Majority feels rioters must be arrested and punished, survey shows

Despite an apology from Nupur Sharma and her suspension for her controversial remarks, sections of the Muslim community have continued protests

There seems to be no end to the controversy and the protests related to the allegedly offensive and insulting remarks made by former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma during a TV debate.

Despite an apology from Sharma and the party suspending her for six years, sections of the Muslim community have felt outraged enough to continue their protests.

On June 3, the city of Kanpur witnessed arson, stone pelting and violence over the issue. Dozens of alleged rioters were arrested.

But worse was to follow on June 10 when more than a dozen Indian towns and cities erupted in violent protests.

In Ranchi, the police had to open fire to quell the mob violence leading to two deaths and many injuries. Many cities in Uttar Pradesh also witnessed violent protests where people allegedly pelted stones and indulged in arson.

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More than a hundred alleged rioters have been booked and arrested and the government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has even started bulldozing "illegal" properties of alleged offenders.

The state government has made it clear that it will spare no rioter.

CVoter conducted a nationwide survey on behalf of IANS to gauge public sentiments on this sensitive issue.

On being asked if other state governments need to take strong action against alleged rioters, overall 72 per cent of the respondents answered in the affirmative.

It may be recalled here that Yogi Adityanath had acquired a reputation as "Bulldozer Baba" in the run up to the state Assembly elections.

But while an overall majority feel others should emulate the Yogi, there are differences too.

The most obvious was a mere 31 per cent of Muslim respondents agreeing with the contention while an extremely large majority of 83 per cent of upper caste Hindus sharing the same sentiment.

Another interesting revelation was that while 70 per cent of poorly educated Indians agreed, more than 75 per cent of highly educated Indians shared the sentiment.