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Alarm bells ringing over Saharanpur unrest

Last Updated 27 July 2014, 18:59 IST

Saturday's communal violence in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur town, which claimed three lives and left scores injured, has sent  alarm bells ringing through the higher echelons of the state government. 

Officials are said to be apprehending more such incidents in the days to come, especially in the western UP districts.

There had been intelligence inputs about the prevalence of tension in the districts of Moradabad, Bijnore, Muzaffarnagar and Meerut, especially after the Kaanth incident. According to sources, the tension had been building up in the region after the “forcible” removal of a loudspeaker from a temple at Akbarpur Chaidari village in Moradabad district in May.

In fact, Kaanth saw large-scale violence after the authorities foiled the BJP-sponsored “mahapanchayat” to protest the incident, as a result of which scores were injured.

Various Hindu outfits seized upon the situation and gave a call for “jalabhishek” (offering water from the Ganga at Shiva temples), but it too was foiled by security forces. 

There were small incidents of communal violence during the recently-concluded “kanwar yatra” (the carrying of water from the Ganga in earthen pitchers to temples) as well.

Officials point out that there have been scores of small flare-ups after last year's clashes in the Muzaffarnagar district, which had left 62 dead and thousands displaced.

Police officials here also expressed surprise at the magnitude of violence in Saharanpur. “It seems as if the rioters were ready. It is as if they knew that there would be communal clashes,” said a senior official.

Reports from Saharanpur said the rioters used some chemicals in a can to torch shops and houses.

The UP government has identified 30 districts as “sensitive”, and the officials in these districts have been asked to maintain extra vigil. “Additional security personnel will be deployed in all these districts,” said a senior police official.

The political blame-game has also started. While the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress have blamed the BJP for inciting violence, the saffron party has held the “appeasement policy” of the state government responsible for the unrest.

“The BJP wants to polarise the electorate along communal lines in view of the approaching by-elections in 13 seats in the state, and is therefore fuelling communal tension,” said a senior SP leader.  Incidentally, half of the seats going to by-polls lie in the western part of the state.

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(Published 27 July 2014, 18:59 IST)

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