost faith in the party.
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
According to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s
own admission in the state assembly, there have
been 27 cases of communal violence in the state
ever since the party came to power. Three of
them, he said, were of serious nature. This was
before the Muzaffarnagar incident.
In most of these cases, the Muslims were at the
receiving end. More than 45,000 refugees from
the recent communal violence could not be good
news for the SP.
A few months ago, a Muslim police officer was
killed in an attack by supporters of Raja Bhaiya,
an MLA known to be close to the party’s leader-
ship, and the government was found wanting in
its action by the community. BJP leader Varun
Gandhi got a clean chit from the court in the
communal hate speech case after all witnesses
turned hostile under mysterious circumstances.
Moreover, the government has failed keep its
promise to withdraw terror charges slapped on
Muslim youths by the Mayawati dispensation.
Frustration is building up in the community
and its leaders are getting increasingly criti-
cal of the Akhilesh-Mulayam duo, who seem to
have abandoned their role as protector. Come
the elections, they might look at other options
seriously.
The BSP is a good alternative when it comes to
the assembly elections. But with the possibility
of the Narendra Modi-led BJP grabbing power
at the centre looming large, the Congress option
works better. The BJP has almost washed its
hands of the community and looks determined
to experiment with the Gujarat model of elec-
tioneering in UP. That is by courting the major-
ity community aggressively.
The appointment of Modi’s confidante Amit
Shah as the campaign chief was the first indica-
tion of this strategy. The party’s support to the
chaurasi koti parikrama by the VHP was anoth-
er. The parikrama sought to revive the Ayodhya
Ram temple movement by mobilising sadhus
and lay Hindus. It ended in a whimper as there
was no public support for it but the move made
the BJP’s game plan clear: it wanted communal
polarisation before the elections. The incidents
of communal violence fit into the larger picture.
The community has reason to be wary of the
developments. Moreover, its aversion to Modi
could make it go for the Congress. For it voting
for Mulayam’s party makes little sense since he
might not be in a position to be part of the gov-
ernment at the centre after the 2014 elections.
The Congress could thus be a gainer by default.
For now, expect the SP to go on hyperactive
mode to win over the community by playing on
their fears. It won’t even mind a few more com-
munal incidents.
Every party loves some good communal vio-
lence. It’s perverse, but it is true.
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
Why Muzaffarnagar riots may
point to a SP-BJP fight in 2014
The Muzaffarnagar riots in Ajit Singh’s backyard
may be setting the backdrop for the communal
polarisation in 2014.
Sanjay Singh, Sep 10, 2013
T
ill about 10 days back, Muzaffarnagar did
not have a history of communal tension.
Jats and Muslims, the two numerically
dominant and socially influential communi-
ties, lived fairly peacefully. Even their voting
preferences have broadly been the same in most
elections. But the communal tension that began
with a rather small, if not entirely trivial, issue
on 27 August, has changed everything.
The Muzaffarnagar riots are one more statistic
in the 50-odd mini riots that have taken place
under the watch of Akhilesh Yadav in Uttar
Pradesh since he was elected last May. The
most unfortunate part, apart from the fact that
so many people were killed, is that the riots
spread to rural areas. The intensity of animos-
ity appears to be much stronger than initially
anticipated and the riots lasted much longer
than they would usually have in urban areas.
The death toll, according to official figures, is 31,
but the locals suspect that the actual number of
dead may be much more. There are many youth
missing from both communities, and nobody is
in a position to comment on their fate. Several
of them have fled to find security elsewhere, but
there are also apprehensions that some of these
'missing' may well be dead.
Indian policemen walk on a road scattered with
bricks and stones thrown during a communal
clash in Muzaffarnagar, about 125 kilometers
(78 miles) north of New Delhi, India, Monday,
Sept. 9, 2013. Sectarian violence was spreading
into new areas of northern India on Monday,
despite an army-enforced curfew put in place
after deadly weekend clashes broke out between
Hindus and Muslims that has killed at least 28
people and left many more missing.
That Akhilesh Yadav has not been upto the task
of handling the riots is clear, but the fact that
they are happening in the run-up to the next
parliamentary elections indicates that they may
have a political dimension. All the political par-
ties concerned are, in fact, weighing the conse-
quences.
The Samajwadi Party is blaming the BJP and
the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) for creating
the trouble because some of their leaders partic-
ipated in a condolence meeting-cum-panchayat
held on 31 August, organised in protest against
the brutal lynching of two boys who had gone
to a Muslim-dominated village to warn against
a supposed relationship between a Muslim boy
and a Jat girl.
In the meanwhile, a Muslim youth was killed in
retaliation, according to one version of events.
The local panchayat then decided to call a Ma-
hapanchayat on 7 September at Nagla Mandaur,
near Muzaffarnagar.
The problem escalated from there. The state
administration knew of the communal ten-
sions. Even Union Home Minister Sushilkumar
Shinde has gone on record to say that his minis-
try had cautioned the UP government about the
likely communal flare-up. The administration
issued prohibitory orders and imposed Section
144.
It was at the Mahapanchayat that some inflam-
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
matory speeches were made and some victim
accounts narrated. Over one lakh people from
the neighbouring districts, including some from
Haryana, had gathered. The confusion started
from here. According to some local accounts,
the Muslims of the locality thought that the
Jats had all gathered with a purpose and were
returning with a vow to take revenge in their re-
spective areas. Some of them, goes one version
of events, then decided that offence was the best
form of defence and attacked those returning
from the Mahapanchayat. Several persons were
killed and more were injured.
An influential Muslim leader, who also has busi-
ness interests in the area, told Firstpost that
unlike other parts of the state, the economic
conditions of Muslims in this area are relatively
better, but this kind of aggression has never
been seen. “It looks as though some outside
influence has been working here. We can’t say
who and what, but the most unfortunate part is
that this will leave a scar that is not going to be
healed in years to come. Since the violence has
originated from rural areas and rapidly spread
to the hinterland, we fear for what may hap-
pen after the army is removed and as we move
closer to the elections.”
Asked how this incident will impact the com-
ing Lok Sabha elections in a state that sends
80 MPs, he spoke of something that was very
interesting from a Muslim political perspective.
“In all riots and riot-like situations, Muslims
face the brunt. Very often, the police target the
younger members, bringing total gloom in the
community. But this time the clash was between
two communities. The police and the army have
brought the situation under control, without
specifically targeting the minority community.
The Samajwadi government has been fair in
dealing with the situation even as it proved to
be incompetent in containing the communal
flare-up at the outset.”
He and others blame it on the Mahapanchayat.
Why was it allowed to happen when Section 144
was imposed? Couldn’t it have been stopped
like the government had stopped the Chaurasi
kos Yatra of Hindu saints in Ayodhya? But then
it appears that the ruling Samajwadi Party,
despite all-round criticism, is holding its ground
in its core social constituency. This region is
in the influence zone of RLD leader and Civil
Aviation leader Ajit Singh, who inherited the Jat
votebank from his father, Chaudhary Charan
Singh.
The RLD, which contested the 2009 parliamen-
tary elections along with the BJP, won five Lok
Sabha seats but switched sides to contest the
2012 assembly elections with the Congress. The
RLD won nine assembly seats.
In the recent communal violence, the Jats ap-
pear to have been at the receiving end. There
are early indications that the riots may cost Ajit
Singh’s RLD and the Congress dearly, assuming
the two contest the 2014 parliamentary polls
together.
Mayawati has come out strongly against the
Akhilesh government. The BSP and the Con-
gress have one point in common – they claim
that it was a fixed match between the SP and the
BJP, since a polarisation is said to benefit both
of them.
While the veracity of their charges can never
be ascertained, if a polarisation does happen, it
could put the Congress and the BSP out of the
reckoning for Muslim votes, at least in substan-
tive chunks. If that happens, then it could well
turn out to be a Samajwadi versus BJP fight in
Uttar Pradesh.
With Modi set to become the face of the BJP in
the 2014 elections and his protégé, Amit Shah,
being put in charge of the Uttar Pradesh cam-
paign, there is already a Hindutva undercurrent.
This got a further push following the Samajawa-
di Party’s pro-minority tilt and announcements
of various kinds. The BJP is officially making
very restrained and legally compatible com-
ments. It knows that any over-the-top position
will affect its credibility. But it is asking why no
names of Samajwadi Party leaders have cropped
up in the riots. As per the SP’s organisational
structure, party strongman Azam Khan has su-
pervisory control of the districts.
Off the record, some BJP leaders are asking
questions on the community-wise break up of
the persons who have been arrested or accused
of instigating the riots. As 2014 nears, one can
expect the tensions to continue simmering.
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
How Muzaffarnagar riots
highlight tragedy of police
Barring a few details, the pattern in all such
unfortunate happenings remains the same. As usual,
a small incident – a Jat girl tormented by two Muslim
boys - triggered it all, as if it was religion that
induced this eve teasing.
RK Raghavan, Sep 13, 2013

Y
et another shameful chapter has become
part of Indian social history. We may be
right in blaming the British for having
divided us on the basis of religion in order to
perpetuate their rule. But then, is that available
to us as an alibi, six decades after the alien ruler
left our shores? Certainly not. The truly secular
Indian has every reason to be dismayed by what
happened in Muzaffarnagar recently.
to speculate what will come out of this. In any
case criminal investigations are hardly a deter-
rent, and will offer no balm to the victims. The
judicial enquiry that the UP government has
ordered is widely looked upon as a joke, that
too, a cruel joke, meant mainly to muffle the
voices of many sane elements in the area who
are privy to facts which do not show the state in
good light. This is a trick many chief ministers
across the nation resort to in order to silence
their detractors. Akhilesh Yadav cannot there-
fore be faulted.

Barring a few details, the pattern in all such

unfortunate happenings remains the same. As
usual, a small incident – a Jat girl tormented
by two Muslim boys - triggered it all, as if it was
religion that induced this eve teasing. It is crass
religious prejudice that is the agent provocateur
for violence in all such instances. It is that kind
of prejudice which magnifies what should nor-
mally pass off as mere sexual misconduct in a
semi-urban context.

Uttar Pradesh is no doubt a politically pow-
erful state. Unfortunately however, over the
years, the state has acquired a reputation for
insensitivity to the sacred task of protecting the
minorities. The State could now justifiably be
looked upon as inhospitable and dangerous by
the minorities. Internationally speaking Muz-
affarnagar could also become a metaphor for
intolerance.
The Supreme Court is now seized of the matter
thanks to a PIL which demands a CBI enquiry
into the whole sequence of events. It is difficult
As in every other religious clash, in Muzaffar-
nagar also political leaders and their followers
belonging to the majority and minority com-
munities have been quick to jump into the fray
and indulge in rabble-rousing and more. Our
politicians seem to believe that every communal
clash, even if they did not directly engineer it,
provides an opportunity to expand their politi-
cal base, and such an opportunity should rarely
be missed, especially when a major election is
round the corner. Whatever has been reported
from Muzaffarnagar confirms that the need for
restraint on such emotionally surcharged occa-

Copyright © 2012 Firstpost

sions was given a total go-by.
Far too many reports by the media suggest that
the local administration watched by in the ini-
tial stages, particularly when the Hindus con-
vened the so-called Maha Panchayat, and this
was a major contributory factor to the violence
to escalate as it did. This is why debates on
Hindu-Muslim riots need to focus on the ad-
ministration’s response at the very early stage of
trouble.
There is the all round charge that the mob who
thronged at the Panchayat carried many kinds
of arms, and gathered in defiance of the Sec.144
orders. Incidentally, such prohibitory orders
have become a joke. The administration usu-
ally imposes the prohibition for form sake and
to keep its record clean. We saw this last year in
Mumbai when the Shiv Sena took out a massive
procession from chowpatty and the police were
a mute spectator.
The sequence to police apathy is now well
known. The phenomenon of police passivity
even when their orders are being flouted is pe-
culiar to India. This meek submission to un-
ruly elements in society and total abdication of
responsibility takes place because the police are
under the thumb of the ruling political party,
which would alone take decisions that should
normally fall within the province of the police.
This ludicrous situation holds good in the mat-
ter of arrests as well. An immediate response to
a communal incident should be the swift arrest
of all known trouble-mongers on both sides.
This has a salutary impact on the further course
of events. It is known that this did not happen
in Muzaffarnagar. A few deserving of arrest
were branded by the police as ‘unavailable’. The
same persons were however available to the
media.
Sweeping as it may seem, communal clashes
will never be handled professionally by the
police as long as they remain an appendage of
the ruling party. As things stand now, like in the
case of the CBI, no political party will ever agree
to insulate the police from the caprice of street-
level politicians.
This is why it is unfair and preposterous to hold
the police responsible for any inaction. We will
never know of the numerous directions –both to
act and not to act- that the Muzaffarnagar Police
may have received in the crucial days. Those of
us who have toiled for decades in the field know
how difficult it is to perform when communal
passions are aroused not only by local leaders
but by those at the helm of affairs in a State
government. I do not hold a brief for the truly
incompetent and communally partisan police-
man. There are quite a few of them.
Fortunately however this species constitutes
only a small percentage of the whole police
force in the country. The majority are itching for
professional freedom. They are however afraid
to act in pressure cooker situations, lest they be
penalized for doing the right thing. This is the
tragedy of the Indian Police.
(The writer is a former CBI Director)
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
Citing Muzaffarnagar, Mulayam
govt bans BJP rally in Agra
Citing the recent violence in Muzaffarnagar of Uttar
Pradesh as a reason, District Magistrate Zuher Bin
Sagir of Agra has withdrawn permission to the
Bharatiya Janata Party to hold a “Swabhimaan Rally”
September 15 at Akola, 18 km from Agra.
IANS, Sep 13, 2013

A
gra: Citing the recent violence in Muzaf-
farnagar of Uttar Pradesh as a reason,
District Magistrate Zuher Bin Sagir of
Agra has withdrawn permission to the Bharati-
ya Janata Party to hold a "Swabhimaan Rally"
September 15 at Akola, 18 km from Agra.
Agra, a traditionally strong Jat area of Uttar
Pradesh, is about 300 km from Muzaffarnagar,
and about 320 km from state capital Lucknow.
The "Swabhimaan Rally" (Self-Respect Rally)
was to be addressed by senior party leader L.K.
Advani and fire-brand member of parliament
Varun Gandhi. In 2009, in the run-up to gen-
eral elections, Varun Gandhi was charged with
making a hate-speech targetting Muslims. He
was acquitted early 2013.
The administration explained that Section 144
of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, barring "unlaw-
ful assembly armed with deadly weapon" was in
force.
Intelligence reports said there were threats of
trouble in rural areas after the rally.
Local BJP workers, however, said they would go
ahead with the rally come what may.

Copyright © 2012 Firstpost

The blame game

Copyright © 2012 Firstpost

Muzaffarnagar: Ready for arrest, want
CBI inquiry into the riots, says BJP MLA
BJP MLA Sangeet Som, against whom an arrest
warrant has been issued in connection with the
Muzaffarnagar riots, on Wednesday said he was
ready for arrest and demanded a CBI inquiry
into the entire issue.
PTI, Sep 13, 2013

L
ucknow: BJP MLA Sangeet Som, against
whom an arrest warrant has been issued
in connection with the Muzaffarnagar
riots, on Wednesday said he was ready for ar-
rest and demanded a CBI inquiry into the entire
issue.
warrant against him, told reporters.
"I am being accused of instigating the people
by giving inflammatory speech...If that is is the
case, there would be a CD...They should show
it," Som, an MLA from Sardhana, said.

The BJP MLA exhorted the government to act

judiciously.

"Government should take cognisance of the

truth and before anyone else, get (UP Cabinet
Minister) Azam Khan arrested, as TV channels
are showing his involvement in the riots... But
that would not be done," Som alleged.

Denying that his party had convened a pancha-

He termed the allegations as "completely base-
less and far from the truth," and claimed that
the government was getting cases registered
against him to appease a particular section of
society.
yat in Muzaffarnagar in violation of prohibitory
orders imposed there, Som said had that been
the case, there would have been flags and ban-
ners of the BJP, which were not there.
"The panchayat was called by the Kisan union
and we were invited as people's representa-
tives...And if we had not gone, it would have
been wrong," he said.

"I have myself demanded a CBI inquiry into the
entire episode and I, along with all the MLAs,
am ready for arrest, but the government should
act correctly and uphold the truth," Som, who
appeared in the UP Assembly despite arrest
Som faces a non-bailable warrant for allegedly
posting a fake video online that instigated ten-
sion in the western region claiming 47 lives and
rendering thousands homeless.

Copyright © 2012 Firstpost

PM’s visit to Muzaffarnagar is
‘secular tourism’, says BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday said the visit
of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress Chief
Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi to the
violence-hit Muzaffarnagar district is nothing but
“secular tourism on communal riots”.
IANS, Sep 16, 2013

N
ew Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party
on Monday said the visit of Prime Min-
ister Manmohan Singh, Congress Chief
Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gan-
dhi to the violence-hit Muzaffarnagar district
is nothing but "secular tourism on communal
riots".
of no use, as people want action and not words.
"When (BJP leader) Ravi Shankar Prasad and
leaders of other political parties wanted to visit
Muzaffarnagar they were stopped, but prime
minister, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi can
visit," he said.

"The wounds of the people cannot be healed by
doing this. It is completely secular tourism on
communal riots and nothing else," BJP national
vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told re-
porters in New Delhi.
He said whatever the prime minister has said is
During a visit to Muzaffarnagar, the prime min-
ister called for punishing the guilty.
Riots broke out in Muzaffarnagar district on 7
September, leaving 48 dead and over 40,000
homeless.
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
Mulayam Singh is trying to be
UP’s Modi, says Ajit Singh
“Mulayam is trying to make every incident a Hindu
Muslim issue. He is trying to be UP’s Modi (Gujarat
Chief Minister Narendra Modi),” Singh told media.
FP Staff, Sep 12, 2013

C
harging the Uttar Pradesh Government
of failing to maintain law and order in
the state following communal violence
in Muzaffarnagar District, Union Civil Avia-
tion Minister Ajit Singh said Samajwadi Party
(SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav is trying to
make every incident a Hindu Muslim issue in
his attempt to become the Narendra Modi of his
state.
“Mulayam is trying to make every incident a
Hindu Muslim issue. He is trying to be UP’s
Modi (Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi),”
Singh told media.
"There is an impact of Modi on Mulayam. The
way Modi restrained the administration from
acting... The fact is that if the government want-
ed riots could be stopped soon. But in both the
cases the disturbance was allowed to continue,"
he alleged.
Ajit Singh and his son Jayant Chaudhary were
detained in Ghaziabad today when they were on
their way to Muzaffarnagar. The RLD chief was
stopped for the second time in the last four days
from entering Uttar Pradesh.
Earlier on Monday, he was stopped from enter-
ing Uttar Pradesh as the UP govt says political
leaders will instigate communal violence in the
region.

Copyright © 2012 Firstpost

Akhilesh’s Agony

Copyright © 2012 Firstpost

Akhilesh Yadav met with
angry protests in Muzaffarnagar
Akhilesh Yadav makes first trip to Muzaffarnagar
to take stock of violence-hit region
FP Staff Sep 16, 2013

U
nder fire for worsening misgovernance
in Uttar Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister Akhilesh Yadav was heckled
and faced slogan-shouting when he visited riot-
hit Muzaffarnagar on Sunday, over a week after
violence broke out.
The Samajwadi Party leader first visited Ka-
wal, the village where the first three murders
occurred on August 27, leading to the com-
munal tension followed by the panchayat and
Mahapanchayat of Jats attended by over 2 lakh
people.
"I went to both the villages and met the families
of Shahnawaz as well as Sachin and Gaurav,"
he is reported as saying according to this report
on NDTV. According to reports, Shahnawaz
was first attacked and killed by the latter duo
for allegedly passing lewd remarks against their
cousin. Sachin and Gaurav were then killed in
retaliation.
Akhilesh appealed for calm during his visit to
Kawal.
Already, amid rising anger against the Akhilesh
government from even within the Samajwadi
Party, former union minister and SP leader
Sompal Shastri told reporters that he will not
contest the 2014 elections. The governor's
reoprt on the violence is also reported to lay the
blame squarely on the state government's inac-
tion.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
is also expected to visit Muzaffarnagar on Mon-
day.
Also, the state government on Sunday suspend-
ed Senior Superintendent of Police Subhash
Dubey for failing to curb the violence. Dubey
was appointed only a few days ago.
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
Muzaffarnagar riots: Akhilesh
turned out to be a damp squib
He was the fresh young face of the much-tainted
Samajwadi Party. But in just over a year, Akhilesh
Yadav has proven ineffective and disappointed
his well-wishers.
FP Staff Sep 9, 2013

T
here are only a little more than 30,000
‘likes’ for the Facebook page of Akhilesh
Yadav, Uttar Pradesh’s young Chief
Minister, a somewhat damp response to a man
sometimes referred to as ‘the other prince’, a
main one being the Congress heir-apparent.
become the stuff of urban political lore. By now,
with the Opposition calling for his resignation
and President's rule in UP, it must have dawned
on the chief minister of India’s largest and most
complex state that his constituency doesn’t care
for FB niceties.

He holds a master’s degree, is said to enjoy So, is he a misfit or a misunderstood novice?

hip-hop as much as Bollywood, is never seen
without his Blackberry and iPad. At 38, he
became the youngest CM of Uttar Pradesh after
trouncing Mayawati. But that pedigree is hardly
appealing to his core constituency, those who
voted for his father Mulayam Singh, a wrestler-
turned-politician whose long trysts with the
now-on-now-off CBI cases against him have
There have been anywhere between 39 and 100
mini riots in Uttar Pradesh since he took charge
of the state in 2012, depending on whose ver-
sion one believes. It's a hark-back to the pre-
Mayawati days, some have said. Even Mayawati
was better, others have twisted the knife.
At 38, he became the youngest CM of Uttar

Copyright © 2012 Firstpost

Pradesh after trouncing Mayawati. But that
pedigree is hardly appealing to his core constit-
uency. Reuters
Akhilesh recently provided several thousand
laptops free of cost to intermediate-pass stu-
dents in the state, and plans to follow that up
with tablet PCs for revenue department offi-
cials, mainly tehsildars and lekhpals, apparently
to streamline revenue and land records. But
apart from that and a few other correct noises,
Akhilesh is now unrecognisable from his image
in the pre-election days. His appeal to the fence-
sitters in UP’s urban areas was his urbane and
non-partisan image. A year later, he has disap-
pointed those constituents.
During his campaign, on allegations that the
Samajwadi Party had been the cause for a great
deal of pre-Mayawati goondaism in the state,
Akhilesh had candidly admitted that the party’s
need to post the numbers in those days had led
them down that path. He promised that the
old image had been discarded and that law-
breakers within the party would be dealt with
soundly. He pointed out the kind of unexpected
candidates he was fielding – an IIM professor, a
former Ranji cricketer, another who had a PhD
and others.
Asked by Shekhar Gupta during an election-
time Walk The Talk show about the state’s poor
infrastructure, he said, “If we come to power,
we will make way for better infrastructure. If we
make airports, then people accuse us of making
it in our village. But UP needs a big interna-
tional airport. We need to carry forward all of
Netaji's development projects.” A PPP-model
that didn’t fly in the face of his socialist ideals,
too, he promised.
The UP State Industrial Development Corpo-
ration and its bureaucrats have been making
valiant attempts but with little progress. After
promises to internationalise the state’s attar
(perfume) industry, his government has now
been having meetings with Japanese entrepre-
neurs to turn Firozabad – from where his wife
Dimple lost a by-election – into an industrial
hub. A Business Standard report quoted sources
as saying the government wants to "breach the
bangle city tag and go beyond".
But an independent social science institute’s
study of the Uttar Pradesh budget for 2012-13
found the state’s indebtedness rising to nearly
Rs 2.5 lakh crore. Annual repayment of debt
and interest alone bite off nearly 60 percent
of the state’s revenue, found a study by the GB
Pant Social Science Institute. This means UP
depends on tax sharing from the Centre’s tax
share, grants and further borrowing.
Akhilesh’s response to reports on the state’s
continuing power crisis has been to lay the
blame at the doorstep of the previous BSP
government. When the power crisis caused a
ruckus in the Assembly, cabinet minister Shiv-
pal Yadav had to admit to the House that 31
projects were yet to be taken up due to hurdles
over land acquisition, NOC from the environ-
ment ministry, coal linkages, etc, according to a
report in Tehelka.
He has been personally caught on the wrong
foot too often. Amid the controversy over Durga
Shakti Nagpal, he told a Wall Street Journal
reporter, “There are some who want to bring
down my government. To them, the question of
Bodoland, where hundreds of people are agitat-
ing (for a separate state), is not a big issue. The
question of Telangana, where a state (Andhra
Pradesh) was torn apart, is not a big issue. To
them, only one sub-divisional magistrate’s sus-
pension is a big issue.” He wasn’t only politically
incorrect – he had already gone down that road
when he backed a Cabinet colleague lauding the
government for denting a colonial framework in
40-odd hours with the sack order. He was also
caught appearing completely unaware of what
the opposition to his government’s inexplicable
action against the upright officer was doing to
his image.
Clearly, since his heady days as newly-anointed
chief minister, things in UP have deteriorated
rapidly. His law and order record has been cited
repeatedly. His inexperience in dealing with
deep caste and community divisions has been
exposed.
When he became CM, it was expected that
Akhilesh could marry the privilege of dynas-
tic politics with his success in mobilising the
masses with promising results. Perhaps the
Samajwadi Party’s history cannot be shaken off
so easily.
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
Ground report: Why Muzaffarnagar
is trial by fire for Akhilesh
Many families here have experienced communal
flareups earlier as well. But this time around they say
there was something different. It was almost as if
the state was itching for a flare up.
Bhupendra Chaubey, Sep 9, 2013

A
drive to Muzaffarnagar is usually a pleas-
ant experience. Its the place you cross
if you are travelling from delhi to the
holy town of Haridwar. A place where you can
get good sugarcane, or products made out of
sugarcane. Yet, this time around,as I come to
this place, it's different from what we have been
used to seeing over the years.
The convention was named " bahu bachao, beti
bachao". " Save your daughters and daughters
in law". Politicians quickly got into the act as
well. The BJP, Congress and Bhartiya Kisan
union were all quick to get into this. On 7 Sep-
tember, after the convention was over, suddenly
there was mayhem all around. Those who had
come to attend it, were attacked while return-
ing from the meeting by members of another
community. Soon the matter was converted into
a full blown conflict between two communi-
ties. End result: 28 human lives lost and scores
injured.

But what is worse is the realisation that it may

Muzaffarnagar, heart of sugarcane territory,
today resembles a war zone.
In Muzaffarnagar town, you will only see police
vans and army trucks on the road. There has
been a very tense environment here since 27
August, when three murders shook the area.
Locals say a girl from one community was being
teased by boys of another community. When the
girl's brother saw this, he tried to dissuade the
perpetrators. He only ended up being beaten to
death. When the girl tried to run away, she was
beaten up and murdered as well.
As news spread in villages around Muzaffarna-
gar, large crowds started to gather. Community
members from the murdered duo's side came
together and killed one of those who was in-
dulging in misbehaviour with the girl. It led to
calls for a Mahapanachayat or a convention of
jats and upper caste members.
take many days before the communal fire that
has been lit is finally controlled. In the villages
of Shamli, Bagpat and Kairana, tension is run-
ning high. Many families here have experienced
communal flareups earlier as well. But this time
around they say there was something different.
It was almost as if the state was itching for a
flare up.
No wonder then, that home minister Sushilku-
mar Shinde is saying he warned UP Chief Minis-
ter Akhilesh Yadav at 12.30pm on the afternoon
of 7 September. Perhaps, Akhilesh Yadav did
not heed his advice.
For the man who was heralded in with much
fanfare to be crowned as UP's youngest CM
last year, this really is a trial by fire. Mulayam
Singh Yadav made a name for himself during
the Mandir masjid era of the 1990s, his son
Akhilesh, perhaps will now be remembered for
his handling or the lack of it of communal flare-
ups in 2013.

Copyright © 2012 Firstpost

Papa kehte hain: Akhilesh Yadav
and his Mulayam problem
The Muzaffarnagar riots is just the latest instance
where Akhilesh Yadav has run into the Mulayam
problem - that he is too inexperienced without his
father at the remote control. It’s a problem
that’s dogged him from Day One.
Sunita Aron, Sep 10, 2013

E
ditor’s Note: Akhilesh Yadav has been
accused of mishandling the Muzaffar-
nagar situation because of his inexperi-
ence. His father Mulayam Singh Yadav rushing
in added more fuel to those charges. His fa-
ther’s shadow has always hung over Akhilesh.
In a new biography of the UP chief minister,
Akhilesh Yadav: Winds of Change (Tranque-
bar), Sunita Aron discusses this very dilemna.
Here is an excerpt from the book courtesy
Tranquebar.
Despite an unprecedented mandate, Akhilesh
Yadav remains severely caught in the genera-
tional cleft and even if the accusation of being
orchestrated by a “Yadav remote control” can
be set aside for a while, what is most worrisome
is the provincial mindset displayed by the old
guard which is at complete variance with what
Akhilesh and his team had projected during
their campaign. On his own, Akhilesh struggles
to find a fine balance. While talking about the
creation of IT City and IT Parks, he also keeps
an eye out for farmers and doles out free elec-
tricity; when he encourages Bollywood stars to
come to Uttar Pradesh for shooting their films,
the old guard goes into a huddle lamenting over
the fact that their socialism is being compro-

Copyright © 2012 Firstpost

mised by the rich and the famous.
Six months into his job, Akhilesh had to often
refute charges about his father running the
government by remote control and had once
displayed his desperation by saying, ‘He has
always given me total freedom to take my own
decisions and would never interfere till I don’t
do anything drastically wrong. Just because I
am surrounded by people who have been associ-
ates of Netaji, doesn’t in any way mean they are
running the show!’
Soon there were reports about how Akhilesh
had initiated steps to correct his image of be-
ing a mere rubberstamp of a chief minister and
according to insiders had begun arguing his
viewpoint at cabinet meetings. However his
detractors continued with the vilification cam-
paign and like the former BSP minister, and an
acolyte of Mayawati, Naseemuddin Siddiqui
had once said, ‘The chief minister is a subject
of sympathy. What can he do when his own
ministers and officers don’t listen to him? It is
his uncle Shivpal Singh who calls the shots at
cabinet meetings while Akhilesh remains a mere
spectator.’
For instance, in October 2012, Akhilesh had not
only readily accepted the resignation of the then
minister for Revenue and Rehabilitation, Vinod
Kumar Singh after he was accused of abducting
the Chief Medical Officer of Gonda, SP Singh, he
had actually pushed for his exit despite the fact
that the minister was part of the old guard. Sec-
ond, when an IAS officer was charged with an
attempt to molest a woman on board Lucknow
Mail, Akhilesh had lost no time in suspending
the official although there were murmurs that
the IAS officer had mobilized enough support
for his case from some influential members of
the Samajwadi Party. When Akhilesh had pur-
sued with his choice of appointing Javed Usm-
ani as the state’s chief secretary there was an all
round criticism that he was openly pandering to
the minorities. The fact that Usmani is an MBA
from IIM Ahmedabad and an MSc in Social
Planning from the London School of Econom-
ics, was totally eclipsed in the debate.
At a glance, the above instances can only serve
as an apology for a young chief minister who in
his initial months was seen to be presiding over
a defiant cabinet. I had once asked Akhilesh if
his young age had proved to be a disadvantage
in dealing with the day to day complexities of
governance and he had said, ‘Maybe for a lot of
people to be young means to be inexperienced.
But to be young could also mean more energy
and enthusiasm, a capacity to work harder.
When I had wanted to undertake the cycle yat-
ra, there were people who were against it. But I
insisted as I thought while I am young, I could
do it. It could get difficult later! The same goes
for governance. I may not be perfect, rather far
from it, but I know I will achieve what I had set
out to do and at the end of the day, I remain
committed and answerable only to the people of
Uttar Pradesh.’
Senior journalist and now Editorial Advisor to
the Outlook magazine, Vinod Mehta had once
suggested on a TV show that Akhilesh Yadav
should be given a couple of months before initi-
ating a post-mortem. One of his staunch sup-
porters in the party, Prof Ram Gopal had once
come out in his nephew’s defence and hitting
out openly at Akhilesh’s detractors in the coun-
cil of ministers, who routinely questioned his in-
ability to administer the state, had said, ‘When
Indira Gandhi became the prime minister of
the country for the first time, people gave her
several names, including goongi gudiya (mute
doll). What happened? When she started being
assertive, her decisions and actions changed the
destiny of the country. Here in our state, some
party leaders are undermining the position of
the chief minister by calling Akhilesh a ladka (a
boy). They should not forget that this ladka can
change overnight and become very tough.’
It is obvious that the only way in which the be-
leaguered chief minister can prove his authority
is by coming up with his own vision for develop-
ment and also display tact and tenacity. I would
like to quote what Akhilesh had once told my
colleague, Varghese George of the Hindustan
Times during his campaign: ‘People ask me,
kiski chalti hai… Netaji ki ya phir Akhilesh ki?
(Whose writ runs large? Netaji’s or Akhilesh’s?)
I tell them it is Netaji’s.’ But then added a twist
to this oft-repeated adage in the Samajwadi
Party: ‘Next time, you should tell them Netaji ki
chalti hai, lekin Netaji Akhilesh ki sunte hain’
(Netaji’s writ of course runs large, but Netaji
only listens to Akhilesh.)
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
HC tells Akhilesh govt to tell them
about all riots since it came to power
A PIL has alleged in all the riots that took place in the
last 18 months, the administration shied away from
taking action against culprits of a particular sect.
IANS, Sep 17, 2013

L
ucknow: The Allahabad High Court's
Lucknow bench today sought details of
all the riots that have taken place since
the Akhilesh Yadav regime was sworn-in March
15, 2012.
ots that have taken place after formation of new
government, and that a sitting high court judge
be inducted in the one-man Justice Vishnu Sa-
hai Commission, set up by the state government
to probe the recentg Muzaffarnagar clashes that
left 48 dead.

After hearing arguments of petitioner's counsel

Asok Pande, a bench of Justice Imtiyaz Murtaza
and Justice Arvind Kumar Tripathi-II directed
the state's Additional Advocate General Bulbul
Godiyal to apprise the court within two weeks
on writs on communal riots filed in the Supreme
Court and the Allahabad High Court as well.

According to the PIL, the action and policy of

the current government and its officials has
been such that it shows a definite tilt towards a
particular sect.

The direction was given to the state government
as the court heard a public interest litigation
(PIL) filed by social activist Nutan Thakur.
The petitioner sought investigation by the Cen-
ral Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of all major ri-
In all the riots that took place in the last 18
months, the administration shied away from
taking action against culprits of that particular
sect, it contended, claiming this has resulted
in a sense of mistrust in members of the other
community, including the petitioner.

Copyright © 2012 Firstpost

Muzaffarnagar riots: Timeline of
UP violence under Akhilesh Yadav
A timeline of violence starting from the
middle of 2012 in UP.
FP Staff Sep 9, 2013

B
ackground of the Muzaffarnagar the media personnel were killed while covering
communal clashes the clashes. Read more here.

At least six people including a journalist and
a photographer were killed on Saturday and
34 injured in clashes between members of two
communities in the district, where tension has
been simmering since violence in Kawal village
ten days ago. The death toll is now at 28.
A freelance journalist associated with IBN7
Rajesh Verma was shot dead in the Kotwali po-
lice station area. In another incident of violence,
a photographer, Israr, who was hired by police
was beaten to death in Thana Sikhera area. Both
The incidents were sparked off after a huge con-
vention of a particular community had gathered
in the town on Sunday to protest against several
cases of eve teasing reported in the past couple
of weeks. According to local police some par-
ticipants in this convention got into a fight with
villagers on the outskirts of Muzzaffarnagar. As
this group got into town, some of those who had
been beaten up started ransacking shops.
Below is a timeline of violence starting
from the middle of 2012 in UP. Some of
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
the issues are surprisingly petty, but
prove that the SP government may have
a lot to answer to, about preparedness.
2 June, 2012: Mathura
Four killed at Kosi Kalan following a dispute
over drinking water outside a place of worship.
4 June, 2012: Muzaffarnagar
Two women and 18 men were wounded in
clashes.
23 July, 2012: Bareilly
Three killed over loud music near a place of
worship in Jogi Navada. Curfew re-imposed on
12 August following fresh violence.
16 Sept, 2012: Ghaziabad
Six killed in clashes after alleged desecration of
a sacred book.
24 Oct, 2012: Faizabad
One killed; curfew following a dispute during
Durga procession.
6 Dec, 2012: Azamgarh
Violent clashes injure 11.
16 Jan, 2013: Lucknow
Two killed, seven injured in bloodshed between
two sects in Old City.
6 April, 2013: Meerut
Several injured during protests against an in-
cendiary Facebook post.
26 July, 2013: Meerut
Two killed in clashes over a dispute on use of
loudspeakers during festival.
27 Aug, 2013: Muzaffarnagar
Three killed after a girl was harassed in Kawal
village.
31 Aug, 2013: Amethi
Dalit homes set on fire; man killed over con-
struction on Gram Sabha land.
3 Sept, 2013: Shamli
One killed, 10 injured in conflict between two
communities over dumping of garbage in
Tisara.
7 Sept, 2013: Muzaffarnagar
Nine killed in violence after Mahapanchayat in
protest against Kawal incident.
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
Victims of votebank politics

Copyright © 2012 Firstpost

Muzaffarnagar: Looking for the
‘missing’ at Shahpur police station
When the curfew was lifted for a longer stretch of time
on Thursday, the hunt began for missing family
members. About 35 persons have thus far been
reported missing, but that number is likely to rise,
as the police wait the stipulated 48 hours before
registering missing person cases.
Raman Kirpal Sep 13, 2013

M
uzaffarnagar: Even as normal life
returns to Muzaffarnagar district, the
hardship has just begun for 25000
odd Muslim refugees forced out of their homes,
now huddled in masjids, homes of relatives, and
on streets in Muslim neighborhoods.
When the curfew was lifted for a longer stretch
of time on Thursday, the hunt began for missing
family members. About 35 persons have thus
far been reported missing, but that number is
likely to rise, as the police wait the stipulated 48
hours before registering missing person cases.
"The village was tense on September 6, when
the panchayat was held at Shiv Mandir over the
eve-teasing incident. Next day was the Ma-
hapanchayat of Jats about 40 km away from
our village," he recalls, "At 9 am on September
8, our fears came true. I heard a huge thump-
ing sound at my door. I immediately called up
Shahpur SO and then Muzaffarnagar police. I
was told that the police force is on its way."
"Suddenly, I realised that the shouts have be-
come louder outside my house and the mob
was now trying break into my house. My fam-
ily members and I rushed to the rooftop and
jumped to the neigbhour’s roof. Even his house
was under attack and we then jumped into
another roof and hid wherever we could – toilet,
bathroom, kitchen, almirah…,’’ Shaukat says.

The ordeal lasted two hours until the Rapid

Abdullah’s brother Aas Mohammad was seriously
injured and was brought to the police station in semi-
conscious condition on September 12. Raman Kirpal/
Firstpost
Shaukat Saifi is sitting outside the Shahpur
police station, about 20 km from Muzaffarnagar
city. He is a labourer and managed to survive a
mob attack along with 15 members of his fam-
ily. "But eight persons were killed in my village
Kutba,’’ he says, narrating the story of his es-
cape.
Action Force (RAF) police arrived at the village
at 11 am. The police rescued them, taking them
first to the police station and then shifted to
Shahpur Masjid. Shaukat's house was ransacked
and the door was broken. He lost all his cattle –
five buffaloes and eight goats.
Shuakat’s neighbor Abdullah says that the Prad-
han of the village is a lady, but it is her husband,
Devender, who calls all the shots.
"Devender had promised us security and that’s
why we stayed back on September 7 (despite
fears sparked by the panchayat). In fact, three
relatives of ours went to Pradhan’s house early
morning of September 8. But they were help
captives there and not allowed to leave,’’ Abdul-
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
lah says.
The Pradhan was not available in the village for
comments. Abdullah’s brother Aas Mohammad
was seriously injured and was brought to the
police station in semi-conscious condition on
September 12.
Shakil, who took shelter in Shahpur Masjid,
is at the Shahpur police station, looking for
his 24-year-old son Shabbeer, along with Za-
hid who is searching for his 32-year old friend
Shaukin.
"I along with Shaukin were riding on a motor-
bike, driving back home to Bilaspur. I had to
slow it down near Rasoolpur village due to bad
road, when a boy hiding in a sugarcane field
suddenly appeared and put a rod into spoke of
my bike’s wheel," Zahid recalls, "I lost the bal-
ance and both Shaukin and I fell down. About
15-20 boys hiding behind a tube-well in sugar-
cane fields were standing over us even before we
could get up. All I remember is that they were
all over us and beat us up with sticks."
Zahid who is searching for his 32-year old friend
Shaukin. Raman Kirpal/Firstpost
Zahid managed to break free and ran towards
the sugarcane field. "As the luck had it, most
of the guys ran after me. I had begun to hear
things from the distant. Somebody was calling
two guys who stayed behind to beat me up. I got
one last kick in the stomach and then everybody
went away."
Zahid, however, has not seen or heard from
Shaukin since then. The police has promised to
search for Shaukin and Shabeer but they will
have to wait for the required 48 hours before
the cases are registered.
New DIG Ashok Jain, who has been patrolling
the most affected villages of Kutba and Kutbi,
tells Firstpost that the list of missing persons is
being tabulated. There are about 30 police sta-
tions and police chowkis, which have reported
cases of communal riots in their areas. And on
average, each police station has so far registered
one or two cases, he says. Hence his rough esti-
mate that the missing count is around 35.
Muzaffarnagar District hospital has listed 49
deaths, of which nine are unidentified, includ-
ing the body of a 10-year-old child. Four of the
unidentified bodies are from Fugana village
alone.
"The official death count is still 38-40, because
[we] suspect that other deaths are due to local
crime," he claims.
Jain also dispels widespread rumours that many
more people were killed during riot and their
bodies hidden in dense sugarcane fields. "I don’t
think this is true, since the number of missing
persons is not very high. Let us wait till we get
the list of missing persons tabulated,’’ Jain says.
The curfew relaxation on Thursday has also
drawn women to the station. Sahil has brought
three women and a child in a thela. They all are
from village Soram. They were attacked and
their houses burnt.
The Shahpur Masjid has reached capacity and is
now beginning to overflow with refugees. About
a kilometer away, in a local colony called Is-
lamabad, many displaced Muslims are huddled
in houses or simply sitting in the street. There is
a makeshift dispensary run by Dr Noor Ali and
Dr Zubair Ahmed, who run a private hospital in
Shahpur. They have organised this `makeshift’
dispensary at their own expense. "In two days,
we have treated about 230 patients, including
50 children and a few pregnant women. Three
persons, who had serious injuries, were re-
ported to the district hospital," Dr Noor Ali told
Firstpost. Food, clothes, medicine and shelter
– all have been arranged by the community. The
government is barely present in Shahpur.
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost

a makeshift dispensary run by Dr Noor Ali and Dr
Zubair Ahmed, who run a private hospital in Shahpur.
Raman Kirpal/Firstpost
But as this reporter was talking to Dr Noor
Ali, former SP MP Aamir Alam Khan arrived
at Islamabad. As Muslim refugees thronged
around him, Aamir Alam Khan told them, "I
have strongly written against the ineffective-
ness of the local administration. I did a press
conference today. The SP government will give
you government land and will construct your
houses. You don’t have to worry at all."
These are big promises. Then a voice from the
crowd makes a more modest demand: "Bus aap
ees Shahpur SO (Station Officer) ko barkhast
kara dijiye.’’ (Just have the Shahpur Police
Station’s SO fired). Somebody from Khan’s
entourage asks for Shahpur SO’s name. Nobody
seems to know it. Alam Khan continues with his
list of promises.
Muslim refugees are concentrated in 7 areas:
10,000 at Kandhola village (in Madrasa), 5000
in Budhana Qasaba, and the rest in Jola, Loi,
Shahpur, Tawli and Bangeru. The worst riot-hit
villages are Kutba, Kutbi, Lisadh, Bhaju, Bha-
wahi, Khararh, Khuwana, Kakra, Hadoli, Moh-
madpur Rai Singh, Kheda Mastan.
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
UP riots: Death toll touches 47,
curfew eased in Muzaffarnagar
With the recovery of more bodies, the death toll in
riot-hit Muzaffarnagar and adjoining areas touched 47
today while the curfew was eased in the city for
the fourth consecutive day.
PTI, Sep 13, 2013

L
ucknow/Muzaffarnagar: With the recov-
ery of more bodies, the death toll in riot-
hit Muzaffarnagar and adjoining areas
touched 47 today while the curfew was eased in
the city for the fourth consecutive day.
Now the district administration has shifted its
focus to bridge trust-deficit between the two
communities in rural areas.
"Though situation in the urban areas has im-
proved considerably but in the rural areas
doubts and suspicions with regard to different
communities are still doing the round and now
the administration is concentrating on restoring
normalcy there," IG crime Ashish Gupta told
newspersons here.
"Police pickets have been set up in 547 villages
in Muzaffarnagar and its surrounding areas,
besides 536 mobile teams have been given the
responsibility of three villages each," Gupta

Copyright © 2012 Firstpost

said.
Policemen in these teams will visit villages,
meet the locals and try remove their doubts and
also inform seniors about the ground situation,
he said.
The IG said that the toll in the riots today
reached 47. With this 39 people have been killed
in Muzaffarnagar, three in Baghpat and Shamli
and one each in Saharanpur and Meerut.
The IG said that two more bodies have been
recovered from the canal in Muzaffarnagar
and one in Meerut. IG, Gupta said that curfew
imposed in three police station areas of Muzaf-
farnagar--- Kotwali, Civil Lines and Nai Mandi,
was eased for 12 hours since 7 AM in the morn-
ing.
No untoward incident was reported from any
part of the district during the curfew relaxation
period and normal traffic was seen on the roads
with people coming out of their houses to attend
to their daily works.
Gupta said that there are reports of an ob-
jectionable video being uploaded on social
networking site Facebook which is also being
shared.
"Talks are on with the officials of Facebook to
get it removed and action will also be taken
against those using it after collecting informa-
tion about their IDs," the officer said.
As many as 187 people have been arrested so far
in cases registered in connection with Muzaf-
farnagar clashes, although no arrest has been
made in named FIRs filed regarding inflamma-
tory speeches at the mahapanchayat on Septem-
ber 7 or for defying prohibitory orders, he said.
"As many as 2,300 arm licenses have been
canceled and 182 illegal arms recovered," the IG
said, adding that process to invoke NSA on 11
others arrested on murder charges was on.
Meanwhile, the administration in Muzaffarna-
gar is busy providing essential commodities to
the people who have taken shelter in the relief
camps. Locals are also extending help to the
administration in this regard.
Though officials in Lucknow said that there are
some ten thousand people taking shelter in the
camps, unofficial figures put the numbers to
around 45 to 50 thousand.
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
Muzaffarnagar riots and viral video:
Why social media isn’t the villain
For years now, commentators have been claiming
social media are a vector for hate. The mixed nuts
who flourish on Twitter might seem to bear out this
assertion, but the truth is far more complex.

Praveen Swami, Sep 10, 2013

T
hey say these images killed. They’re
wrenching and awful, but it’s important
you watch them. You can watch the video
here but please note that it is graphic in nature.
It’s important, because police and politicians
in Uttar Pradesh have been blaming the video
for fuelling communal violence in Muzaffarna-
gar. It was claimed, by fringe Hindu nationalist
groups, to show the killing of two Hindu men.
In fact, as police point out, the video’s been
online since 2010—and actually records the
lynching of two Pakistani teenagers in the city of
Sialkot.
Now you’ve seen it, too, are you planning on
starting a riot? Probably not — and that has
some important implications, not just for our
national debate over communalism, but for the
future of digital media in India and our free
speech rights.
In recent years, we’ve seen a growing chorus of
commentators asserting that the social media is
fuelling political violence. The largely-unregu-

Copyright © 2012 Firstpost

lated digital world, it is claimed, is now India’s
principal vector for hate — a proposition that
at first seems borne out by the mixed nuts who
flourish on Twitter, or the little poison-gardens
that have sprung up on Facebook. Kapil Sibal
has long been calling for greater legal regula-
tion, as well as police action.
This argument is spurious, for two reasons.
First, there is zero evidence on causality. No one
has data to bear out the claim that the Muzaf-
farnagar perpetrators — or any other communal
perpetrators — killed because they saw the vid-
eo. There’s no way of even knowing how many
people have even watched the video, which is
alleged to have circulated through CDs, nor how
many took it seriously. There’s no way of know-
ing whether it was a cause of hatred, or only
found credible because of the charged climate.
Second, there’s no evidence at all communal
violence has become worse as a consequence of
the growing reach of social media. The Ministry
of Home Affairs’ annual reports, the sole official
data-set on communal violence, doesn’t suggest
there’s been any kind of trend in violence since
2002, as the social media has expanded.
Last year's exodus of North East-origin resi-
dents of Bangalore and Mumbai shows how
multiple forces collude to create crisis. In early
April, 2012 graphic — if fabricated—images
of anti-Muslim violence in Myanmar and the
North-East began to circulate on internet web-
sites. The images fuelled anger among some
young Muslims. In Mumbai and Allahabad, the
targets were the police and the state. Bangalore
and Pune witnessed brawls. Mysore saw a stab-
bing.
It isn’t clear, though, if the killings had any-
thing to do with the online campaign — or even,
in fact, if there was a campaign. For all the
dark hints of a cyber-jihad, investigators who
ploughed through some 5 million text messages
and tens of thousands of websites found no hint
of single-point authorship or direction.
Nor is it clear that the messages were the driver
of the exodus: panicked phone calls from loved
ones back home, local tensions linked to life-
style differences between Muslims and North-
East migrants, the absence of a credible police
response — all these may have had a role.
In a thoughtful commentary, Sandeep Unnithan
and Kiran Tare noted that the Mumbai violence
of August, 2012, was preceded by a deluge of
propaganda about the killings of Muslims in
Myanmar and Assam. This flood came not just
in ones and zeroes floating through cyberspace,
but in the form of conventional pamphleteer-
ing and street mobilisation. They noted that the
more bizarre stories on Assam became credible
because the old media — print and television
alike — did a terrible job of reporting what was
actually going on.
The Kashmir youth-led violence of 2010, simi-
larly, saw an aggressive campaign of online
propaganda, but there’s no evidence at all it was
the force behind events on the streets.
Little of the “new-ness” being attributed to the
social media’s role is in fact new. In 1963, the
historian Ramachandra Guha has recorded,
the disappearance of a venerated relic from the
Kashmiri shrine of Hazratbal led to anti-Hindu
violence in Bangladesh. In Kolkata, refugees
from this violence soon sparked off anti-Muslim
violence; 400 people were killed, 300 of them
Muslim. In Rourkela and Jamshedpur, over
1,000 were killed—again mainly Muslim.
It bears mention that in Kashmir itself, there
was no such killing — the only damage was to
a hotel and movie theatre owned by chief min-
ister Bakshi Ghulam Muhammad, which were
burned down along with a police station.
Historian PK Dutta’s superb account of the
1926 Bengal riots, all sparked off by the play-
ing of music before mosques, notes that the
local cause of the conflict existed within a wider
context of chauvinism. The riots came among
others, as far dispersed as Kohat, Meerut and
Ludhiana. Each of these, Dutta notes, were
“commemorated as images, which either singly
or strung together, became incantations that
gestured at the need for revenge or self-congrat-
ulation”.
Indians, C Christopher Bayly has recorded,
were rapidly transmitting information — false
or correct —rapidly across the sub-continent
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
ever since the eighteenth century, if not earlier.
Facebook and Twitter might have speeded up
this process of dissemination, but they’re not a
cause of lethality.
Human stupidity is the most global of things. In
the United States, there’s a vibrant 9/11 conspir-
acy theory culture that holds the government
rigged the Twin Towers with explosives to bring
them down—providing an excuse for war. Popu-
lar Mechanics, among others, examined—and
comprehensively debunked—the claims, but it
hasn’t stopped them from continuing to flour-
ish.
There’s a London resident I know of who was
considering selling his home and shifting to a
village in India because he thinks his govern-
ment is seeding the skies with chemicals.
The power of rumour has long been evident.
In 1999, tens of thousands of workers fled the
shipbreaking port of Alang, after an astrologi-
cal magazine predicted doomsday was nigh.
There’ve been gods who drink milk; aubergines
with the name of Allah embossed in them; Jesus
statues which weep blessed tears.
In the digital age, rumour’s just found a new
media—a new village square, if you like, where
information is exchanged and interpreted. Ir-
rational interpretations, the scholars Mathijs
Pelkmans and Rhys Machold have argued,
flourish not just because people are stupid, but
because the institutions around them have be-
come non-credible and opaque.
That’s the real lesson from Muzaffarnagar
ought be that we have a police system that can’t
ensure order, and politicians who thrive on
encouraging violence. Ending the cycle of hate
would be the easiest thing to do if Facebook was
the problem. The truth is, sadly for all of us, it
isn’t.
Copyright © 2012 Firstpost
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