Hindu radicalisation not new for Bisara

Evidence suggests that Bisara village in UP’s Gautam Buddh Nagar district where a Muslim man was killed for allegedly consuming beef has been radicalised by Hindu fringe elements for some time.

Local residents, however, are silent about it. Bisara and some other villages that are surrounded by industries and markets have a large number of residents, particularly youths, who lack educational qualification, are unemployed and little skilled in adapting to modern social values.

This socio-economic complex makes them vulnerable to communalist and fundamentalist ideas.

There are symbolic evidences, too, about the identity crisis of the local people. When one enters the village where 50-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq was mercilessly killed and his young son beaten up after rumours about their family eating beef spread like wildfire, one sees a huge gate. The entrance was erected recently on the initiative of village head Sanjay Rana, has a statue of Maharana Pratap, the Rajput king riding his favourite horse Chetak, at its top.

The gate symbolises the identity crisis through which the Thakurs (Rajput), the dominant caste of the village, are passing through.

“I have built it,” says an articulate and humble Rana. The gate is dedicated to his ancestors.

The Rajputs are mainly Sisodiyas, the clan which Maharana Pratap belonged to. One can also feel the clan identity merging with a religious identity after finding  a Hanuman idol installed just few feet inside the gate.  It has been put up despite the presence of a well-built and widely used temple inside the village.

The vulnerability has been utilised by the fringe elements and that could be seen by the posters of Rashtrwadi Pratap Sena, which is active in the surrounding districts for quite some time now.

The Sena promises revival of old glory, opposes caste-based reservations, wants an end to the SC Atrocities Act and caw slaughter.

The posters were removed after Akhlaq’s death.

Even the local people have a strong feeling against the police action in the wake of the horrific incident. “Most of the boys who were picked by the police belong to our family,” said Vamdana, whose brother Sandip was arrested.

Don’t give communal colour: Rajnath
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Sunday that the Bisara incident should not be politicised, DHNS reports from New Delhi. “It was an unfortunate incident. But it is not proper to give a communal colour to it,” he said.
Congress leader Manish Tiwari, however, attacked the Modi government. “This is a politico-ideological murder. There are some people who are trying to change the narrative of the country. They want the minority to be second grade citizens,” he said.