Bulandshahr: Unraveling the anatomy of a riot

Ram Puniyani
December 21, 2018

The scene of violence in the name of emotive issues has been continuously throwing new patterns of instigating and orchestrating violence. In recent times we saw the major violence following the demolition of Babri Mosque (1992), Godhra train burning (Gujarat carnage 2002), murder of a Swami (Kandhamal 2008), on the pretext of love Jihad (Muzzafarnanger 2013) among others. The gross pattern seems to be to spread hatred against sections of society and unleash the hate, which gets converted in to violence. In last couple of years, what has dominated the scene of violence has been the accusations related to slaughter of cows, beginning with horrifying murder of Mohammad Akhlaq down to the killing of Junaid, Cow-beef have been used as a ‘weapon of hate’. In this very series follows the Bulandshahr killings of two men, one of them being a Hindu police officer.

This tragedy goes on to show the underbelly of communal violence, which in due course brings into its orbit not only the religious minorities but people from the majority religion also. As such the violence does not involve much killing of majority community, though they also suffer in small number. In this case, in Bulandshahr, we see the major victim is not only a Hindu but an officer of the state police. While full details are yet to come out with SIT probing, whatever can be gleaned from the media reports is frightening enough.

In beginning of December 2018 a large congregation of Muslims, Ijtema, took place in Bulandshahar. The congregation had participation of Muslims, by rough count of around fifty lakhs. These religious congregations do keep taking place in different parts of the country. Nearly seventy Kilometers away from the place of this congregation, in village Siyana of Bulandshahar, this incidence came to notice. It seems someone had thrown the remains of a slaughtered cow in an agricultural filed. The villagers noticed carcass, reported it to police, which planned to initiate the action as per law. As the carcass was being taken away in the tractor, some 40-50 youth from outside descended on the village and took charge of tractor. As per some reports the beef was thrown in the field by those belonging to Bharatiya Janta Morcha andBajrang dal. Reports by some journalists, report (video) shows that the whole incident was orchestrated by outsiders.

The youth took the tractor to the police station, lodged the FIR and created ruckus. Yogesh Raj, local Chief of Bajrang Dal, who lodged the FIR, was booked as the prime accused in the incident. Various versions are in the air. What followed led to the death of Inspector Subodh Singh in a brutal manner. Sudarshan TV’s, Suresh Chavanhke, the right wing channel close to RSS, tried to link up the violence to the Muslims-Itjema. As per Chavanke’s tweet the violence was indulged in by the Muslims participating in Itjema. This was countered by the police authorities who tweeted that the incident had nothing whatsoever to do with the Itjema, which was at a place far away and was a peaceful event.

Many other theories also started being thrown up. One being that one Jitendra Malik, who is part of Rashtriya Rifles posted in Kashmir, was present on the spot and was the culprit of the violence. His elder brother denied the charge and promised to prove the innocence of his brother. Malik was brought back from his duty in Kashmir, but nothing much seems to have been proven about his complicity. The usual question is who did it? Before that let’s see the very revealing facts related to the Inspector, SHO, who as per his sister was killed in a planned manner. Subodh Singh was the one who had investigated the Mohammad Akhlaq case leading to arrest of many culprits. It is said that it was he “who always took the right stand especially on Hindu-Muslim issues”. Probably he was not letting Hindutva groups to have their divisive ways. The local unit of BJP related organizations had written to the officials demanding transfer of Singh. The other highlights related to the incident are mixed, disturbing and appreciable both types. One is that many of those who had come to attend Ijtema were sheltered in the Shiva Temple. SHO Singh’s teenager son appealed for peace and harmony in the area. He said "I would appeal to the entire country, please stop Hindu-Muslim violence. People get violent at the slightest provocation. People should understand and think that they are bound by the law." In response the DSP in a moving face book post stated “I salute Abhishek who even after losing his father is not speaking the language of hatred and violence,”

 On the other side the Chief minister of UP, Mr. Adityanath, in the aftermath of this tragedy commented that incidents related to Cow slaughter are increasing and need to be curbed. This ‘Cow-Primacy’ got reflected in the statement of BJP MP who advised the investigating team to examine whether SHO came under attack as he failed to check the cow slaughters and cow smuggling! The murder of Singh a serving police official is relegated to second place in Yogi-BJP scheme of things. These are disturbing signs of times where the politics is being dictated by Modi-Yogi, in which emotive issues are taking precedence over human lives, which does not disturb them so far as these serve their political agenda of polarization!

Meanwhile the sense of insecurity is reigning supreme in the village, where the incident took place. The villagers who repeatedly affirmed that their village had braved all the communal incidents like Babri Demolition violence Muzzafarnagar violence, etc. is now fearing for their safety, feeling insecure in the places where they have been living in peace in decades.

In the trajectory of patterns of violence, Bulanshahr is yet another pattern of probably a planned violence, where the major victim can be from majority community itself; yet another victim of cow politics!

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
November 22,2024

bjpprotest.jpg

Bengaluru, Nov 22: For the second day running, the Karnataka BJP on Friday staged a statewide protest condemning the government’s alleged move to notify land of farmers as Waqf property.

The BJP staged a protest before the offices of Deputy Commissioners at district headquarters.

The BJP leaders are vehemently demanding that the state government cancel a 1974 Gazette notification in this regard.

The agitators are also demanding scrapping of the Waqf Board and the resignation of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Minister for Waqf and Housing Zameer Ahmad Khan.

The BJP MLAs, MLCs, MPs gathered in the premises of Freedom Park and staged a protest under the leadership of Leader of Opposition R. Ashoka and slammed the state government.

MLA T.S. Srivatsa led the protest in Mysuru and hundreds of party workers and farmers staged the protest under the leadership of former MP Pratap Simha in Kodagu.

Former MP Sumalatha Ambareesh led the agitation in Mandya.

This was the first time that Sumalatha took part in the party’s programme after the Lok Sabha elections.

State President B.Y. Vijayendra claimed, “The Congress government in Karnataka is issuing notices to farmers claiming the ownership of their lands to the Waqf Board and pushing them on the streets overnight.”

In the first week of December, three teams formed by the BJP will travel across the state and record the grievances of farmers.

“The state government is attempting to snatch away the lands belonging to temples as well,” Vijayendra alleged and added that the teams would comprise all senior leaders of the BJP.

Meanwhile, the police have taken Sri Ram Sena chief Pramod Muthalik into custody while staging a protest march to the office of Zameer Ahmad Khan in Bengaluru.

Muthalik along with Hindutva activists was planning to lay siege to Zameer’s office over the Waqf row.

The police stopped Muthalik and requested him to submit the memorandum by reaching the minister’s office in a vehicle. However, Muthalik refused to go with the police and continued his footmarch. The police took him into custody following arguments.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
November 18,2024

resort.jpg

Mangaluru: The Ullal police have arrested Manohar, the owner of Vazco Beach Resort, and its manager Bharath in connection with the drowning of three college girls from Mysuru at the resort’s swimming pool on November 17.

City Commissioner of Police Anupam Agrawal confirmed the arrests, stating that a case has been registered under Section 106 of BNS. The bodies of the victims, all in their twenties, have been handed over to their parents. The women had arrived at the resort for a weekend getaway on November 16.

Following the tragic incident, the resort was sealed by officials led by Mangaluru Assistant Commissioner Harshavardhan. The trade license of the resort, issued on June 13, 2024, has been suspended, and the tourism department has temporarily revoked the resort's registration. These actions prohibit the resort from engaging in any tourism-related activities until further notice.

Someshwara TMC Chief Officer stated that the suspension was due to the resort's failure to implement adequate safety measures, which resulted in the loss of three lives. Further investigations are underway.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
November 11,2024

hospital.jpg

Mangaluru: In a deeply tragic turn of events, a 28-year-old woman named Ranjitha, who had recently given birth but tragically lost her newborn, ended her life by suicide on Monday. She reportedly leapt from the fourth-floor window of Lady Goschen Hospital’s luggage room.

Ranjitha, whose strength and resilience had carried her through a difficult pregnancy, was scheduled for discharge on Monday. Her journey to Lady Goschen Hospital began on October 24, when she was transferred from Karkala. She was a high-risk patient, battling both hypertension and diabetes. At the time of her admission, she was just 27 weeks pregnant.

Due to the complexities of her health, doctors made the difficult decision to perform an emergency C-section on October 30. She delivered a baby girl, premature and weighing only 960 grams. The newborn was immediately moved to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, where doctors did all they could. Despite these efforts, the baby passed away on November 3.

Ranjitha’s sorrow was profound. She stayed under hospital care even after her initial recovery and was preparing to go home on November 9. She had even requested a couple more days at the hospital, seeking time perhaps to cope with her unimaginable grief.

On the day of her discharge, a discharge card ready and her family eagerly waiting to take her home, Ranjitha reportedly made her way to the luggage room in the early hours. There, standing on a cot placed for patients' family members, she climbed to a window and fell from the fourth floor. Despite the attempts of another visitor to intervene, tragedy was inevitable. She was rushed to Government Wenlock Hospital, where doctors confirmed the worst—she was no more.

Dr. Durgaparasad M R, the Medical Superintendent at Lady Goschen Hospital, shared his grief and spoke of the ongoing investigation. A post-mortem is to be conducted, and the local Tahsildar will complete the necessary inquest procedures. Ranjitha’s exact reasons for taking this step are yet to be confirmed, though the weight of her recent losses paints a sorrowful picture.

If you or anyone you know is struggling emotionally, please remember that help is available. Reach out to mental health experts who can provide support and guidance. The toll-free helpline number 9152987821 is available to assist anyone in distress.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.