Kanpur communal violence is a warning bell

The communal violence in Kanpur on the day of a joint VVIP visit of President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a warning bell.

Amid allegations and counter-allegations, it is becoming increasingly evident that inaction by the police caused the violence to escalate, which could have been prevented. The police either failed to anticipate the trouble or were too preoccupied with the VVIP security, which precipitated the situation. The writing was on the wall, but the local administration could not gauge the situation.

A group of Muslim youth, led by Hayat Zafar Hashmi, the national president of a local non-governmental organisation (NGO) - Maulana Mohammed Ali (MMA) Jauhar Fans Association - had publicly announced the outfit's resolve to protest the outrageous remarks made by BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma against Prophet Mohammad during a debate on a national TV channel.

Also read: Security beefed up ahead of Friday prayers in violence-hit Kanpur, Section 144 imposed

On June 2, posters had been put up in several parts of the city seeking attendance in the protest that was to be marked by the shutting of shops and commercial establishments on the following day. Significantly, this was the first time in the recent past when a section of the minorities decided to vent their anguish and resentment against the tirade visibly unleashed on them by the ruling dispensation.

All the local administration did was have a dialogue with Hashmi, urging him to defer his call for a 'bandh' in view of the VVIP visit. It is said that Hashmi assured the concerned assistant police commissioner that he would withdraw his call for the bandh. He also posted a message to that effect on his Facebook account and his WhatsApp group.

Surprisingly, far from taking any such assurance with a pinch of salt, Kanpur Police Commissioner Vijay Kumar Meena took Hashmi at face value and did not even care to deploy a sufficient police force to meet any contingency. That made it convenient for Hashmi to go ahead with his earlier plan of ensuring the closure of shops. He posted messages hailing all those who had closed their shops.

The failure of the local administration to be prepared speaks volumes about the maturity of top officials. District Magistrate Neha Sharma, later shunted out, remained inaccessible. Any other proactive DM would have shown the required initiative to prevent trouble.

Kanpur violence: All accused sent to 14-day judicial remand

Meanwhile, no sooner than the conclusion of the Friday 'namaz', Hashmi led a band of his supporters to ensure that shopkeepers rolled down their shutters. While Muslim shopkeepers readily followed the strike call, Hindu shopkeepers in a neighbouring locality refused to join the protest.

Hashmi and his bandwagon allegedly took to stone pelting, which was naturally met with equal retaliation from the other side. Eyewitnesses have alleged that if stone pelting was started from one end, the throwing of crude petrol bombs was resorted to from the other side. CCTV Camera footage shows how both sides were involved in fomenting trouble.

According to the police, Hashmi has a track record of staging protest demonstrations against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in 2019-20. The Yogi Adityanath administration had ordered stern action against all anti-CAA protestors, many of whom were put behind bars and publicly shamed with their pictures displayed on hoardings along streets and road junctions. Substantial monetary fines were summarily slapped on these protestors for causing damage to government property during the protests. It was much later in the day, when the appeal of these victims reached the Supreme Court, that the UP government was not only severely castigated but was also given an ultimatum to withdraw these fines and stop public shaming of protestors.

Yet, the government appears to be going all out to fix the Kanpur protestors in that same manner. That was reflected in the public declaration by a top police official, who talked about using UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's favourite bulldozers against the protestors. Adityanath's call for deterrent action against rioters found its echo in the official's warning: "All buildings from where stones were pelted have been identified, and bulldozers would soon be used against such buildings so that rioters can be taught a lesson." What seems to have peeved Adityanath the most was the puncturing of his oft-repeated proclamation about keeping Uttar Pradesh "riot-free".

Meanwhile, the arrest of 58 Muslims in connection with the violence shows the administration's intent, despite its tall claims of "impartiality." After pressure from some Gulf countries, which raised the pitch against BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma's outrageous remarks about the Prophet, the Kanpur police initiated some wishy-washy action against a handful of Hindus too. The idea was to put up a façade that the Yogi Adityanath government was not acting with any prejudice, which is otherwise writ large in its actions on the ground.

The uproar in the communally sensitive industrial hub of Kanpur needs to be taken as an alarm bell. It indicates a community that believes it is being driven up the wall venting its pent-up emotions. Is it another way of saying enough is enough?

(Sharat Pradhan is a journalist and author based in Lucknow)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.