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Muzaffarnagar riots: Toll mounts, PM speaks to CM

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By IANS,

Lucknow/New Delhi: Shoot-at-sight orders were issued Monday in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district as the toll in communal clashes, one of the worst in the country in recent times, went up to 28.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called up Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to offer help while BSP leader Mayawati demanded president's rule in the country's most populous state of 210 million people.

With violence refusing to abate in rural areas of the town, with a significant Muslim population, authorities gave shoot-at-sight orders against rioters in Muzaffarnagar district, known for its sugar mills amidst sprawling sugarcane fields. It is located barely 120 km from the national capital.

Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Arun Kumar told IANS that cases have been slapped on 40 identified people and 1,000 "unknown" people for their involvement in inciting mobs and for being involved in the riots.

Sectarian violence started when some people pelted stones at a bus carrying people to a "mahapanchayat" where elders of two religious groups were meeting to sort out the simmering tension between Jats, a farming community, and Muslims ever since three youth were killed Aug 27 over a case of stalking, allegedly of a Jat Hindu girl by a Muslim youth.

The spiralling violence prompted Manmohan Singh Monday to speak to Akhilesh Yadav and assure him all help.

Officials in the Chief Minister's Office told IANS that the prime minister assured Akhilesh Yadav, 40, a first time chief minister, that whatever security forces the state government required will be dispatched immediately.

In the 12-minute long conversation, the prime minister also asked the chief minister to take control of the situation and ensure that peace returned to the violence-hit areas.

"The telephonic conversation was held on a positive note with both leaders expressing concern on the developments in Muzaffarnagar and speaking of coordination in bringing back normalcy," a senior official told IANS.

Opposition Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati demanded imposition of President's rule (federal rule) in the state over the bloodletting. She criticised the Samajwadi Party regime for "failing to control communal flare-ups and (deteriorating) law and order".

"The present state government has acted very late. It has allowed communal tensions to simmer for 10 days and I can say that they are presiding over jungle raaj in the state," Mayawati told reporters in New Delhi.

The Millat Bedari Muhim Committee (MBMC) Aligarh, a Muslim organisation, too demanded the dismissal of the Akhilesh Yadav government, and the imposition of President's rule.

"Not only has the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh broken down, but the state government has failed in stopping communal riots and punishing the guilty," said Jasim Mohammad, as he chaired the meeting of the group.

The union government was quick to respond to a report forwarded by UP Governor B.L. Joshi. A senior official said the governor "was of the view that the situation in Muzaffarnagar was grim and required prompt and serious action".

Samajwadi Party leaders admit that they were stumped by the "proactiveness of the governor".

Officials admitted that the governor's promptness in passing off ground report to the centre also spurred the state government to action. This, they added, included transfer of senior officials and dispatching of competent police officers to the violence-hit areas.

The Uttar Pradesh government has begun probing the role of politicians in sectarian violence.

"We are collecting proof of their role in inciting mobs, mobilizing the crowds for the 'mahapanchayat' which later triggered the violence," a home department official told IANS.

The government has also asked the cyber unit of the state police to trace the "provocative and fake" video clips uploaded on YouTube, which apparently aggravated the situation.

SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, for the second day Monday, was involved in fire-fighting exercise, and is learnt to have spoken to senior Congress ministers in New Delhi on the situation.

The crackdown on politicians, sources say, is also being undertaken at the behest of Mulayam Singh who sees a hand of "some political elements" behind the communal violence.

"We have been saying all through that efforts are being done to vitiate and polarize the state on communal lines and our worst fears are now coming true," a senior UP minister said, admitting the riots had put the state government in the dock.


NHRC appeals for calm in Muzaffarnagar

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By IANS,

New Delhi: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Monday appealed to the people to maintain calm and harmony in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar town, where communal clashes have left at least 28 people dead.

"The commission is deeply concerned over the Muzaffarnagar riots. We appeal to all sections of society to maintain calm and harmony to overcome this unfortunate situation," said a commission official.

"We are keeping a watch on the developments even as the government agencies are making their efforts to control the situation and restore normalcy," the official said.

The panel would urge government agencies to ensure that human rights of the people are not violated in this process, the official added.

The NHRC also advised the state government to take strict measures so that no further damage occurs to life and property by controlling the situation and restoring communal harmony and peace.

Ajit Singh stopped on way to Muzaffarnagar

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By IANS,

Ghaziabad: Police Monday detained union Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh and his son and Mathura MP Jayant Chaudhary as they were on their way to Muzaffarnagar, where communal clashes since Saturday have left 28 people dead.

Ajit Singh was taken to the Avas Vikas guest house while his son protested the police action and staged a dharna at UP gate on National Highway-24. They later returned to Delhi.

Justifying the action, the Ghaziabad police claimed that Muzaffarnagar, now returning to peace, would be disturbed again by the visits of the VIPs and the state government has directed all the officers to act appropriately to restore peace in and around the area.

Talking to media persons at the guest house, Ajit Singh demanded the dismissal of the state government, alleging the communal harmony in Muzaffar Nagar has been disturbed by "vested interests" of the ruling Samajwadi Party.

Accusing the SP of hatching a conspiracy to communalize the state to woo the Muslim voters to its fold, he claimed the Muslims have understood its trick.

"Both the Jat and the Muslims have decided to live in complete harmony so the peace is returning to the area. Police and the army have not played any role to restore peace and they are just repressing both the communities," he added.

Superintendent of Police (City) Shiv Shankar Yadav said Ajit Singh was requested not to proceed to Muzaffarnagar and hence taken to the guest house where after a while he agreed to return to Delhi.

Judicial panel to probe Muzaffarnagar violence

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By IANS,

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government Monday appointed a one-member judicial commission, comprising retired Allahabad High Court judge Vishnu Sahay, to probe the communal riots in Muzaffarnagar, an official said.

The commission has been asked to submit its report to the state government within two months.

Home Secretary Kamal Saxena told IANS that the commission would probe all events between Aug 27 and Sep 9 and would investigate the reasons behind the communal flare up and identify people behind the violence.

The commission is also expected to suggest ways to prevent recurrence of such incidents.

Political conspiracy behind Muzaffarnagar riots: Akhilesh

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By IANS,

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav Monday termed the Muzaffarnagar communal riots a conspiracy to defame his government and polarize the state's polity" as opposition parties hit out at his government and demand he resign or central rule be imposed.

Two days after the communal clashes that left 28 people dead and more than four dozen injured in Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh, politics took centrestage Monday as parties blamed each other for the incidents.

"Political parties have joined hands to defame my government as they have run out of tricks owing to our development agenda," Akhilesh Yadav said on the sidelines of an event in which he flagged off the first lot of Haj pilgrims at the Haj house here.

Minority Affairs Minister Azam Khan said a very "vicious face of politics was at play in UP" as he appealed for calm and peace.

While the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) reiterated its long standing demand of imposing president's rule in the state citing law and order breakdown, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) also said that was the only solution.

Congress, so long silent on the violence, Monday said time had come for Akhilesh Yadav to own up responsibility and to step down for failing to anticipate and contain violence in the western Uttar Pradesh town.

Congress state chief Nirmal Khatri said that the situation was beyond control and had exposed the loose grip of Akhilesh on administration. "He should own up for the total break down of administrative machinery and quit," he added.

BSP chief Mayawati yet again targeted the Samajwadi Party (SP) government, saying she had long been pleading for imposition of president's rule but her pleas had gone unheeded.

"This is not the first of its kind incident and hence the state government will have to take the blame," she told reporters in New Delhi.

BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad, who was prevented from going to Muzaffarnagar and detained along with party MPs from Meerut and Agra at Ghaziabad, said the SP government had forfeited the right to govern the state.

The party's state unit spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said there was "complete lawlessness in the state, largely due to the policies of the state government and time has come to bring an end to this type of governance".

Civil Aviation Minister and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) president Ajit Singh, who was also stopped at Ghaziabad while on his way to Muzaffarnagar and persuaded tto return to Delhi, also demanded the dismissal of the state government.

Muzaffarnagar residents knocking all doors; Write to MHA, NHRC, NCM, Rahul Gandhi

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M Reyaz, TwoCircles.net,

New Delhi: Concerned citizens and residents of Muzaffarnagar, particularly those who are in Delhi are knocking at all possible doors seeking help and interventions in what they argue is a ‘pre-planned conspiracy’ to create communal tensions for political gains.

Advocate Naushad Ahmad Khan, who hails from Muzafarnagar and practices at the Supreme Court, has written to the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, the National Minorities Commission, Home Minister, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and Ahmed Patel, senior Congress leader and Political Advisor of Sonia Gandhi urging them for intervention to save human lives, to protect minorities and see to it that the law and order situations do not deteriorate further, and for proper relief packages. The letter has been endorsed by several other citizens.



Frightened villagers are moving to safer places (Photo: Niha Masih).

The letter highligts the purported “discripencies in the ground realities and what official stand,” like the number of people killed in different villages.

In the letter the Apex Court lawyer has also made a list those who have been murdered village wise. He has also made a list of some of the accused identified by the villagers, including local BJP leaders, who were present in the Mahapanchayat.

Speaking to TCN, Advocate Naushad Khan wondered how over a lakh people assembled for a Mahapanchayat when prohibitory orders under section 144 of IPC were in place, alleging complicit role of the local police and administration. He regards it as total failure of the district administration, and accuse the BJP leaders of hatching conspiracy for political gains.

According to rumors, the veracity of which could not be established, miscreants shouted slogans Modi ko lana hai Godhra banana hai (Modi will be brought, Godhra would be made) while ransacking and burning houses, and attacking villagers. According to another report, during the Mahapanchayat, attended by several Jat leaders, including BJP leaders, as well as a Congress leader and Bhartiya Kisan Union leaders Rakesh Tikait and Naresh Tikait, passionate speeches were given to invoke them for taking revenge. Purportedly Jats were incited to send the people of minorities community either to “Pakistan or Qabristan”.

Local police has miserably failed to provide police protection and is instrumental in deteriorating the situation to the worse and also instrumental in provoking the mob. According to unconfirmed reports, in the presence of police personal in village Lisarh 14 persons have been killed and all the homes of the Muslim minority have been set ablaze, same is the situation in village lank where in the presence of police 60 percent homes have been burnt and 5 persons have been killed in broad day light in the presence of the police of the local police station Fugana Muzaffarnagar. Frightened villagers from the Jat dominated localities are moving to safer places like Loi, turning them into virtual camps.

Advocate Khan has urged for CBI enquiry, proper compensation and for immediately proving relief materials to those who have been forced to move from their villages and are camping in schools and other places in ‘safer’ places.



Headline is being manipulate and circulated on social media. (Top correct, down morphed)

Although there has been flag march by the Army in the town, villages still appear to be out of bound of the Army Personnel. There is no adequate force deployed in the affected areas and incidents of violence have been reported from Basi Kala, Bhuvana, Sisauli, Shahpur, Fugana, Kalapar, Bhaurakala, Bahawadi, Lank, Lisarh, Mundbhar, majeedpur, Hadauli, Kurmali and have badly affected villages in Muzaffarnagar.

According to another report, mobs set ablaze religious place, several shops and vehicles in Village Lank (1Mosque) Village Lisarh (three mosques) Village Bahawadi (1 Masjid) village Sambhalkha (one mosque) and many more. Large number of people have taken shelter in police station, fearing violence, where the station officers are declining to accommodate in view of fresh incidents.

Meanwhile, Shehzad Poonawalla, a law graduate from Pune’s Indian Law Society and political activist, has also written to the NHRC and the Delhi Police urging them to take necessary legal actions against Twitter Inc and unknown users and some known users like Praveen Togadia, Dr. Subramanian Swamy for their “illegal, offensive, venomous and threatening tweets/posts on social media aimed at endangering the law and order situation and promoting enmity and hatred between communities, especially in light of the communal clashes in Uttar Pradesh.”

Expressing dismay at the inaction of the state, several civil society members and Muslim leaders and opposition BSP have also called upon the Central Government to impose Presidential rule in the state.

Meanwhile the hate mongering on social media has taken an ugly turn, after fake video from Pakistan use in spreading rumor, now online headlines of Hindi media are being manipulated to spread rumors.



Their demands:

1. TO call for the list of the officers posted during 27thAugust uptill now posted in whose jurisdictions, and to summon the accused persons and the officers responsible for lapses, abetment and conspiracy in genocide of the Muslim Community.
2. to save the human life and the Muslim minority community who are residing in the remote villages of the District Shamli, Muzaffarnagar, Baghpat and Meerut,
3. To direct and recommendation of the CBI Enquiry into the whole incident and to further direct for CBI investigation and thereby register the cases against the officials and the accused persons.
4. to request the Ministry of Home Affairs to provide sufficient Army and Para Military forces to provide safe passage as well as safe stay in their respective villages.
5. To provide a nodal office so that the First Information Report to be lodged.
6. The deceased to be buried only after lodging the FIR with intimation to the near relative.
7. To give direction for registration of FIR of the injured and the deceased.
8. To provide immediately food, shelter (Transit Camps) and clothing with the directions to the State Government and the Central Government at Delhi.
9. To give direction to provide ex gratia relief to the deceased of Rs. 50 lac each and Rs. 10 Lacs for the injured from the Prime Minister relief fund.
10. To give direction and to recommend to provide ex gratia relief to the deceased of Rs. 50 lac each and Rs. 10 Lacs for the injured from the State of the Uttar Pradesh.
11. To provide rehabilitation whose houses have been burnt.
12. To lodge FIR against Hukum Singh ex-MLA, Harender Malik Ex-MP Rajya Sabha, Naresh Tikait and Rakesh Tikait S/O Mahender Tikait r/o Sisauli Somansh MLA Sardhana, Hakishan Singh R/o Lisarh, Rajender Malik S/o Harikishan, Bijender Malik S/o Harikishan r/o Lisarh, Muzaffar Nagar, Maharaj Singh Pramukh, village Lank-District Muzaffarnagar, Sudhir@ Billu Pradhan resident of Village Lank, district Muzaffar Nagar for giving farce speeches, communal hatred, abetment and genocide of the innocents.
13. To kindly order for arrest of the culprits immediately.
14. To make a judicial probe into the serious incident.
15. To provide a unique control room number at Delhi for providing intimation by the members of the deceased and accountability to be fixed.
16. Any other relief as this Hon’ble Commission deem fit and proper in the present facts and circumstances of the case.

Related:

Fake Pakistani Video used by BJP MLA and Hindutva forces to fan communal riots in Muzaffarnagar

HDWF President Matiur Rahman donates Rs. 5 lakh for flood-affected Uttarakhand

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By Mohd Mudassir Alam,

New Delhi: Joining the hands to support the flood affected Uttarakhand, Maulana Matiur Rahman Madani, President, Human Development and Welfare Foundation (HDWF) from Kishanganj, Bihar has donated Rs. 5 lakh from his organization to Chief Minister Relief Fund.

On August 22, 2013, Maulana Madani met Bihar State Minority Commission Chief Mr. Naushad Ahmad in Patna and handed over the Rs. 5 lakh cheque to Chief Minister Secretariat officials. The donation given by Mr. Madani has been transferred to the concerned department for rehabilitation of the flood affected people of Uttarakhand.



Speaking with the media, Mr. Madani said that he and his organization strongly feel about the flood affected Uttarakhand and lakhs of sufferer from the state. With this amount we are trying to help out the affected people and bring them into normalcy. He said that the people of Kishanganj have donated around Rs. 5 lakh into their organization’s account and he had deposited the money into Chief Minister Relief Fund.

After handing over the money, Mr. Madani appealed to other organizations to come forward and donate as much money they can to help out the people affected by massive natural calamity. Keeping aside the differences people should join hands to help out the humanity, then only the nation can move ahead in the path of development, said Mr. Madani.

The generous act of Mr. Madani is appreciated by the people of Kishanganj including Human Chain – a Delhi based non-government society. Mohammad Aslam, President, Human Chain said, “Mr. Madani has been one of the mentors of our organization. He is well known for social activities and helping nature. We appreciate his concern for people of Uttarakhand and monetary help given through Chief Minister Relief Fund. Mr. Madani has received the legacy of social work from his father Late Mr. Matin Salafi and this is one of the instances of his concern for the society and nation”. We thank Mr. Madani and his organization on behalf of Human Chain and people of Seemanchal, mentioned Mr. Aslam.

Aligarh's Muslim traders form their own business lobby

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By Brij Khandelwal, IANS,

Aligarh : Aligarh's Muslim industrialists and traders will now have their own business lobby after the Udyog Vyapar Mandal (Industrial Trade Board) refused to back meat traders.

The decision to form a Muslim Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) was taken after a meeting attended by a large number of businessmen here last week, according Jasim Mohammed, director, Media Centre Aligarh.

By another resolution, the MCCI has asked Aligarh's district magistrate to take steps for the smooth conduct of meat business without any threat or hurdle and to take legal action against those who are threatening meat traders to extract money and political mileage.

Jasim Mohammed pointed out that Aligarh is an important centre of the meat trade and meat is also exported. If any organization or individual creates hurdles in its way it would be considered illegal, he said.

Muslim businessmen say "there is a difference between beef and meat. Religious sentiments are associated with beef and we respect them.

"We oppose the conspiracy to shut down legal meat business in Aligarh by some vested interest and communalized organisations," said Razaullah Khan, managing director of Vision Academia Publications Private Limited while chairing the meeting at Media Centre Aligarh.

The Udyog Vyapar Mandal, which should have supported the meat traders, itself become a party in opposing it due to the politicisation of the issue, he alleged.

Nikhat Parveen, director of Alisha Publications, said that usually the Vyapar Mandal ignores Muslim traders due to its politicisation. "We pay taxes and do our business legally, but our interests are ignored by the government as well as the administration," she added.

Abdul Hamid of the UP Muslim Halwai Welfare Association said that apart from the meat business, there are other traditional businesses which Muslims are engaged in and they have to face considerable hurdles.

"Due to the wrong policies and neglect by the government, the handloom industry is dying," he said.

(Brij Khandelwal can be contacted at brij.k@ians.in)


Two more bodies found in Muzaffarnagar, riots toll 32

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By IANS,

Lucknow : The deaths in the sectarian violence that erupted over the weekend in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district climbed to 32 Tuesday, with two more bodies recovered, police officials said.

No violence, except stray incidents of stone pelting in rural areas, was reported overnight, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Arun Kumar told IANS.

Violence began when some people pelted stones at a bus carrying people to a "mahapanchayat" where elders of two religious groups were meeting to sort out the simmering tension between them ever since three youth were killed Aug 27 in an incident of stalking of a girl.

Security was beefed up on trains bound for western Uttar Pradesh and others crossing the region after some people hurled stones at trains in Shamli Monday evening.

Director General (DG) of Government Railway Police (GRP) Rizwan Ahmad said the forces were on alert and additional deployment was being done on trains that pass through the violence-ravaged areas.

The GRP also have moved in to protect the trains and have asked passengers to close all doors and shutter windows while passing through the trouble-hit areas.

A GRP official said the responsibility of closing the train coaches has been given to GRP troopers. Every coach would now have two GRP troopers on board, officials said.

A high alert has been sounded on trains bound for Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli and Moradabad, a railway official added.

Curfew in Muzaffarnagar district has not been relaxed, and schools have continued to be closed for the second consecutive day Tuesday.

The state home department has clamped a ban on all forms of mass gatherings like "mahapanchayat" in the entire state. It was after such a mahapanchayat that violence broke out in Muzaffarnagar district Saturday.

Principal Secretary (Home) R.M. Srivastava said instructions banning mahapanchayats have been sent to district officials across the state.

BJP reiterates demand for President's rule in UP

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By IANS,

New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday reiterated its demand for imposition of President's rule in Uttar Pradesh, saying the state government has failed to provide security to people in the clash-hit Muzaffarnagar district.

"People are not feeling safe in the state. The president must immediately dismiss the state government as it is incapable of providing security to people," said former BJP president Nitin Gadkari.

Shoot-at-sight orders were issued Monday and the army carried out flag marches in Muzaffarnagar as the toll rose to 32 in the communal riots, one of the worst in the country in recent times.

Muzaffarnagar: a town left ravaged, ties impaired

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By Mohit Dubey, IANS,

Muzaffarnagar/Lucknow : Since ages, Muzaffarnagar, a town in western Uttar Pradesh that is barely 120 km from New Delhi, has been known for its bountiful sugarcane fields. But today the sweetness of the crop is left with a bitter aftertaste as communal violence has left at least 32 dead, scores injured and a community, that is used to take pride in its harmony, scarred and ravaged.

Muzaffarnagar, with a population of less than half a million, has a 49 percent Hindu and 47 percent Muslim population. The Jats and Muslims have always fought battles together. Mediapersons reporting from the area recollect the days when, during many farmer agitations under Mahendra Singh Tikait in the early 1980s, Muslims offered namaaz and the Hindus prayers at rally sites.

The people of the area, who till now took pride in the 'Ganga-Jamuna tehzeeb' (syncretic culture), are numbed into silence.

Faced with hunger, fear and the heavy security presence, the district elders stand at the cross-roads of a never before religious divide that poses a "scary and uncertain future", admits a senior official with his roots in the region. "We have grown up in the area and it is indeed a sad development," the official, who pleaded anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, mused to IANS.

The National Highway 58 that passes through the city wears an abandoned look owing to the curfew and the only people around are the men-in-khakhi, swarming in their thousands. The jaggery and other trade centres at the Naveen Mandi are deserted and business is suffering. A city with the highest agricultural GDP in the state is now in the grip of communal tension, residents say.

Mirza Arshad Beg, a trader, told IANS over the phone that in the tough communal situation in the state in the 1990s the city was by-and-large peaceful and the developments of the past few days have even taken him aback. "I always took pride in the social cocktail the city offered but no more," he said, sounding very crestfallen. Old timers endorse Beg's contention that in the past, the city has been very "peaceful and amicable".

Eighty-year-old Yagya Dutt Sharma, who hails from Shamli but is settled in Lucknow, said he felt sorry that the people of the area, who fought the British in "one voice" since 1857 War of Independence are now fighting with each other. A retired government servant and a writer, Sharma said people in the area have always been 'akkhadi' (sharp tongued) but good at heart.

Another official hailing from the same area said though small-time communal flare-ups have happened at times, never has the tension reached the countryside. This time, things are different, he rued while pointing out that growing population in both communities, and to a certain extent "one-sided policies" of the state government have triggered things to some degree.

The people are angry and feel the state government has done precious little to contain the "seeds of communal politics in the region". When the government of the day comes across as being biased and-out-and-out tilted toward one community, how long can the other side hold back, questioned one resident.

A businessman in the area too squarely blamed the Akhilesh Yadav government for being "blinded by vote-bank politics. This government is talking of big ticket investments coming to the state. How and why will it come with such incidents," he questioned, adding that even small-time traders like him are doomed in such situations.

Rajeev Sirohi, a schoolteacher, called for peace and said that efforts need to be made to restore normalcy in the area. "What has happened is behind us but I urge political parties to realize that their vote-bank politics is in nobody's interest."

Shailesh Kumar Chauhan, also from western Uttar Pradesh, and currently on a three year assignment in the US, told IANS: "The developments were frightening."

(Mohit Dubey can be contacted at mohit.d@ians.in)

Seminar on gender sensitization at Jamia

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By TCN News,

New Delhi: The Centre for Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia is going to organize a seminar on “Gender Sensitization” which will be followed by an interactive session.

Prof. M Ejaz Hussain, Director, Centre for Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia shall welcome the guests and audience at 11 AM on September 11, 2013. Dr. Sabiha Hussain, KR Narayanan Centre for Dalit and Minorities Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia will speak on “On Need of Gender Sensitization” in her introductory remarks at 11. 15 AM.

The first Lecture of the seminar will be delivered by Prof. Anjali Gandhi from Social Work, Jamia Millia Islamia on “Sexual Harassment at Work Place” at 11.45 AM, while the second Lecture will be held on “Legal Protection against Sexual Harassment at Work Place” by Prof. Manjula Batra, Faculty of Law, Jamia Millia Islamia at 12.15 PM.

The seminar is scheduled to be held in the Conference Hall of FTK-Centre for Information Technology, Jamia Millia Islamia

Religious leaders appeal for calm in Muzaffarnagar

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By IANS,

Bangalore : Religious leaders from across the country Tuesday appealed to the people of riot-hit Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh to maintain calm and restrain from getting swaying by feelings of revenge.

"We appeal to the people of Muzaffarnagar to stay calm and restrain from getting swayed by feelings of revenge. Do not get carried away by rumours," the leaders led by Art of Living founder Ravi Shankar said in a statement here.

The other leaders who made the appeal are Chidanand Saraswati, spiritual head of Parmarth Niketan ashram at Rishikesh in Uttarakhand, and Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, chief imam of India.

Noting that revenge always brought repentance, the leaders said as the law would punish the guilty, the people should not take law into their hands.

At least 32 people were killed in the sectarian violence that rocked the district in the northern state since Saturday, leading to imposition of curfew and shoot at sight order to restore normalcy.

PM announces relief for Muzaffarnagar victims

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By IANS,

New Delhi : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday announced compensation of Rs.200,000 to the kin of each of those killed in communal clashes in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar.

The prime minister expressed deep anguish over the loss of lives in the violence, said an official statement from Prime Minister's Office.

Apart from the relief to the kin of those killed, Rs.50,000 has been sanctioned to each to the seriously injured people from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund.

Shoot-at-sight orders were issued Monday and the army carried out flag marches in Muzaffarnagar as the toll rose to 32 in the communal riots, one of the worst in the country in recent times.

Pursuit of political power by a law-breaker in Bihar

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Profiling a Criminal of a Village, Turkauliya in Paroo, Muzaffarpur, Bihar.

By Mohammad Sajjad,

This is to recount the tale of the pursuit of political power by a Muslim law-breaker with the whole-hearted support of some of his villagers (in the cause of glory of the community?). This may be happening anywhere in Bihar or elsewhere but what is unfolding in this narrative involves a criminal in an economically and educationally backward village Turkauliya (Paroo-Saraiya thana) in Muzaffarpur District in the northern part of the State.

The story is being told to enable thinking sections of the community and the larger society to appreciate how marginalized groups can be induced to endow petty criminals with charisma with the fond hope that thereby a disempowered group could be empowered.

The ugly phenomenon of crime engulfed the people of Turkauliya in complex ways. In the remembered history (collective memory) of the village, no youth appeared to have taken to lumpenism or crimes i.e. resort to violence for livelihood and personal gain on a ‘continuing basis’. But by 1995-96, two young chaps developed affiliations with mobike-snatching gangs. While one of them ran away from the village, another one camped there in the village to grow as even bigger criminal. Some village notables extended their moral support admittedly, for the sake of ‘Muslim Pride’ at all costs.

It would be worthwhile to go a bit longer in the profile of this criminal. Born in 1971, Mahfooz (real name changed) comes from a poor Shaikh Muslim family with negligible land-holding. His poverty does not explain anything for boys with identical background tend to migrate to earn livelihood, after completing their school education. Mahfooz did not conform to this pattern as he pursued no education beyond a smattering of Hindi-Urdu. He joined his father (who works in a small town, Serampore, near Calcutta) in the 1990s, ostensibly to supplement the meager income to run his family. Soon, however, he decamped his new home after robbing his first murder victim of a few thousand rupees. Fortified with the booty he has since been living in the village leading life of a ‘career criminal’!

The Laloo-Rabri era (1990-2005), saw emergence of a new genre of criminal enterprise in the Bihar countryside viz., vehicle-snatching and kidnapping. Precisely this was the time when notorious gangster, Md. Shahabuddin of Siwan converted himself into a legislature with active political patronage of Laloo-Rabri. Md. Shahabuddin, therefore became a kind of role model, or source of inspiration, for many ‘misguided’ or lumpenised Muslim youths of Bihar .

The talented and by now trained protagonist, Mahfooz, joined a group of similarly motivated ‘entrepreneurs’ in a small market-town, Chakiya, in the East Champaran on the Motihari-Muzaffarpur highway which happens to be an important life-line of the region. Those in the know aver that his gang robbed a truck loaded with Hero Honda bikes, and sold off the loot in the adjoining areas at throw away prices. The enterprise and resourcefulness of this group is evident from the fact that managing forged documentation of the stolen goods posed no problem as they could reportedly enlist willing cooperation of the relevant government functionaries. Like all successful entrepreneurs Mahfooz is also said to having the innate ability to counterbalance daring with moderation of risks. He decided to shift the base back to the village so as to facilitate ‘safe and remunerative’ disposal of the looted property, as also to avoid the chase of the police of Chakiya-Mehsi.

The village sources assure us that his first ‘customers’ were two government school teachers, counted among the village gentry. One of the gentlemanly duo was not so lucky as once he paid Rs 15000 as advance he neither saw the money nor blessed with the much aspired two wheeler; the other gentleman, Azimuddin (real name changed) had better luck as he was blessed with the vehicle which found way to his son-in-law as dowry . This transaction drew the attention of the village community for the teacher who managed to acquire the bike was a role model of sorts what with his stature as a government employee supplementing his income with private tuitions. His modicum of wealth coupled with the social prestige that still attaches to the guru or ustad in the rural hinterland drew attention to the returning criminal prodigal.

Thus ‘motivated’ Mahfooz decided to stay put in the village to lay the foundation of a local enterprise hitherto unknown to the village – vehicle snatching and kidnapping for ransom. He enlisted the cooperation of the like-minded if somewhat less gifted and experienced young men of the adjoining villages. The strategic location of his humble abode right on the highway and adjacent to the mosque proved a boon for his ‘business’ as it served as a hide-out for his associated and the ‘tools of their trade’. That this arrangement was not exactly a secret is borne by the fact that more than once the Police raided his house, recovered a bike which was looted after killing the bike-rider/owner. [In one such police raid, he is said to have put the illegal weapons (AK-47) under the bed on which his sister was lying with labour pain, and this is how he could dodge the police. The police subjected his sister to abuse, and in disgust she decided not to visit her maayka (parents’ home) ever again. As a mark of the appreciation of his shrewdness, this anecdote circulates in/ through casual gossips of the gentlemen of the village]. These minor inconveniences notwithstanding, no major harm came to him except brief imprisonment (in 2007) as under trial.

Meanwhile, a Rajput criminal of an adjacent village, (whose ‘crony’ was Mahfooz) was killed by a Special Task Force (STF), in an “encounter”. The “encounter” took place in broad daylight in the midst of the highway village, and was a big relief to the common people. Simultaneously, however the killing added to the notoriety [and stature] of this criminal, Mahfooz. Why? Because criminals survive through generating fear among the public which is what Mahfooz managed to do as the episode not only demonstrated his capacity to get an important fellow criminal liquidated but his clout with the Police was also brought home to all. It was widely believed that Mahfooz along with his friend was involved in the kidnapping; was picked up by the police and in interrogation he not only admitted to the crime but: (a) led to the recovery of the victim, and (b) got his Rajput colleague killed in the encounter. Since then he enjoys the luxury of being a more feared criminal. It however also created a complex and uneasy social relation in that the clansmen of the deceased became hostile to the ‘turncoat’.

In the elections of three-tier local bodies (Panchayati Raj Institutions) and legislative bodies, this young criminal came to be seen as a useful person by the politicians. In the Panchayat elections of 2001 and 2006 this criminal gained much prominence. Politicians started hiring him to “manage the booth” [a euphemism for poll-rigging].

Welfare schemes of the government like providing shelter to the poor under the Indira Awas Yojana, and Red Card Scheme for highly subsidized food grains for the poorest of the poor etc could benefit the illiterate poor only when a share of the scheme was routed by the elected village headman (Mukhiya) through the man we are writing about. For example, the Indira Awas Yojana awards Rs 45000 to each person. It is a standard practice that Rs 10 to 15 thousand is pocketed by the Mukhiya and the broker (in this case, the criminal). The managers of the nationalized Banks (branches opened in early 1980s) are also the co-sharers; otherwise opening a bank account is made almost impossible for the illiterate poor, mostly women, as the male members are away in Delhi, Calcutta, Bangalore, Bombay, Punjab, and Gujarat working mostly as taxi-drivers, electricians, and masons etc. Thus, it is a story of Mukhiya-Criminal/Broker-Bank Manager nexus.

The emergence of this scenario evoked mixed responses. While some were aghast that their village had degenerated from its earlier poverty stricken but placid state to the bad world of crime, many more found comfort in strange rationalizations. The larger group found solace in explanations like “now the Bhumihar, Rajput, Yadav hegemons and politicians can’t ignore us; the Muslims, they have to bargain with us and share their loot with a Muslim”. These ‘rationalists’ found it fit to laud Mahfooz on the plea that only someone as resourceful as him could make the Muslims of the village a political force to reckon with. With this new-found popularity, the man decided to rise up to the expectations of his admirers; he dared to plot [and assist in execution] the killing (Dec 2008) of an influential person [Bhumihar], who was an aspirant for the position of Mukhiya. The criminal, Mahfooz had earlier extended substantial electoral help to the deceased aspirant in his unsuccessful electoral bid in the Panchayat elections of 2006. In return, the deceased had helped and financed him to bribe the police to ensure that his police record could be made unblemished.

Like many criminal-entrepreneur Mahfooz realized that greater gains awaited him if instead of enabling others to assume the over-lordship of the Panchayat why not he don the mantle of the overlord himself. Administrative crackdown against criminals, since 2006, by the Nitish Kumar led government (who had promised his electorates to end the Lalo-Rabri’s “jungle raj” and give good governance, sushasan) was presumably another factor behind this change of role. Back from a brief spell of incarceration in 2007 (as a suspect in a murder investigation) he got down to the task of achieving the goal he had set for himself. At this stage we have to bring back to our narrative the two village worthies – the teachers who were his first two customers when he had decided to return to his roots to more efficiently hawk his looted merchandise. The two imparters of education used their persuasive skills to make the villagers realize the high degree of eligibility of their own daredevil to the elected office of the Panchayat Chief. In this campaign for public education they employed a substantial dose of anti-Hindu/ pro-Muslim communalism. Of course they also did all in their power to boost the morale and massage the ego of their putative idol.

Meanwhile, moving ahead with his political enterprise and with an eye on the Panchayat Polls of 2011, around the year 2009, Mahfooz recruited 5-6 young boys of the village mostly in the under-15 age group. One of the important tasks assigned to these boys was to visit village households to sniff out petty disputes and problem in which the ‘budding leader’ could intervene. As a majority of adult males of this village were working as migrants, the poor illiterate or semi-literate women soon became dependent on him not only for resolution of minor domestic discords but for sorting out problems like accessing the local quacks, opening/ operating Bank accounts, similar errands in Community Development Block, police thana etc. There were other ‘benefits’ also; For instance, the subsidized Fair Price Shop owner (called “Dealer”) will give ‘adequate’ kerosene, sugar, etc., to the poor women only with the intervention of the tough turned champion of the poor. Similarly, finding brides and negotiation of dowry will take place with his ‘able’ intervention. Post marital dowry disputes will also be similarly resolved. On such occasions, the little land-holders also go for distress-sales, and such transactions too will be brokered by him. All these services would of course come at a price. The women know it, but they also realize that they have limited options. This arrangement supplements his ‘popularity’, ‘influence’, or ‘charisma’ apart from being a remunerative enterprise.

But as the Panchayat elections of April 2011 started coming closer some more electoral management had to be done. Intra-Muslim social diversities had to be managed. Rayeen and Dhuniya i.e. Muslims at the lowest rung of a borrowed hierarchy had to be mobilized in favour of the newly discovered champion of the Muslim cause. Whipping up the religious passion was the best way that the two dedicated teachers thought of. An issue of land of the village mosque was discovered so as to be used as a vote-yielding machine. The two God-fearing educators suddenly discovered that only half the land donated for the Masjid was actually occupied by the place of worship with the other half being still occupied by the descendents of the donor. What belonged to the God had to be reclaimed to construct a grand edifice which could display their assertive religious-political identity. The descendent of the donor claimed with the help of papers that what the donor had gifted was already with the mosque. All this was to no avail as the two teachers had tutored their ambitious pupil not to let go of this opportunity and to keep the issue alive by means totally foul. A three day session of consultative meetings was held at the [criminal’s] house during 17-19 January 2011, “presided” over by the ‘gentlemen’ teachers. Of course such counsel was music to the ears of someone so well-schooled in the discipline of violence and lawlessness. In the midst of the ensuing bedlam there was an unexpected impediment -a simple minded resident of the village of modest personal standing but from a prominent Shaikh family of the village appeared to have seen through the alliance between the educators and law-breaker and started asking uncomfortable questions; what is worse, the doubts of this person started making sense to the people much to the consternation of the schemers. Few weeks before this (the 17-19 January 2011 meeting), on a Friday, there was altercation with the simple-minded man inside the mosque after the Juma prayer, on the issue of fund raised for the maintenance/ reconstruction of the mosque; whereby the ‘gentlemen’ teachers were alleged to have defalcated around Rs. 25-30,000. The criminal had collected and claimed to have handed it over to the teachers, but the teachers denied it; many guessed that the money taken from the teacher by the criminal for the looted motor-bike had to be realized by the teachers, and this was the way he realized it. Its expose was of course a matter of great worry for the two teachers.

The expose of this dirty political game would have obviously spoilt the electoral prospects of the criminal. So, this simple minded man, otherwise quite harmless, had to be eliminated immediately, to preempt the expose’. He was therefore done to death (19 January 2011). But the murder had to be shrouded in mystery. While on way to the mosque for the Maghrib (sunset) prayers and was just about to enter into the mosque, he was grabbed by two people including the criminal; his head was dashed against a wooden window in the house of the aspiring Panchayat chief (adjacent to the mosque), and according to some eye-witnesses, some kind of ‘deadly’ injection was also forced into his body just after grabbing. Liquor was then sprinkled on his body, a short while later in the silent chilling winter evening (19 January 2011), this unconscious man was carried to his home where his wife was told that having imbibed the prohibited brew to his heart’s content he had fallen into a stupor and that he will come around after a good night’s rest. Early next morning (20 January 2011) he was found dead.

The whole village was intimidated to circulate the reason of death: he died of overdose of alcohol. The influential, and ‘gentlemen’ were among the conspirators, and they succeeded in covering it up. They could even succeed in hiding the truth of the venue- the criminal’s house. They claimed that the deceased was found lying unconscious on the road from where they lifted him up to carry up to his home as good citizens. By the time the mystery of the murder unraveled to the migrant/overseas survivors of the deceased, it was too late. The criminal Mahfooz (at times displaying some traits of a psychopathic killer) and his aides, the ‘gentlemen’ of the village, had the last laugh. It is also said that one of the prime reasons why did the ‘gentlemen’ join in hatching the conspiracy to kill this harmless man, was that they had grown jealous of this family for its accomplishments in education and successful professional career, by virtue of which this family, since long, was counted among respectable and influential family of the locality, and that was a sort of eye-sore for some people of the village. This particular characteristic of rural life has been put by another study, in these words: “Poverty, jealousy, caste oppression, gender discrimination, internecine quarrels and the general idiocy of rural life had found a home there just below the surface of the idyllic village. Worst were the intellectual stagnation and the consequent fossilization of culture” . In course of time another layer of truth pertaining to the motive of the killing also started coming out. Some of the women had actually seen from the windows of their houses that Mahfooz and his aides had overpowered the man while he was entering into the mosque for sunset (Maghrib) prayers, shut his mouth with their hands from behind, forced an injection of a drug called ‘Fortwin’ meant to lay him unconscious; provided by a local medicine retailer) into his neck, and then they carried him into the criminal’s room, barely ten feet away from the door of the mosque, and then killed him . They had planned to kidnap him for ransom in order to raise money for his forthcoming elections. They had also called a criminal from Champaran, who was supposed to take away the kidnapped man. This ‘imported’ criminal had married a woman in Turkauliya . Since this whole exercise had got exposed at the moment, they had to abandon the idea and had to kill him. The eye witnesses (women and a frail old man in his late eighties) were given most horrific intimidations.

One of the aides of Mahfooz in this ‘political’ pursuit of killing was his immediate neighbour and an ice-cream vendor/hawker in Calcutta, Jameel (real name changed, a close relative of the criminal from Champaran), a semi-literate in Urdu, and a great admirer of the dreaded figures like Dawood Ibrahim and Osama bin Laden, and Mohammad Shahabuddin of Siwan. This man had intended to come back to the village leaving Calcutta for good and to make his both ends meet he had to become co-sharer in the ‘Panchayat Loot’ with his neigbour aspirant of Panchayat Chief. Assuming to be a politically informed individual, and claiming to have derived knowledge from Calcutta’s Urdu newspapers, Jameel would educate his villagers that it was only because of Dawood Ibrahim’s serial blasts in Mumbai on Friday, 12 March 1993, that the oppressed Muslim minorities could feel protected, particularly after the Babri masjid was demolished on 6 December 1992. Dawood should therefore, according to him, be regarded as a Muslim messiah. He would persuade the co-religionists of his village to internalize that in the face of aggressive American onslaught against the Muslims across the globe, Osama bin Laden should be regarded as the saviour of the Muslim Ummah. Those who tended to disagree with him would be declared either a man of lesser wisdom or less of a Muslim. And then he will poke teasing fun at the dissenting villagers. This ice-cream vendor, a former drunkard and gambler, has been infamous for picking up fights with the villagers and intimidating them in order to exercise some hegemony.

His activities resembled a lumpen, but persisting with such habits he had also transformed himself into a religious person- practicing devout Muslim- grew a flowing beard on his chin (this beard is biologically missing from his cheeks), and started offering daily prayers. Yet the common villagers wouldn’t take him as a noble fellow. Thus, Jameel’s ‘transformation’ was not a change of heart but a dirty politics of demonstrative religiosity. It reminds us of an incident reported by the then minister, Anisur Rahaman of the West Bengal’s Left front Government [“Ladener Roja”, in Ganashakti January 29, 2002], whereby a Muslim village in West Bengal, had observed fasting for Osama bin Laden praying his safety from the American hunt, even though the holy month of Ramazan was far away, and noted political theorist, Partha Chatterjee had to write a long essay on this kind of Muslim social behaviour, underlining how significant impact do the “hot headed and thoughtless people” have on ordinary Muslims .

Not long before this, a girl of the adjacent village, in the same Panchayat, was killed by this criminal, with sanction of the members of her family and the body was thrown into the river Gandak, at Rewa. Her ‘crime’ was that this upper caste Bhumihar girl had fallen in love with a lower caste (Kahaar- the palanquin carriers) boy. In exchange of this favour of “honour-killing”, the criminal was promised some Bhumihar votes in the forthcoming Panchayat elections of April 2011.

Given his criminal past, the police picked up the protagonist of this narrative for interrogation on March 3, 2011 (see Dainik Jagran, Hindi daily, Muzaffarpur, 4 March 2011), only to face protests of the villagers defying the cold night. The protestors included the two eminent teachers. In fact, one of the teachers, the younger one, with strong physical built, knocked the doors of each house in the village and threatened the reluctant young boys and men that if they did not come out of their house to stage a protest demonstration before the police thana, they will be assaulted very badly. The crowd championing the cause of their newfound hero consisted of all manner of humanity including many frail in body for reasons of age or ill health. They shouted against the police that a Muslim is not being allowed to emerge as a political leader. The next of kin of the Muslim deceased were condemned for approaching police and damaging the political prospect of the Muslim aspirant. Thus, even the survivor of the Muslim victim was subjected to harshest possible lamentation. [This is to be noted that earlier than this never did the villagers protest against the police when it searched the criminal’s house. Was it because the criminal was yet to aspire to become a politician?] Perhaps, in the perception of these “gentlemen”, the political rise of a Muslim criminal had to be facilitated even if the criminal did not spare even a Muslim of his own village. Of course, crime has no religious/caste identity. For these “noble” acts of trying to retrieving the land of the Masjid, and so many killings justified on one or the other pretexts, the ‘outspoken’ villagers stood firm in support of this criminal, they admittedly voted for him (actually his wife was the candidate as the Panchayat constituency was reserved for the women) with fervor and enthusiasm, in the Panchayat elections of 27 April 2011. After all, what does the life of an innocent man matter if it facilitates the rise of a Muslim muscleman up the local political ladder? In short, this kind of social support to the criminal was extended perhaps for the sake of ‘Muslim Pride’ at whatever cost.

Grass-root democracy and devolution of power to the local people and the desire of a religious minority relegated to the margins of the political process indeed extract a strange price – particularly in the State of Bihar! This ominous phenomenon however may or may not be specific to this particular village; ‘the marriage of local power…with formal democracy is [often] mediated by crime’ .

(Mohammad Sajjad, Assistant Professor at the Centre of Advanced Study in History, Aligarh Muslim University.)

[Note: This is a part of a chapter of forthcoming book, Contesting Colonialism and Separatism: Muslims of Muzaffarpur, Bihar, since 1857; its expanded version was published as “Witnessing Social Change in Village: Crime, Politics and Religion”, in the Indian Journal of Secularism, Mumbai, vol. 16, no. 4, January-March 2013, pp. 67-100]

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1. In the 1980s, Amir Subhani, from a village of Siwan, had secured All India top position in the Civil Services (IAS etc) competitive exams, and he became a role model for the Bihari students of lower middle class and even of humble family background who gained confidence that schooling from a government school of rural Bihar was no impediment in the way of their career in the elite public employment. Evidently, success rate of the Bihari students started increasing in the Civil Services since then.

2. It would be worthwhile to know a little more about this government school teacher, Azimuddin. He had 5-6 daughters, and did not go for family planning as he had to wait for son; as his wife won’t deliver a son for long, he will turn harsh and at times even cruel against his wife as well as against his daughters. Finally he also got few sons. He would then openly discriminate between his sons and the daughters. Milk, egg and costlier vegetables would be earmarked only for his sons. That was much more evident before the villagers, as he used to take two different bags (jhola) to the haat (village market), better quality, hence costlier, vegetables will be put in one jhola meant for his sons and inferior quality vegetables would be put in another jhola meant for his daughters. Quite infamous for his miserliness, he was never shy of his discriminatory gender attitudes.

3. Some of these details were confidentially shared with the author even by some of the members of the family of the killer(s), and conspirators.

4. Arvind N Das, Changel: The Biography of a Village, Delhi: Penguin, 1996, pp. 182-183

5. The specific drug is a presumption on the basis that usually kidnappers are said to make use of it.

6. This is worth noting that the criminal enterprise of kidnapping for ransom is said to have emerged from and entrenched into Champaran, which has got forest hide-outs, as well as passage into Nepal, for the criminals; it made Parakash Jha make his film, Apharan (2005). This should also be added that recently some of the suspected ‘Islamic terrorists’ of north Bihar, allegedly involved in the bomb blasts in Delhi, Mumbai and elsewhere, have been reported by sections of media, to have obtained arms from and training (on the soil of) Nepal. Not infrequently, the criminal of this story, Mahfooz, would suddenly disappear from the village for few weeks and will then re-appear; the villagers would whisper: ‘Mahfooz has gone to Nepal to obtain arms and explosives from his extremist acquaintances in Nepal’. One however does not know whether the government’s intelligence agencies are aware of all these.

7. Partha Chatterjee, Politics of the Governed, p. 123.

8. Arvind N. Das, The Republic of Bihar, p. 60.


Problems beset Modi post Vanzara letter

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By Faraz Ahmad

It was never very easy for Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi to catapult himself to the Prime Minster’s chair. It has become even more daunting now, after his onetime protégé former senior police officer, D G Vanzara, currently languishing in the Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai, charged off a 10-page letter, threatening to disclose Modi’s hand behind the encounter killings. Meanwhile Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sarsanghchalak Mohanrao Madhukarrao Bhagwat has issued a diktat to the BJP leaders to fall in line and announce Modi’s candidature before the inauspicious Pitrapaksha commences September 20 onwards.

Of course the current round of communal violence in the western districts of Uttar Pradesh, tearing away the decades old camaraderie and bonhomie between the dominant Jats and the Muslims in rural West UP, is encouraging for Modi supporters and his poll manager Amit Shah, handling the biggest state of India, population wise and in terms of MPs and MLAs elected to Parliament and state assembly. The fissures on account of the communal violence, if these furrow deep and take too long to heal, it will help in communal polarization which will naturally consolidate the Hindu vote in favour of BJP/Modi.



MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is carefully cultivating a secular image.

Returning to the Vanzara letter, Modi supporters claim they had accounted for occasional fissions to derail Modi’s train, when they decided upon Modi for PM and therefore these pinpricks would not make much difference to their plans, which will remain on course never mind a Vanzara here or a sting operation there. But there is a contrary view in the BJP as well and it is no more a secret that LK Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Murli Manohar Joshi lead the anti-Modi camp, which incidentally also includes Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Rajasthan CM candidate Vasundhara Raje, who are projecting themselves as leaders above any communal divide and feel that Modi’s projection may influence their prospects.

While it is true that this section was from the beginning opposed to projecting Modi as the PM candidate, the latest tussle is about the timing—Before Pitrapkash or after the four state assembly elections? It is common knowledge now that the BJP is today confident of winning back only Madhya Pradesh. Thanks to the open infighting in Delhi and charges of sale of party tickets against its current president Vijay Goel, it is not at all sure about Delhi and in Rajasthan it is hoping that Gulbchand Kataria and other RSS stalwarts may not sabotage Vasundhara Raje’s chances of defeating Congress chief minister Ashok Gehlot. In Chhatisgarh Raman Singh’s sole hope is that his one time rival Ajit Jogi may put up his candidates to ensure Congress defeat. Therefore their argument is that if Modi is projected as PM candidate now and the BJP loses two or three states, it would reflect badly on both the party and his projection. Therefore the BJP should wait till the conclusion of the assembly polls later this year.

But by the same logic, Modi supporters consider this a ploy to postpone the announcement indefinitely. According to them, the Modi baiters are only awaiting the state assembly polls and if as expected, the poll results turn out unfavourable for the BJP, this camp will then start a whisper campaign that Modi is not selling. Therefore in order to forestall such a move it is necessary to announce Modi’s candidature right away.

However there are two crucial factors the Modi supporters seem to be ignoring. One that post Babri Masjid demolition everyone in the BJP had reconciled to the fact that Advani who led the charge for demolition lacked wider acceptability then. So Advani stepped forward unilaterally in the Mumbai national executive in 1995 to declare Atal Bihari Vajpayee the BJP’s PM candidate. It’s another thing that by that time, apart from the Masjid stigma, the Jain Hawala case had also started becoming a source of nuisance for Advani. That apart, if there was one thing that distinguished Advani from Vajpayee in the Jana Sangh and then in the BJP it was his ability to command personal loyalty from a whole lot of people at all levels of the organization, be it Kedarnath Sahni, Madan Lal Khurana, Harin Pathak, K N Govindacharya, Ram Jehtmalani, Uma Bharti and most of all Sushma Swaraj.

But post Hawala when he failed to stand up for Khurana or post ‘Mukhauta’ controversy, when he ditched Govindacharya or abandoned Jethmalani in his fight against Vajpayee, Advani lost that halo and slowly many ex-loyalists moved away from him. Modi on the other hand was paratrooper dropped on Ahmedabad in 2001 and to make it worse he has all along been arrogant and abrasive towards his peers.

The only factor which has helped him command considerable loyalty across the board is the perception of his total unflinching commitment to Hindutva and his bold “anti-Jehadi” stance. Already there are those in the Gujarat BJP/VHP/Bajrang Dal like Praveen Togadia, Jaideep Patel, Haren Pandya’s wife and Babu Bajrangi who despise Modi for ditching them once they were implicated in the post Godhra killings of February/March 2002, thus denting his pro-Hindutva image. Now Vanzara has also questioned Modi’s commitment to the policy of fighting “Jehadi terror” from across the Pakistani border. Vanzara has also brought to the fore that Modi is in the habit of using and then throwing away not just senior BJP/VHP leaders like Advani and Praveen Togadia but even trusted officers like Vanzara who did his bidding without batting an eyelid. This sends a very alarming message to the very constituency he is banking on, namely the upwardly mobile urban rising classes to which all those educated police officers, now languishing in jail, belong. If Modi can pick and choose now between who to stand by and who to ditch what prevents him from doing the same when he the Prime Minister tomorrow?

Vanzara has mentioned 32 Police officials. One of them, Singhal has already testified against Modi with a conversation he taped secretly. If in the coming months and days more and more of those languishing in jails post 2002, like former minister Dr Maya Kodnani start speaking out, the noise will be too high pitched and jarring to be drowned by the pro-Modi sloganeering.
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Faraz Ahmad is a Freelance journalist with past association with several national dailies.

Revoke ban on cyles and rickshwas from Kolkata streets: NAPM

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By TCN News

Kolkata: Kolkata Police has begun enforcing a ban on non-motorized vehicles from 174 streets of the city. National Alliance of People’s Movement opposed this ban and has asked the chief minister Mamta Banerjee to revoke the ban which it considers to be anti-poor.

Full text of the letter:

To,
Smt. Mamata Banerjee,
Chief Minister of West Bengal
Sub: Ban on non-motorised transport in the city of Kolkata by Police

We are stunned to know that the Kolkata Traffic Police through 29th May, 2013 Gazette Notification has passed an order to ban cycles, hand cart, pull cart, tri-cycles and other forms of non-motorised roads from 174 major and minor streets in the Kolkata city. The order is not only in violation of the National Urban Transport policy of 2006 that encourages non-motorized forms of transport but also an assault on livelihoods of working class people. Millions of poor and working class people in Kolkata are dependent on these forms of transport for earning an honest living and also commute within the city.



This ban will force many people out of work

Cycles are a perfect manifestation of your party's slogan and vision - since Bicycles and non-motorized transport are socially inclusive, directly support livelihoods, inexpensive; take much less space, good for the environment and health, and least likely to cause jams and accidents.

Here are few facts and figures for your attention:

• Data of the Union Ministry of Urban Development shows people in Kolkata make nearly 2.5 million cycle trips a day, second only to Delhi.
• Kolkata is the only metropolitan city in India where trips by cycle (11 per cent) outnumber trips by cars (8 per cent).
• Traffic accident data for West Bengal (2011) shows only 1.5 per cent of road accidents happen due to fault of cyclists against 71 per cent due to faults of motor vehicle drivers
• Kolkata has the lowest number of private cars and the least amount of road space (6 per cent) among metro cities. Even smaller cities like Gwalior have more registered motor vehicles than Kolkata. Cycling is practical and popular with the masses.
• Cycles do not slow down vehicular traffic. Average speed of traffic in Kolkata varies between 14-18 km/ hour. The national average is 22 km/hour
• With a population of over 14 million, urban agglomeration of Kolkata is among the most densely populated in the country. At least 7,750 people live in one sq km area. Cycling is a practical mode of transport in such areas.

We are aware that these notifications have been passed on the orders of the Honorable High Court, but we feel your government must deal with this legally, rather than taking this anti poor and anti working class step.

Hence we urge you to revoke this ban and demand that adequate authorities on lines of other Metro cities be set up to take where local authorities can work with experts to find a holistic solution to Kolkata’s traffic congestion problems that focuses to provide safety to pedestrians and Non Motorised Transport through building of cycle tracks, public cycle scheme and integrate that with other forms of public transport.

We do hope your government will take adequate notice and revoke the ban at the earliest.

Yours Sincerely,

Medha Patkar - Narmada Bachao Andolan and the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)
Prafulla Samantara - Lok Shakti Abhiyan, NAPM, Odisha
Dr. Sunilam - Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, NAPM, MP
Gautam Bandopadhyay – Nadi Ghati Morcha, NAPM, Chhattisgarh
Vilas Bhongade, Suniti SR, Suhas Kolhekar, Prasad Bagwe - NAPM, Maharashtra
Gabriel Dietrich, Geetha Ramakrishnan – Unorganised Sector Workers Federation, NAPM, TN
C R Neelakandan – NAPM Kerala
Ramakrishnan Raju, Saraswati Kavula, P Chennaiah – NAPM Andhra Pradesh
Bhupender Singh Rawat, Rajendra Ravi, Anita Kapoor, Sunita Rani, Madhuresh Kumar, Seela M – NAPM, Delhi
Arundhati Dhuru - NAPM, Uttar Pradesh
Sister Celia - Domestic Workers Union & Sudhir Vombatkere - NAPM, Karnataka
Vimal Bhai - Matu Jan sangathan, NAPM, Uttarakhand
Krishnakant, Anand Mazhgaonkar, Paryavaran Suraksh Samiti, NAPM Gujarat
Pranab Banerjee, Samar Bagchi, Anuradha Talwar, Debjit Dutta, Amitava Mitra, Kalyan Sengupta, Pasharul Alam – NAPM West Bengal

Assam CM wishes for Haj pilgrims

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By Abdul Gani, TwoCircles.net,

Guwahati: Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi wished good luck for all the Haj pilgrims of the northeast region who will start their journey for Saudi Arabia from Wednesday. In a programme organized at Haji Mushafirkhana in Guwahati on Tuesday evening he also urged upon the pilgrims to offer prayer for peace and prosperity for human kind.

“We may be different but eventually all are same -- we all are the son of one Allah. The basic teaching of all the religions is to serve the human kind besides love and humanity. I wish so that all the pilgrims can successfully offer their rituals,” Gogoi said addressing the first batch of pilgrims.



Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi gives gift to the Hajj pilgrims during a felicitation and farewell function to the Hajj pilgrims at Haji Musafir Khana in Guwahati on Tuesday.

He also said that the promised Rs 3 crore for a Haj Bhawan will be released soon so that the problems of the pilgrims can be minimized. Besides, minority affairs minister Nazrul Islam and Guwahati Mayor Abir Patra were also present on the occasion.



Hajj pilgrims gather at a felicitation and farewell function to the Hajj pilgrims at Haji Musafir Khana in Guwahati.

This time there are 3113 pilgrims from northeast and out of which 1974 males and 746 females are from Assam.

Leading Muslim leaders meet over Muzaffarnagar riot

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By TCN News,

New Delhi: Leaders of all leading Muslim organizations met today at the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind headquarter on the ongoing Muzaffarnagar communal riots, and held joint press conference, demanding dismissal of Akhilesh government and establishment of President’s rule in Uttar Pradesh.

Maulana Mahmood Madani, general Secretary Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, Dr SQR Ilyas, Member of All Muslim Personal Law Board, Maulana Nusrat Ali, general secretary Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Dr Zafarul Islam Khan president All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat, Dr Taslim Rahmani, president Milli Political Council of India, Maulana Mohsin Taqwi, executive secretary Masjlis Ulama-e Hind, Maulana Shees Taimi Member Jamiat Ahle Hadith Hind in their combined press conference unanimously demanded forthwith dismissal of Akhilesh government and establishment of president’s rule in the state claiming that the incumbent government has failed to control the deteriorating situation in trouble region and is responsible for inciting violence and abetment.



The Muslim organizations rejected the excuse of Akhilesh Kumar that riots are fall-out of conspiracies by the oppositions and asserted that opposition political parties in any political dispensation tries to destabilize the incumbent government by vitiating communal situation, creating law and order problem etc, but it is incumbent upon the ruling party to maintain law and order situation. But Akhilesh government have reasonably failed to do so, therefore this government has lost moral high ground to remain in power.

These Muslim leaders maintained that more than 105 communal flares up have taken place within 2 years of this samajwadi government which are enough proves to establish the failure of any government.

Replying the queries posed by media, Maulana Mahmood Madani, JUH general secretary explained away that question is not about involvement of communal forces in the violence but the real issue is abetment of the Akhilesh government and laxity on its part that 3 days passed since the conflagrations began but instead of letting down it is spreading from one area to other. He pointed out that yesterday there was no communal tension in Hapur, but today reports are coming that two persons were killed in Hapur.

Appreciating the demands of Muslim leaders Madani said Muslims were not expecting that this government would remain inactive and riots will spread to interior villages and hamlets by every passing day. “It seems that Akhilesh Government wants the riots continue.” Maulana Madani figured out that thousands of villagers are fleeing their home and taking shelter in camps. “We have sent today our team to assess the situation and myself will leave by tonight to provide food and shelter for the needy. He appealed to the people to maintain peace and exercise patience. He assured them that Jamiat Ulama e hind will not leave them alone. It is the organization for the destitute people and we are right now working in Assam and Kashmir and will do our best for the people of this area without considering their religion, said Maulana Madani.

In the press conference Muslim leaders also demanded immediate suspension and stern punitive action against the offials found to be negligent of their duty and their failure to discaharge their administrative responsibility. They underscored that mere transfer holding transfer is not punishment but prize. They demanded that besides urban areas, military personnel should be deployed in the interior villages which are more prone to violence. The organizations demanded from the central government to discharge its constitutional responsibility of maintaining peace and tranquility in the troubled region and intervene for the sake of humanity. They also asserted on the need for establishment of peace committee and appealed to the religious leaders of the majority community to come forward and stop violence.

Not in running for PM's post: Mulayam

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By IANS,

Agra : Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav Tuesday said he was not a candidate for prime ministership.

Interacting with local media persons at the Circuit House here, on the eve of his party's two-day national executive meeting, he also asserted that the government in New Delhi after the Lok Sabha polls will be formed by the Third Front.

The prime minister too would be decided only after the poll results, he said, also dismissing the possibility of Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi becoming the prime minister.

He said he was neither with the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) nor with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Blaming "communal forces" for the Muzaffarnagar riots, he said it had now taken a casteist colour also. "That is the reason it (the violence) has spread to the rural areas."

Mulayam Singh expressed satisfaction at the response and the followup acts of the Akhilesh Yadav government in the state. "Within two days, the riots have been contained, and order restored."

On India-China relations, Mulayam Singh contended that China had a history of 5,000 years of deceit.

He noted that he had said in a Lok Sabha debate that India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had given the slogan of "Hindi-Chini, bhai-bhai" but had been dealt such a shock by the Chinese aggression in 1962 that it lead to his death in 1964.

"Whenever China is weak, it professes friendship but whenever it becomes strong, it practises deceit," he said.

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