Riots shatter peace, build mistrust

The cosy bonding Jats and Muslims enjoyed for years in the sleepy villages of Muzaffarnagar district in Uttar Pradesh was ruptured when the molestation of a girl and subsequent killings of three young men took a communal colour, sowing seeds of mistrust among communities.

The Army had to be called into the district, which houses tracts of sugarcane fields and a number of steel plants and paper mills, for the first time after the communal strife post babri Masjid demolition in 1992.

This itself shows the extent of polarisation and deterioration of the situation. Village elders go to the extent of saying that even during Partition, there were no riots in the town. Jats and Muslims used to live in peace though they were on the opposite sides of the political divide since the death of former prime minister Charan Singh.

For an electoral sweep in the sugar belt of western Uttar Pradesh, any party needs to have the support of two of the three blocks – Jats, Muslims and others. Charan Singh understood this very early and weaved the Jat-Muslim electoral combination to emerge the winner in successive polls. But his passing away in 1987 spelt the death for this political alliance too.

Many feel that the communal riots in Muzaffarnagar were part of a game plan to break this alliance of Jats and Muslims.

The choosing of this district, with a population of 41.43 lakh, may not be deliberate but the first opportunity was grabbed. The number of deaths in single incidents during the riots was high, which was a matter of concern.

Jats blame the attack on the group returning from a ‘Mahapanchayat’ called to discuss the killings of two youths belonging to the community. Muslims, fearing retribution, appeared to have chosen offence as the best defence and attacked them.

The fresh bout of violence in Muzaffarnagar, the third in the last one year, assumed larger proportions this time. For the first time, there was a mass exodus of Muslims from villages where they are in a minority.

They refuse to return to their villages as the riots left a deep scar in Muzaffarnagar and the sugar belt. In western UP, the two communities lived in peace, sharing historical links.

Both communities gained from the agricultural revolution. There were social and political differences but communal amity was not disturbed. A fresh spell of violence would mean that the thin thread, which still exists between Muslims and Jats, would be broken forever. Erasing the mistrust among communities will be a Herculean task as villagers have started talking in terms of ‘them and us’.

The exodus of the Muslims, with just what they were wearing and leaving whatever little they have at their houses, shows this.

Travel to any Muslim-dominated village in Muzaffarnagar district, one can see people from other villages fleeing in search of security.

 The fear is palpable. In Shahpur, around 20 km from Muzaffarnagar town, there are over a 1,000 Muslim families from five villages seeking shelter in ‘Islamabad basti’. One can see scores of women sitting in an open space in the basti where food is being prepared in a common kitchen. “Wait for another 10 days or so and only then we will decide whether to return,” says one of the villagers.

Despite stories of a section of Jats helping Muslims at the time of difficulty, Muslims still fear going back to their villages. Nobody has applied balm to the frayed tempers. Each group believes the administration favoured the other.

The collapse of governance and political leadership led to the sowing of mistrust, which now appears to have become irreversible.

This is despite some powerful Jats in some villages extending a helping hand to Muslims under attack. Some village heads took scores of Muslims to their own houses, provided shelter, security and food.

Some of them even transported Muslims to safety after they found that the minority community members were not safe in their villages. However, individual help was not enough for Muslims to stay in their own villages. What the Muslims are looking for is security for themselves and their property, which they claim is not forthcoming. The fleeing of Muslims also shows that the Jat community calls the shot in villages where they have a majority.

The locals blame it on the administration and politicians for the fresh violence. They feel that a political game was played on them with elections in mind. Theories abound about political realignment but people in western UP are keeping their cards close to their chest though they show their clear anger against the Samajwadi Party government.

The question remains whether the fire lit in Muzaffarnagar for a communal polarisation ahead of the 2014 general election will spread to other parts of the country.

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