<< Prev Page    |    1    |    2    |    3    |    4    |    5    |    6    |    7    |    8    |    9    |    10    |    Next Page >> WHY INDIA IS DEVOID OF RULE OF LAW? Balbir Singh Sooch M.A., L.L.B., Advocate Sikh Vichar Manch Dedicated to The Spirit of Millennium World Peace Summit August 2000. 2 Sensitive cities/towns/villages/areas There are several cities/towns and villages and areas within cities itself that have been prone to communal incidents regularly. These include Kolar, Hubli, Suratkal, Bhatkal and Bangalore among others. Further, there are sensitive areas within towns and cities that are prone to communal incidents. For example in Bangalore, areas like Tannery road, Adugodi, DJ Halli, Shivajinagar, Mysore road and Kalasipalyam. Critical events Rama Jyothi processions The rash of communal riots in September, 1990 that broke out in the towns of Ramnagaram, Channapatna, Kolar, Davangere, Tumkur and their mofussil areas were linked in timing and cause. A feature of the disturbances is that specific local issues can no longer be identified as the starting points of trouble. In all the cases the causes as well as the pattern of violence were strikingly similar. The single-most important cause behind the riots was the fallout from the Rama Janmabhoomi movement and more immediately from the Rama Jyothi processions organized and taken out by the BJP, RSS and VHP. Babri Masjid demolition Riots broke out in Bangalore, Mysore, Gulbarga, Bidar and to some extent Hubli/ Dharwad and South Kanara. 78 people died, out of which33 died in police firings. Starting from the 7th of December, 1992, the riots went on for about a month. Curfew was called for in most places in Bangalore. Mysore, which remained calm, turned violent on 8/12/92 when one person was stabbed and 7 were injured in group clashes. There were 28 incidents of stabbing on 11/12/92, supposed to be the outcome of killing a youth on 8/12/92. 14 died in the riots at Bidar, where crowds indulged in arson and looting. 11 died at Gubarga where irate mobs threw stones on houses and shops. Raichur, Raidurg, Chitradurga, Mangalore, Mandya and Tumkur also experience riots. Dakshina Kannada was one of the most seriously affected districts in the state- 8 people were killed in the riots that erupted in 6 of its taluks, 100s were injured and property worth lakhs of Rupees were destroyed. Laying of Foundation stone at Ayodhya On November 10 1989, there were communal clashes in Shimoga, Arsikere and Dharwad and later in Hubli following processions, especially the bursting of crackers at the time of the day when large number of Muslims had gathered for prayers, taken out by the VHP to mark the laying of the foundation-stone for the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Idol desecration / defiling places of worship The desecration of temples and idols and the defiling of worship places by throwing pieces of meat/pig within is another act that is regularly encountered, be it to trigger off a riot or to communalize the region. For example, in December 1987, when RSS/VHP activists began a campaign against miscreants who supposedly broke idols at a temple in Vokkaleri village (near Kolar) though nobody knew for certain who were the culprits were. Yet the blame was squarely laid on the Muslims. Following this Kolar town was forced to call a bundh on 28.12.1987. Many of the times this issue has been used as an excuse to cause riots, where false stories have been spread about temples being attacked in order to instigate people. This was seen in Dharwad in 1992, where riots started after an alleged stoning of a temple. In Bidar, in 1992, a place of worship was desecrated in Basava Kalyan Taluk leading to unruly crowds that indulged in arson and looting. In February 1993, in Alland town, a taluk near Gulbarga, trouble arose after about half a dozen places of worship belonging to a community in and around the town was damaged. Police had to resort to lathi charge to control the situation. On 14th December, 1996, Mulbagal near Kolar, witnessed violent demonstrations and clashes following pieces of pork being found in a mosque. Rumours began to float around town following this and people began congregating in prominent places to discuss this incident. The clusters grew into an irate mob and, suspecting that it might be the handiwork of those who were suspended on Friday following a lock-up death in Mulbagal Police Station, started shouting anti-police slogans and gathered in front of the police station. Superintendent of Police tried to pacify the crowd, but after his words went unheeded and the mob manhandled him, the police resorted to a mild lathi-charge. A few persons started throwing stones at the police station after which the police opened fire in which 3 persons were killed and 20 injured. Chikamagalur and other surrounding areas experienced communal disturbances between January 6 and January 10 of year 2000 over the issue of garlanding the idols of Rama, Seeta, Laxmana and Hanumantha with chappals, on the night of January 4 in the temple of Lord Hanuman in the Vijayapura Extension of Chikamagalur. However, according to a fact-finding report, the claim of desecration has no basis since there was no evidence except for the temple priest's version of the incident which did not support the issue of garlanding the idol. In addition, it was seen that it was not easy to garland the idols in view of the sheer height at which the idols were placed. On 31st January 2000, tension prevailed in DJ Halli, Modi road and Sreenivasanagar, following the desecration of idols in a renovated temple. Vandalism spread when the sarees draped onto idols in the Muthu Mariamma temple complex located in one of the narrow bylanes of Sreenivasanagar, were reduced to ashes after some unidentified persons set them on fire. One of the idols installed at the entrance was also damaged. Angered over the incidents a few residents gathered in front of the DJ Halli police station and demanded that the culprits be apprehended and paraded before them. As the news spread the mob swelled to around 500 people who started shouting slogans. Things began to go out of control when the agitators started pelting stones at police personnel. The police resorted to a mild lathi charge to quell the mob. In 2001, in Kambripet in Hubli, trouble erupted where there was a Hindu hotel and a Muslim Masjid close to each other. A cow allegedly tied in the mosque compound was the cause of the antagonism. This resulted in curfew for two days. Eve teasing Communal clashes broke out in Channapatna in October 1990 in which 2 people were killed and 30 injured as police fired to control clashing groups. Many shops were also set on fire. Apparently the trouble started after the incident of eve teasing which first resulted in clashes between two groups of students but latter assumed communal color. Violence broke out in March 1997, in Kadanga village, near Madikeri, after a quarrel broke out when a man belonging to a community teased a lady belonging to the rival community. The lady’s brother took up the issue and traced down the man at a bar. Soon after, violence broke out between the two communities and 12 houses, a jeep and a car were set on fire. Police lobbed tear gas shells and fired in the air to disperse the angry crowd. Even the riots in Suratkal in December 1999 to January 2000, started after a mob clashed with the police alleging that the latter had not taken action in an eve teasing case, in which a Hindu girl was reportedly teased by a Muslim youth. Religion-related practices Festivals Festivals have often instigated communal riots, usually at areas which are sensitive to riots. The preparations leading up to festivals or the festival time plays at least two important roles: one in communalizing the region and second being the occasion when riots occur. Build-up to festival as time to communalize Look at Kolar for instance where from 1984 the RSS/BJP decided to have a Public Ganesha Celebration Committee and with the cooperation of the JP MLA KR Srinivasiah, an administrative order was obtained from Deputy Commissioner (Shivananda) that no donations were to be collected from the public for Ganesh festival. But this public committee was authorized to do so. The idea was to cancel Mohalla-wise Ganesh Celebrations and pool-up resources to have a cultural event on a grand scale, thereby creating a monopoly over festival organizing. In effect the Sarvajanika Ganesh Samiti collected huge funds and crated all around itself dependent individuals to earn money. Starting from printing pamphlets, lottery tickets, procuring flowers, preparing dais, decoration, loud speakers, etc., the contract was given only to the Hindu and RSS sympathizers. This activity threw up a few vested interests that depended on this annual event to earn money. The Sarvajanika Ganesh Samiti had more than 1 lakh as its fixed funds. Thus, the paid teachers, hostel students, and benefactors of annual Ganesh festivities, automatically became loyal volunteers of RSS. Festival occasion as moment for riot The festival time itself has in many cases provided an area for communal riots to take place. Being a time when passions are at its peak, it becomes easy for people to make use of this to move these passions into communal areas. The Hindu Sikh riots that took place at Bidar September 14th and 16th 1988 left at least 6 Sikh students dead, about 100 injured and loss of property worth nearly Rs 62 lakhs. Trouble started on the night of September 14, when a few Sikh students in Gandhinagar were asked to pay subscription for the Ganesh Chathurti celebrations that were to take place the next day. The students refused to pay as they claimed that they had already paid. This led to a scuffle where the Sikh students got beaten up. They later returned to the spot in a larger number and damaged a few vehicles and shops belonging to the Hindus. In retaliation, late at night a group of Hindu young men struck at the houses where the Sikh students were staying and burnt their scooters. During the night, a plot was apparently hatched where it is believed that the future course of attack was decided upon. The planned nature of the attacks- use of petrol, selective assaults on Sikh, burning of the houses of Muslim landlords and sparing those owned by the Hindus- indicate the well thought out strategy that was shaped at the meeting on 14th night. From the next morning, a regular onslaught began- not only on the Sikh students who were involved the previous night, but also against houses and shops owned by Sikhs in other parts of the town. An inadequate police force, tried to keep the two contending groups at bay, but with no success. Six people died and 42 were injured, all of whom were Sikhs. All the 85 houses that were attacked were occupied by Sikhs, though in some cases the owners were Muslims. Property worth more than Rs 1 Crore was destroyed. In Kolar in 1990, (1.10.1990) the organizers of Id-Milad had decided to overdo the decorations in the streets. This was noticed by RSS activists and a quarrel began near Venkataramana Swamy temple. Some one stole a serial light set. The first skirmish started by 10 p.m. The Police intervened and dispersed the mob. But the Muslim youth pelted stones on buses and a Maruthi car with a pregnant woman inside was badly hit. Soon the propaganda work began by RSS/VHP evident that they were waiting for this opportunity. They campaigned in the night door to door, organized a meeting the next day where they tried to ferment trouble by deciding to resist any efforts by the Muslims to take out the Id procession. The police entered the meeting and tried to pacify the people convincing them to not prevent the Id procession. When this was agreed to, and it was clear that RSS/VHP had failed in their plan, later in the day, an innocent boy was stabbed by RSS activists near Venugopal Swamy temple. This lead to the police imposing curfew immediately. Meanwhile, the stoning of the Maruthi car the previous night was blown out of proportion and rumors that the pregnant woman was hit and the womb ripped open were spread. The activists thus instigated the rural folk against Muslims resulting in the riots of 1990 and curfew for 78 days. Clashes during the Ganesha idol immersion in September 1991 in Belgaum. In 1995 Hubli witnessed a flare-up of communal riots during the Holi festivities. Holi has always been a popular festival, and sometimes the festivities in Hubli have been quite boisterous. Already being a communal riots prone area, it became easy for the festivities to instigate riots. Trouble began on the afternoon of 21st March, but there are two conflicting versions on how it did. The first incident was reported at the junction of the communally sensitive areas where a mosque is located. One report has it that a person with a weapon emerged from the mosque and started attacking Holi revelers. Another has it, that an argument broke out when the people taking out the procession were asked not to shout near the place of worship. Tension mounted when the person was found dead about 100m from the mosque. Over the next four days, more than 30 incidents of stabbing were reported in the city, causing suspicion that the trouble was planned. The Janata Dal government responded with alacrity to the situation, and additional forces were rushed to check the situation. Violent clashes marred the immersion ceremony of lord Ganesha in September 2001. Creation of new ritual practices Datte Peta Religious processions An altercation between members of two communities triggered off communal tension in Adugodi (Bangalore) in February 2003, when a procession of Goddess Annamma Devi passed through a masjid in the area. Religious flags Just before the 1986 Mysore riots, in many of the troubled areas in Mysore, thousands of saffron flags of the VHP had gone up on housetops, autorickshaws and at street corners on the occasion of the upcoming Sankranthi festival. This was seen as provoking the Muslims though the VHP deny any such intention. In Venkateshpura (Bangalore) in July 1998, communal violence was triggered off by a dispute over the hoisting of a green flag on the occasion of Id-Milad, resulting in injuries to 25 people including policemen. This lead to communal tension in various areas of Bangalore including KG halli, Lingarajpuram, Kammanahalli road, Kacharkanahalli, , DJ Halli and Tannery road.    << Prev Page    |    1    |    2    |    3    |    4    |    5    |    6    |    7    |    8    |    9    |    10    |    Next Page >>