<p>The report of the Justice Vishnu Sahai commission of enquiry which investigated the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots is disappointingly evasive on the causes of the riots and identities of its perpetrators and those who failed in their responsibility to stop and contain them. The report has been accepted by the UP government. It blames intelligence failure and inaction and negligence on the part of lower level officials of the police and the administration for the riots which took 62 lives and displaced thousands of people from their homes. It also says that exaggerated reporting by the social and print media was a reason for the spread of riots. However, no media channel or outlet has been specifically named and no specific reports have been cited.<br /><br />The report is completely silent on the role of politicians in the riots. It was widely believed, with good reason, that the riots had been engineered with the intention of polarising the state’s voters before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. BJP leaders were known to have made provocative statements and spread fake videos and rumours to exacerbate the situation. They included leaders who later became MPs. Inflammatory statements were made by leaders of all parties. The riots also suited the Samajwadi Party government led by Akhilesh Yadav. The government was thought to have deliberately allowed the situation to worsen, because increasing the sense of insecurity among the minorities would be politically useful for the party. Leaders and officials at senior levels abdicated their responsibility to control the riots. The state government also was clearly partisan in pursuing cases after the riots. The riots strengthened the electoral plans of the BJP and the SP. Western UP had not seen a communal riot for a long time. No one believed that the Muzaffarnagar spark happened by accident. It was deliberately made into a conflagration.<br /><br />The commission has glossed over all this, and presented a report to which no party or those in power would have any objection. The aim of appointing commissions of enquiry is to find out the truth. But usually they are used to cover up the truth and to postpone actions by governments. Even well-intentioned commissions fail to find the truth because <br />of the non-cooperation of governments and witnesses and for other reasons. It is unlikely that anybody would be punished for the Muzaffarnagar riots. The cases are nowhere and tens of thousands of victims are still homeless, afraid to return. With the state assembly elections in sight, the pot is likely to be kept boiling.</p>
<p>The report of the Justice Vishnu Sahai commission of enquiry which investigated the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots is disappointingly evasive on the causes of the riots and identities of its perpetrators and those who failed in their responsibility to stop and contain them. The report has been accepted by the UP government. It blames intelligence failure and inaction and negligence on the part of lower level officials of the police and the administration for the riots which took 62 lives and displaced thousands of people from their homes. It also says that exaggerated reporting by the social and print media was a reason for the spread of riots. However, no media channel or outlet has been specifically named and no specific reports have been cited.<br /><br />The report is completely silent on the role of politicians in the riots. It was widely believed, with good reason, that the riots had been engineered with the intention of polarising the state’s voters before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. BJP leaders were known to have made provocative statements and spread fake videos and rumours to exacerbate the situation. They included leaders who later became MPs. Inflammatory statements were made by leaders of all parties. The riots also suited the Samajwadi Party government led by Akhilesh Yadav. The government was thought to have deliberately allowed the situation to worsen, because increasing the sense of insecurity among the minorities would be politically useful for the party. Leaders and officials at senior levels abdicated their responsibility to control the riots. The state government also was clearly partisan in pursuing cases after the riots. The riots strengthened the electoral plans of the BJP and the SP. Western UP had not seen a communal riot for a long time. No one believed that the Muzaffarnagar spark happened by accident. It was deliberately made into a conflagration.<br /><br />The commission has glossed over all this, and presented a report to which no party or those in power would have any objection. The aim of appointing commissions of enquiry is to find out the truth. But usually they are used to cover up the truth and to postpone actions by governments. Even well-intentioned commissions fail to find the truth because <br />of the non-cooperation of governments and witnesses and for other reasons. It is unlikely that anybody would be punished for the Muzaffarnagar riots. The cases are nowhere and tens of thousands of victims are still homeless, afraid to return. With the state assembly elections in sight, the pot is likely to be kept boiling.</p>
