Omar Rashid 
New Delhi: Mohammad Rafique is a relieved man. Things could have turned ugly, like in Bahraich, but due to the restraint shown by local Muslims, a communal altercation was thwarted in his district, Barabanki, recently. The day was October 13, when communal tension gripped Bahraich in central Uttar Pradesh following violence during the annual Durga idol procession. Some 100 km south from there, authorities were faced with a similar situation when a Durga idol procession passing by Rafique’s village in Tikait Nagar, Barabanki, stopped outside Rauza Masjid.
Some miscreants in the procession allegedly threw slippers and shoes inside the mosque compound and splashed colours at its domes. The mobile DJ music system accompanying the procession allegedly blared vulgar songs targeted at Muslims. Unlike in Bahraich, where a similar episode led to an altercation, the Muslims in Barabanki did not react to the provocation. A Hindu youth was killed and large-scale arson and vandalism took place against the Muslims in Bahraich. “We kept quiet and maintained patience. We didn’t want things to escalate. Otherwise, it would have turned into another Bahraich,” Rafique, the caretaker of the mosque in Barabanki, told The Wire.
Rafique feels that had the Muslim side reacted to the provocation, things would have turned violent in no time. “If we had said a word in retaliation, there would have been a riot. They were in large numbers…in thousands perhaps. The administration too would have backed them if violence had erupted,” Rafique said.
He claimed that while the procession was allotted 45 minutes to cross the village, it took more than 2 hours, and spent more time than necessary playing music outside the mosque. “They stopped in the Muslim area and played three to four vulgar songs,” said Rafique. Eventually, the procession passed peacefully. Later Rafique complained to the police, and four persons, all Hindus, were arrested on charges of injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult religion and hurting religious sentiments. The police also said they would investigate the role of others in the incident.
The incidents in Bahraich and Barabanki are not the only ones that have led to communal tension in the state this month. In fact, in the last three weeks, communal flare-ups, including altercations and street demonstrations, have been reported in several districts, from Muzaffarnagar and Ghaziabad in the West to Kushinagar and Deoria in the East. Provocative speeches, objectionable social media posts and violent altercations during Durga idol processions have heightened communal tensions. In some cases, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators and leaders have tried to add fuel to the fire through provocative statements and threats.
In Muaffarnagar’s Budhana, a large number of Muslims took to the streets on October 19, after a Hindu man named Akhil Tyagi posted some objectionable content about Islam on Facebook. Tyagi was promptly arrested within 15-20 minutes of the police receiving the information, said Aditya Bansal, Superintendent of Police, Rural Muzaffarnagar.
However, while Tyagi was being questioned, rumours spread that he had been let off, prompting a large number of people to come out in the streets in protest, said the officer. An FIR was also lodged against 500-700 unidentified persons for blocking the road, illegal assembly, raising objectionable slogans and violating the model code of conduct in place for the Meerapur Assembly bypoll, said Abhishek Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Muzaffarnagar.
On October 22, the Muzaffarnagar police arrested 19 persons, all Muslims, in connection with the protests. SSP Singh said that the police found five persons, Hasnain, Rameez, Tariq, Azam and Rahil, had “planned and executed” the protests. Rameez is the youth district president of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) while Azam is the Telangana-based party’s Muzaffarnagar city president.
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Police alleged that WhatsApp and other social media platforms were used to mobilise crowds against Tyagi by AIMIM members to create pressure on the administration. A YouTube content creator was also arrested for fanning communal sentiments.
The Muzaffarnagar police made the arrests a day after BJP leader and former Union minister Sanjeev Balyan issued warnings against what he claimed was inaction against the protestors. Addressing a gathering of locals, Balyan threatened that “an action would have a reaction” and said that it would not be allowed to run the district on the whims of a mob.
“The law is equal for all. Akhil Tyagi’s house is also my house,” said Balyan. He stressed that after Tyagi’s incendiary post, those offended by it should have relied on the law to punish him instead of forming mobs on the streets.
The mass protest in Muzaffarnagar was not the only time this month when Muslims gathered in large numbers to express their anger over remarks made against their prophet or religion.
On October 4, Muslim men took to the streets in large numbers in Ghaziabad and demanded action against extremist Hindutva leader Yati Narsinghanand. People were angered after a video clip of the saffron leader, making objectionable comments about Prophet Mohammad, was widely shared on social media. A large group of Muslims even marched towards his temple and staged protests outside it.
While the Hindutva ecosystem, including BJP MLA Nand Kishore Gurjar, claimed that the protestors had attacked the temple, the police denied any such incident, and said that the mob was made to disperse after some youths were creating ruckus on the road outside the temple.
Gurjar visited the temple the following day, on October 5, and advocated that the police should have killed some protestors in an “encounter” while another BJP MLA Shalabh Mani Tripathi warned them that if they resorted to securing “Sharia justice by forming mobs,” action would be taken against them under the “UP Model.”
Narsinghanand’s comments led to protests by Muslims in several districts. In Bulandshahr, the police arrested at least eight Muslims for allegedly hurling stones at them during a protest. In Saharanpur, 20 Muslims and 50-60 unidentified persons were booked over allegations of stone-pelting and blocking roads during a protest against Narsinghanand.
Communal tension also gripped the Majhauli Raj kasba in Salempur area of Deoria on October 16, after two Hindu youths were stabbed with a sharp object by a Muslim man after they had a scuffle during a Durga idol procession. One of them, Rajan Patel, was seriously injured. Following the incidents, a large number of people from the procession staged a protest on the road, escalating the communal situation. Police said the accused man, Angoor Alam, was arrested.
Vijay Laxmi Gautam, the BJP MLA from Salempur, took note of the incident and said she had instructed the police and officials to take strict action against the accused. MLA Tripathi, who represents Deoria Assembly seat, blamed “extremists” for the attack. “Such action will be taken against the culprits of the unprovoked attack that even their seven generations will remember,” he said.
A tense situation also arose in the Manjhanpur area of Kaushambi on October 12 when an altercation occurred between some Hindus and Muslims during the Durga idol procession in Balipur Nara village. While the facts of the case are still unclear, it has emerged that there was a dispute after some Muslims objected to colour being thrown at them by some in the procession. The Muslim youths were also recording the incident on their phones, which were snatched by those in the procession, a report by ZeeNews Hindi said. Following this, those in the procession pelted stones at the Muslim youths, said the report.
Additional Director General of Police Prayagraj zone, Bhanu Bhaskar, who visited the site the next day, said, “Some people were shooting a video to which others objected.” Adding that an FIR was lodged in the matter and was being probed by a Special Investigation Team. A video purportedly showing the moments when the colours (gulaal) were thrown would be probed, he said. Strict action will be taken against those people who tried to disturb the communal harmony, the officer told reporters in Balipur.
Communal incidents were also reported in Kushinagar and Gonda districts. A dispute arose when, on October 9, a Durga idol was installed in a mixed-population locality in Chhapiya. During the ritual of the unveiling of the eyes of the goddess, firecrackers were used, said Vinit Jaiswal, SP Gonda.
‘The other side’, meaning Muslims, objected to this, said the police. The dispute escalated and a large crowd gathered at the site. An FIR was lodged on the complaint of the Durga puja pandal organisers committee and one person was arrested, said Jaiswal. The officer, however, did not say under what charges the FIR was lodged.
Another incident was reported in Gonda on October 12 when those in a Durga idol procession alleged that stones were thrown at them near a temple in the Kotwali area. Following this, those in the procession staged a protest on the road, which was resolved only after assurances by police. The matter was being investigated, said SP Jaiswal.
In Kushinagar’s Padrauna area, the police arrested 33 persons including five minors, after stone-pelting at a Durga idol procession was reported. According to local reports, the altercation started because of a dispute over loud music. The Hindu side alleged that the local Muslims pelted stones at their procession after some verbal back and forth.
The Samajwadi Party has alleged that the recent communal incidents were linked to the upcoming bypolls in the state on 10 seats. SP president Akhilesh Yadav alleged that the Bahraich communal incident was orchestrated by the BJP to deviate people from core issues linked to livelihood.