Open Access Research Article
COMMUNAL RIOTS IN INDIA AND ITS SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF MUZAFFARNAGAR AND GUJARAT RIOTS.
Published Paper
Article Details
COMMUNAL RIOTS IN INDIA AND ITS SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS: A
CRITICAL REVIEW OF MUZAFFARNAGAR AND GUJARAT RIOTS.
AUTHORED BY
- DR VRINDA MOHAN P
Assistant Professor, KPMSOL, NMIMS
Deemed to be University, Mumbai
CO-AUTHOR
- AKSHAT
4th
Year BALLB (Hons), KPMSOL, NMIMS Deemed to be University, Mumbai
ABSTARCT
India, second country in the world
with the largest number of populations, has a varied cultural identity and diversity
across the different religious lines and secularism is an essential aspect
enshrined in the Constitution of India. It is also true that Indian culture is
certainly very complex but despite all these aspects it is known for its Unity
in Diversity and promoting peace and harmony among the people. But the
instances of riots and communal violence are one of these situations and issues
that hamper this peace and harmony. Riots and communal violence is not a new
phenomenon in India but these incidents has a significant impact on the lives
of the people either directly or indirectly. The paper tries to find out the
probable causes and consequences of the riots. The Gujarat Riots of 2002 and
the Muzaffarnagar Riots of 2013 are two different riots, and the research
examines their parallels and contrasts. Hindu-Muslim riots are persistent in
India, however these acts of violence reached unprecedented heights of terror
and ferocity among citizens.
KEYWORDS:
Riots, Communal Violence, Gujarat Riots, Muzaffarnagar riots, Conflicts.
INTRODUCTION
India, the largest democracy in the world, is
certainly a symbol of unity around the world where Secularism is the backbone
and cornerstone of the constitution and where since from the inception of
knowledge in the child it is fended in the pledge that, “All Indians are my
brothers and sisters”. In addition, despite being one of the most populous
counties in the world it has a varied cultural identity and diversity across
the different religious lines. It is also true that Indian culture is certainly
very complex but despite all these aspects it is known for its Unity in
Diversity and promoting peace and harmony among the people. But with the
passage of time, it is found that there are certain instances that poses a threat
to this unity and harmony among its population. Riots and communal violence are
one of these situations and issues that hamper this peace and harmony. Between
Hindus and Muslims, there have occasionally been intercommunal confrontations
during the time of British control. They have been occurring frequently lately.
During the independence fight, the Indian National Congress and Muslim League's
disagreements produced racial tensions that the British exploited. The
animosity between these two populations led to the partition of the
subcontinent in 1947. It is discovered that during the previous few decades,
increasing trends towards communal fury and riots have been seen throughout
India. Thousands of lives have been lost, and even those who were only marginally
impacted have had long-lasting effects. One of India's post-independence ideals
of forming a society where practitioners of all faiths may live and exercise
freely is largely seen by Indians as largely been fulfilled after more than 70
years after the nation became independent from colonial power. India has a
sizable population that is both diverse and deeply religious. The majority of
the world's Muslims, together with numerous millions of Christians and
Buddhists, reside in India. In addition, India is the birthplace of four main
world religions: Jainism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. Although India has a
long tradition of religious tolerance and non-violence, fundamentalism,
communal turmoil, and other forms of violence have recently increased. Despite
India's secular and religiously tolerant constitution, the country's large
religious population, Minorities Commission as well as Human Rights Commission
of India, along with the non-governmental organisations working on the ground,
sporadic and occasionally serious acts of discrimination still occur.
Furthermore, Religious violence encompasses acts of physical harm committed by
members of one religion against members and institutions of another religion,
sometimes in the form of riots. Hindus and Muslims have often been the targets
of religious violence in India. Rioting is a type of ferocity that occurs
across usually communal lines, with the violent parties feeling a sense of
solidarity for their own communities and victims are targeted based on group
identity. Conflicts or riots involvingany type of violence relating groups of
various religious backgrounds are included in this phrase. The term
"communal violence" can also refer to any sort of conflict or
violence between members of the same religious group, sections or tribes of the
same religion, clans, ethnic groups, or countries of origin. Communal massacre
is a threatening and a dreadful phenomenon and anordeal forsociety. Religious
orcommunal -related rioting is a type of rioting covered under 16 types of
riots given by NCRB. These riots and communal violence not only end up in loss
of lives and assets, but it also splits and separates the people and leads to
numerous political debates.[1]
On the other hand, rioting is
demarcated under Section 146 of The Indian Penal Code which conditions that,
“Whenever force or violence is used by an unlawful assembly, or by any member
thereof, in prosecution of the common object of such assembly, every member of
such assembly is guilty of the offence of rioting.” An "unlawful
assembly" of no fewer than five people who use violence in pursuit of
their common objective is referred to in law as a riot. The legal
interpretations of "riot" and "rioter," is that have
been created by states to enable them to file criminal proceedings over even a
small number of people who seemed to be a threat to the peace and state
control, typically vary significantly beyond what is meant of these terms in
ordinary usage. At the time, a riot was extensively viewed under English common
law as an unlawful gathering of three or more people. For instance, the 1716
British Riot Act defined a riot as a group of twelve or more people
interrupting the peace of an area for a common purpose. However,
"rioters" are detained and later found convicted of being
deliberately an element of a throng.Historically, the interaction between
Hindus and Muslims in India is unstable. Conflicts between these religious
groups led to the establishment of the autonomous Islamic Republic of Pakistan
and the partition of India in 1947. Currently, sporadic riots and assaults on
places of worship clearly characterise the relationship between Hindus and
Muslims and other religions in India. It may be said that communal violence has
been observed to occasionally increase and occasionally decrease, but it is
still present on a significant scale throughout the entire Indian culture.
People are therefore dealing with it across the nation. While riots and acts of
terrorism that involve community violence catch our attention, the root and
long-term source of violence is the growth of communalism. Some instances that
gave a way to these hatred and fear are Gujarat Riots of 2002 and the
Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013. There are certain causes behind the inception of
these riots and the consequences of these riots are believed to be quantitative
but eternal.
STATEMENT
OF THE PROBLEM
India has a varied cultural identity
and diversity across the different religious lines and secularism is an
essential aspect enshrined in the Constitution of India. With such a large
population and with a diversity among the population, it is essential that
peace and harmony should be maintained among the people of the country,
otherwise the strong or the majority will prey on the weak or the minority. Harmony
and synchronisation can bring a calmand stability to society, and they are
essential for the persistence and progress of mankind. But there are certain
instances which hamper this peace and harmony among the people. Riots and
communal violence are among such instances. Religious riots account for a large
fraction of all riots that have taken place in India throughout history and
even more recently. The biggest atrocities against a religious minority after
Independence occurred in Gujarat, the home of the Mahatma, when religion was
used for political purposes. When it comes to racial unrest, Gujarat has a
horrific history. The riots in Gujarat in 2002 are an example of this. There
are many factors that leads to such riots such as insecurity or sense of fear
with respect to the other party, provocations from the religious leaders or
from the political parties for their personal gains and so on. The effects of
the riots are complex in the same manner as their origin but, however, in some
riots the situation is found to be such that even the sole reason behind the
riots is unknown, e.g., in the case of Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013. But one
thing that can be said is that effects of these riots mainly include the
destruction of the property, loss of lives at a significant level, etc. These
consequences have a detrimental effect on the lives of the other peoples in the
vicinity either directly or indirectly.It will be interesting to know the
probable causes and consequences of the riots as well as to critically evaluate
the similarities and differences between the Gujarat Riots of 2002 and the
Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013.
RIOTS:
NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS
The occurrence of riots is a global
phenomenon. The riots have huge impact on the lives of the people around the
globe. There are several factors which contributes to the occurrence of these
riots. As well as there can be any specific reason for the occurrence of the
riots. Even the riots can occur because global food price as it was in the case
of South African Riots.. Food-related protests and riots have also been seen in
Argentina and Haiti (before Hurricane Sandy's effects). The South African
Riots, which are a result of the global food crisis and the US drought,
terribly affected life of large masses(Y Bar-Yam's 2015). Food riots have
broken out because of the high and unstable global food prices, which were a
key cause of the recent Arab Spring revolutions. They stayed in a situation
where riots and revolutions were most likely to happen during the autumn.
The impact of any type of community
violence on society is substantial. This violence has a significant impact on
children and adolescents. Even primary school children can witness the adverse
consequences of Riots where the experience high prevalence of distress symptoms
(Dhavale2002). While the BJP's ascent is sometimes blamed for the spike in
violence, there were many other variables involved in the Gujarat massacre of
2002. An examination of first-person reports obtained from witnesses and
secondary research carried out by specialists in the subject demonstrates most
factors unrelated to the presence of the BJP (Wilichowski 2012). The main
causes of the violence's growth in Gujarat were the state's political
instability, which was accompanied by a general lack of progressivism,
educational inequality, and a heightened influence of globalisation policies.
State Power and Production of Marginality along with the factor that
governmental authority was used to fabricate "truth" statements about
the rioting that followed the Godhra event in Gujarat in 2002. An examination
of factual reporting created by members of civil society, analyses of film and
poetry narratives, and examinations of public opinion have all been placed side
by side with this(Bakshi 2015).Each of them has been the subject of much more
thorough examination on its own, reveals communally tensed environment, it is
important to comprehend the way in which some truths are manipulated which
subsequently leads to the marginalisation of the people. Many times, it happens
that the political parties were found to have a sole motive behind the
occurrence of these riots in sense that they wanted to get benefited out of
these riots.
In India, there have been numerous
fatal religious riots since 1950, where riots are not a brand-new event. Ethnic
violence on electoral results provides useful insights into voter behaviour in
democratic societies.There are a few studies of the effect of racial tension on
electoral politics, notwithstanding the reality that a number of scholars have
discussed the link between riots and politics, particularly within the case of
India.It’s a reality that always there is influence of riots between Hindus and
Muslims in India that affectedthe results of election polls. It has been discovered
that the chance of a riot increases when a Hindu festivalfalls on a
Friday,special weekly prayers are offered in mosques. Thus, Hindu celebrations
which occur on Fridays might end in disputes over public spaces. This makes it
possible to identify the factor that caused rioting to effect election results.
To increase their vote totals in the elections, the political parties use the
scenarios(Iyer and Shrivastava 2015).
In India riots affect the peace and
harmony of the populations and have a devastating impact on the lives of the
people one of such riots is Gujarat riots. The consistency with which communal
pogroms have occurred in India indicates that there is a huge flaw in both our
secular governance and governing political system. Bloodshed in Gujarat did not
come overnight or solely because of what transpired in Godhra. It is the
outcome of numerous strong reasons that have fed the fire throughout time. It
has gradually changed the perspectives of the communities, who now perceive
themselves as liberal and secular and view other opposing communities as
fanatic and extremist in addition to doubting their allegiance to India. Gujarat was communally quite sensitive even
before the BJP came to power. So, the other motivating factors also plays an important
role in the happening of the incident (Engineer 2016). For many believers,
religion is very relevant to their personal lives. in many cases, religion
gives people a feeling of purpose and direction that elevates their lives by
making promises of salvation. Thus, being exposed to diverse faiths may pose an
identity danger to people inside the country. Considering that religion impacts
almost every part of life, conflicts between people of differing religious
beliefs may arise in a variety of ways. Furthermore, it is also important to
note that the interaction of the many faiths that coexist in the same country
is a key factor in determining whether there is religious tolerance or
intolerance. Gebert, Boerner, and Chatterjee (2011) adopted a quantitative
study approach to examine the relationship between dysfunctional intergroup
disputes and religious differences (i.e., religious diversity and tolerance
diversity). It has been found that dysfunctional intergroup disputes have
nothing to do with religious diversity, or the distribution of different
religious affiliations inside an organisation. On the other side, dysfunctional
disputes are positively correlated with tolerance diversity, which is the
plurality of organisational members' attitudes about how closely religious
regulations should be followed.
RIOTS IN
INDIA: CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES
In India, riots are primarily
referred in the provisions of section 146 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), that
stipulates "every person of such assembly is guilty of the offence of
rioting when brutality or force is utilised by an unlawful assembly, or by any
member thereof, in pursuing such assembly's common object." And anybody
convicted guilty of rioting risks a maximum term of two years in jail, a fine,
or a combination of the two. The 16 categories into which the NCRB divides
rioting cases include sectarian, caste conflict, agrarian, industrial, student,
political, family dispute, money dispute, water dispute, property dispute,
enmity/rivalry, rioting while participating in Angolans or marches,
rioting/attacks on police personnel or government servants, and other rioting.
Despite the categories, the 'other riots' category has accounted for the most
instances (21,766 cases), or 42.2% of all rioting incidents, and more
interestingly, the NCRB even doesn't specify what kind of riots fall under this
category. In all, 71,107 offences against public peace were registered in the
states and UTs in 2020. Rallies accounted for more over half of these instances
(72.6%), or precisely 51,606 instances. In 2020, there were 12.4% more
instances linked to offences against public tranquilly than there were in 2019.
In the meantime, 4,437 instances of violations against public tranquilly were
reported in metropolitan regions under various sections of the IPC.[2]
with populations under 2 million people in 2020, similarly the rioting cases
accounted for 51.0% or 2264 cases of all such cases. A similar trend was found
between the number of cases registered in 2019 and 2020 as the number of offences
against public tranquillity has grown up by 14.0% from 2019 to 2020.[3]Recent
riots reported 2023 includes Manipur riots and Haryana riots.
Bihar had the reported most of these
instances, followed by Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.Religious or communal
related riotsaffects people on a large scale is a threat for even internal
security as the consequences of these riots fatal. Gujarat Riots of 2002 and
the Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013 are the one of such riots which have a
significant impact on the society at large. There are many factors that leads
to such riots such as insecurity or sense of fear with respect to the other
party, provocations from the religious leaders or from the political parties
for their personal gains and so on.
i) Causes of Riots: Communal tendencies thrive in an
atmosphere of mutual distrust and feeds on enmity and hatred towards the other
religions to survive. The following factors lead to the formation and
enhancement of the situations:
a) Vote Bank Politics: Politicians
often ends up in provoking a communal disturbance in order to affiliate
themselves with a specific community or to dislodge the voters from an opposing
party for the purpose of larger vote bank.
b. Provocative statements by party
leaders and religious leaders: Religious leaders from various faiths and often
various sects of the same religion start conflicts and incite people to defend
their religious practises and religious ideology. The aggressive statements
given by the local leaders and the different rumours circulated by certain
anti-social individuals are perceived as motivating factor for the people.
Sometimes it is also seen that for their personal political gain, a number of
these people from various castes incited riots among the people.
c. Threats to religion or religious
ideologies predicated on rumours or reports: Examples of this include setting
their religious buildings on fire. Similarly, during the Hindu-Muslim riots in
Muzzafarnagar, Hindu groups were accused of coercively converting a number of
Muslims to Hinduism. During the Gujarat Riots, people went on the rampage
against Muslims, blaming them for the train incident. As a result of these
tensions in the community, rumour and fake threats plays a significant part in
igniting the riots. The recent example of this fact can be taken from the
Udaipur killings of a tailor which created the atmosphere of tension in the
area.
d. Irresponsible Media Coverage:
Media often airs sensitive, unsubstantiated, and frequently biased news on
television program in an effort to sensationalise the story and boost their
TRP. As a result, tensions between the two groups often worsen as the minority
group feels endangered and the dominant group feels victimised.
e.Fears that the religion is being
targeted: People often gather together to present a united front in order to
maintain their relevance in what seems to be a very biased system. They think
that their race or religion is vehemently attacked, thus they try to establish
their credibility in the society.
f.Increasing Intolerance Levels and a
Sense of Threat: The ordinary man has become tense, restless, and intolerant,
and he reacts at the slightest provocation because of social fears brought on
by a life of fear and mistrust for everyone around him from the other
communities.
g. Belief that the government favours
a certain religion: Due to the BJP administration's strong relationship with
the RSS, many government actions are now in the spotlight. Unfortunately, the
government is ambiguous about where it stands on number of these problems. As a
result, the problem becomes worse as the anti-social elements benefit from it.
ii) Consequences of Riots: The riots' aftermath is also fatal.
The victims of these violence and confrontations who suffer the most are the
helpless ordinary people who gets entangled in situations which are not in
their control. As a result, numerous reports of rapes, sexual assaults, and
gang rapes were lodged after the confrontations. Both a loss of preventable
death and harm to vital public property occur. Most of the time, the
circumstance is benefited by criminal elements, political groups, and even
religious leaders who instigates these activities only for their own benefit.
The anti-national forces have opportunities to incite anti-national sentiment
and seek to tear apart the integrity of our society. As a result, the climate
of unpredictability and domestic unrest discourages international
businesspeople from opening offices in India, which inevitably has an impact on
India's foreign policy. As a result of these riots, communities feel threatened
by and insecure towards other communities and religions, which ultimately
destroys the peace and harmony in society. As a result, the social fabric or
cohesion of the society suffers irreparable injury, and the climate of mistrust
acts as a spark for further disputes based on spurious justifications. The
country's divisive forces take advantage of the lawlessness that results from
intercommunal strife, which disturbs internal security risks. Lot of people
gets displaced from their homes and forced to migrate to other place for the
rest of their lives and their lives become limited to these relief camps with
inadequate food and other necessities of life. In many cases, they did not get
adequate relief funds and support, therefore, they are forced to die out of
hunger. People with a communal mindset can sow the seeds of communal hatred and
nurture them until the bitter fruit of communal violence reaps on the
community's ready-tilled soil. Hindu-Muslim riots are not unusual in India, but
the unrest in Gujarat and Muzaffarnagar reached unprecedented heights of
cruelty and savagery.
BRIEF ABOUT
MUZAFFARNAGAR RIOTS
The communal riot in the
Muzaffarnagar is dubbed as "the worst violence in the recent history of
the state of Uttar Pradesh, prompting the army to be deployed in the state of
Uttar Pradesh for the first time in the last 20 years”. These communal
conflicts took place between August 27 and September 17, 2013, among the
peoples of the Hindu community and the Muslim community in the Muzaffarnagar
district. In this incident, a minimum of 62 individuals was killed, comprising
of 42 people of Muslim community and 20 people of Hindu community, as well as
93 peoples were injured and over 50 thousand people were displaced. The
beginning of the incident is felt when the Muzaffarnagar police lodged
complaints against 150 individuals and took 14 people into custody after
communal disturbances were reported on August 21, 2013. On August 27, 2013,
tensions between Hindus and Muslims in Shamli and Muzaffarnagar escalated.
According to assertions made by both the parties which primarily included the
impacted neighbourhoods, the primary reason for the riots is under question
However, it is believed that the riots are caused because of a traffic accident
and a case of eve teasing. As per one story, the reason was a small traffic
accident among teenagers of both communities, which subsequently spiralled out
of control when religious overtones emerged.[4]
On the other hand, the reason
according to the second story was that a Muslim youngster harassed a girl
belonging to the Hindu Jat community living in Kawal village. In revenge,
Sachin Singh and Gaurav Singh murdered Shahnawaz Qureshi. When the two brothers
tried to flee, they were killed by a Muslim mob. The news of the deaths causes
the situation of unrest in the area and the people from both the community attacked
each other. The authorities also sent troops from the Provincial Armed
Constabulary to Kawal.On August 30, despite a ban on large meetings, the Muslim
community gathered after Friday prayers, and several local Bahujan Samaj Party
(BSP) and Congress leaders broke into the gathering. In addition to making
inflammatory comments, these officials demanded justice for the Kawal
catastrophe. Additionally on August 31, a BJP leader is said to have made an
inflammatory statement that incited Hindu farmers. On their way home, the
farmers were assaulted and massacred by a mob having assault rifles and
weapons. The incident that adds the fuel to this fire happened on September 7
when The Beti BachaoMahapanchayat, which drew thousands of people, proved
provocative because it was permitted despite the enforcement of Section 144 of
the CrPC in the area. The event occurred near the Jauli Canal when a mob
comprising the people of the Muslim community attacked around 2,000 Jats coming
back from the Panchayat with assault rifles and other advanced weapons.
According to an eyewitness, the corpses were allegedly thrown into the canal.
Even though six bodies had been discovered, dozens more were believed to be
missing. The Jauli Canal event enraged Jats, who went on a rampage against
Muslims, accusing them of being behind the deaths. This sparked riots, which
claimed the lives of 43 people of the Muslim community and 20 people of the
Hindu community (which includes a news reporter and a photographer). As a
result, the Army troops were sent to the Muzaffarnagar and the Shamli region,
and a curfew was enforced. The confrontations, however, persisted for the
following three days. The aftermath of the riots was also fatal. Following the
clashes, the first incidence of gang rape was reported in the Fugana region in
Jogiya Kheda. In October, two more rape cases were reported. On November 15,
2013, it was announced that 13 rape and sexual harassment charges had been
recorded in the two months of riots, with 111 persons identified in the events.[5] On
30 October, three persons were murdered, and one was injured in a scuffle
between two groups in Mohammadpur Raisingh region of Muzaffarnagar. Police was
deployed, and the entire district was put on high alert. Relief campsmade by
the state government in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts for 9,000 victim
families comprising of almost 50,000 people. The Supreme Court of India ruled
the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party prima facie guilty of negligence in
averting the riots when hearing petitions connected to the riots and ordered
that all individuals responsible, regardless of party affiliation, be jailed
immediately. The Court also found that the central government was to blame for
the state government's failure to provide timely intelligence inputs to the
Samajwadi Party-led administration.[6] In
2021, the court ordered the BJP administration led by Yogi Adityanath to drop
all charges against BJP officials implicated in the rioting.
BRIEF ABOUT
GUJARAT RIOTS
The beginning of the tragedy was marked
with incident when the Sabarmati Express was hauled at the railway station at
Godhra, a tiny town in the western Indian state of Gujarat, on February 27,
2002. The various Hindu right cadres (karsevaks) were travelling in Sabarmati
Express from Ayodhya, where they had gone to show their active support for
constructing a Ram temple at a disputed place at both legal and political
level. At Godhra, it seems that there was a fight at the railway station
between members of the Muslim and Hindu communities. in response, the emergency
cord was pulled as the train left the station after its predetermined stop. As
a consequence, the train halted in a neighbourhood that was mostly Muslim,
where it is claimed that a Muslim mob stormed the train. in the confrontation,
t wo of the train's coaches were burnt down. Around 58 passengers died in the
fire that broke out in the train coaches, many of them were women and children.
However, what occurred at the railway station and shortly after is still
concealed by conflicting stories.[7]
There was a massacre in retaliation
in several areas of the state following this tragedy. In a violent outburst
that lasts for more than two months, gangs of Hindus riot and murder while
blaming Muslims for the deaths of the pilgrims. Fathers are chopped to bits,
mothers are stabbed, and kids are burned with fire. There are around 1,000
fatalities, predominantly Muslims. 360 religious’ institutions, 20,000 Muslim
homes and businesses, and almost 150,000 individuals are forced to relocate.[8]
The two deadliest massacres occur at
Gulbarg Society, a Muslim housing complex, where a mob is sparked by a rumour
spread by a World Hindu Council leader, and in Naroda Patiya, where more than
90 people were killed . In retaliation, many individuals were also slaughtered some
of whom were burnt and chopped to pieces. After the riots, the Union Government
made a 3.2 billion rupee (US$80 million) relief package for the riot victims on
May 23, 2008. In contrast, the Gujarat government allegedly failed to
effectively fulfil its responsibility to give enough aid and provide proper
rehabilitation to the survivors, according to Amnesty International's annual
report on India from 2003. Local Muslims saw the Gujarat government's first
compensation offers of 200,000 rupees to the families of those killed in the
Godhra train fire and 100,000 rupees to the families of those killed in the
ensuing rioting as being discriminatory.
Allegations arise that the World
Hindu Council and the B.J.P. instigated the mob. Both the party and the council
refuted the accusations. The Supreme Court established a special investigative
team (SIT) in 2008 after the unrest, which lasted for almost three days until
army soldiers intervened and brought things under control. The violence in
Naroda Patiya, Naroda Gaam, and the Gulbarg Society case were among the nine
significant cases that the SIT looked into. However, the bloodbath continued in
different sections of the state during the next three to four months.
COMPARATIVE
ANALYSIS
Both the incidents of Gujarat Riots
of 2002 and the Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013 took place between the peoples of
the Hindu community and the Muslim community. In the case of case of
Muzaffarnagar Riots, the primary reason for the riots is under question. On the
other hand, in the case of Gujarat riots, the burning of the coaches of the
Sabarmati Express triggered the violence, however, what exactly happened at the
train station and soon thereafter remains trapped in different narratives. In
both the incidents, the news of the deaths causes the situation of unrest in
the area and the people from both the community attacked each other and went on
a rampage against the police of other religion blaming them for the deaths. In
both the incidents, the aftermaths were very fatal. These incudes the loss of
lives at a very large scale, destruction of property and even temples and
mosques were destroyed, displacement of people in large numbers, even the worst
a lot of cases of crimes against women were reported like rape, sexual assault,
and so on. Both the incidents witness the provocative speeches by the religious
or political leaders just for the sake of their personal benefit and which
incidentally are also provided to be very fatal. In the case of Muzaffarnagar
riots, the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party was prima facie found guilty of
negligence in averting the riots and similarly in the case of Gujarat riots,
there are widespread allegations that the BJP were complicit and, in some
cases, instigated the mobs. Failure of state machinery to avert the incident
and to take timely actions to stop the riots is clearly visible from the facts
of both the incidents.
CONCLUSION
The Indian Constitution is built on
the foundation of secularism and since from the dawn of civilization there is a
belief in the principle of “vasudhaivakutumbakam” (the world is one family).
But due to many factors, occasionally, one could witness communal conflicts
between Hindus and Muslims from the days of British rule. Communal violence is
not a new phenomenon in India; the partition in 1947 have resulted from hatred
between these two communities. The communal spirit that pervades the country,
as well as the communal tensions that have developed between different
populations, are the root causes of all communal disturbances. In India,
Hindu-Muslim riots are common, but these riots and violence plumbed new depths
of horror and brutality. It was a humiliating embarrassment for everyone who
believes in the secularism, peace, and harmony of Indian nationhood, a
viewpoint enshrined in India's constitution, a viewpoint that accords equal
weight to all religions in the country, with none being given preferential
treatment. lives in the area, either directly or indirectly. It is possible to
say that communal ideology and politics are the diseases, while communal
violence is just the symptom of the disease. For the sake of humanity and the
security of our great nation, we as an evolving community, particularly the
youth, must unite to combat communal evils and rise above pettiness.
REFERENCES
1. Anand, Utkarsh , "SC holds Akhilesh govt guilty of
negligence, orders arrest of all Muzaffarnagar accused", The Indian
Express, 8 April 2014.
2. Bar-Yam, Yavni, Marco Lagi, and Yaneer Bar-Yam.
"South African riots: repercussion of the global food crisis and US
drought." In Conflict and complexity, pp. 261-267. Springer, New York, NY,
2015.
3. Bakshi, Pooja. ‘Communal Riots in Gujarat: Examining State
Power and Production of Marginality in the Attempt to Constitute the Past’.
Economic and Political Weekly 50, no. 51 (2015): 63–70. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44002993.
4. Berenschot, Ward. Riot Politics: Hindu-Muslim Violence and
the Indian State. New York: Columbia University Press, 2011.
5. Brass, Paul R. The Production of Hindu-Muslim Violence in
Contemporary India. Jackson School Publications in International Studies.
Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2003.
7. Dhavale, H. S., Leena. Damani, Jahnavi. Kedare, Shanu.
Jethani, and Sumit. Sharma. "Impact of riots on children." Indian
Journal of Social Work 63 (2002): 194-205.
8. Engineer, Asghar Ali. ‘Gujarat Riots in the Light of the
History of Communal Violence’. Economic and Political Weekly 37, no. 50 (2002):
5047–54.
9. Gebert, Diether, Sabine Boerner, and Debrabata Chatterjee.
"Do religious differences matter? An analysis in India." Team
Performance Management: An International Journal (2011).
10. Iyer, Sriya, and Anand Shrivastava. ‘Religious Riots and
Electoral Politics in India’. SSRN Electronic Journal, 2015. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2696360.
11. Jaffrelot, Christophe. ‘Communal Riots in Gujarat: The
State at Risk?’, Heidelberg Papers in South Asian and Comparative Politics, 17
(2003).
12. Kirpal, Raman. "How SP, BJP, BSP politicians gave
their blessings as Muzaffarnagar burned", First Post, 5 November 2013.
M.Muralidhar, B. V. ‘Gujarat Riots-The Ugly Scar on Secular India’.
Presentation at the 18th European Conference on …, 1 January 2004. https://www.academia.edu/1030699/Gujarat_Riots_The_Ugly_Scar_on_Secular_India.
13.Pingle, Gautam. “Gujarat Riots: Determining Perception
from Opinion Polls.” Economic and Political Weekly 51, no. 16 (2016): 94–97.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/44003803. 19
14. Siddiqui, Furqan Ameen, "UP turns its back on
Muzaffarnagar's gang-rape victims", Hindustan Times, 7 December 2013. P.
Wilichowski, Tracy. ‘Premeditated Causes of the 2002 Gujarat Pogrom: A
Comprehensive Analysis of Contributing Factors That Led to the Manifestation of
the Riots’, Oshkosh Scholar December 2012: 128-144. https://minds.wisconsin.edu/handle/1793/70989.
15.Wilkinson, Steven I. “Communal Riots in India.” Economic
and Political Weekly 40, no. 44/45 (2005): 4768–70.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/4417364.
[1] Wilichowski, Tracy.
‘Premeditated Causes of the 2002 Gujarat Pogrom: A Comprehensive Analysis of
Contributing Factors That Led to the Manifestation of the Riots’, Oshkosh
Scholar December 2012: 128-144
[2](19 Metropolitan Cities:
Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Ghaziabad, Hyderabad, Indore,
Jaipur, Kanpur, Kochi, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Patna, Pune
and Surat)
[4]Kirpal, Raman. "How SP, BJP,
BSP politicians gave their blessings as Muzaffarnagar burned", First Post,
5 November 2013.
[5]Siddiqui, Furqan Ameen, "UP
turns its back on Muzaffarnagar's gang-rape victims", Hindustan Times, 7
December 2013, Accessed on 19 June, 2021
[6]Anand, Utkarsh , "SC holds
Akhilesh govt guilty of negligence, orders arrest of all Muzaffarnagar
accused", The Indian Express, 8 April 2014, Accessed on 15 june 2021
[7]Engineer, Asghar Ali. ‘Gujarat
Riots in the Light of the History of Communal Violence’. Economic and Political
Weekly 37, no. 50 (2002): 5047–54. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4412966.
[8]Jaffrelot, Christophe. ‘Communal
Riots in Gujarat: The State at Risk?’, Heidelberg Papers in South Asian and
Comparative Politics, 17 (2003). https://doi.org/10.11588/HEIDOK.00004127.
Article Information
COMMUNAL RIOTS IN INDIA AND ITS SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF MUZAFFARNAGAR AND GUJARAT RIOTS.
Authors: DR VRINDA MOHAN P, AKSHAT
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Published 2023/10/04
- Issue 7
About Journal
International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
- Abbreviation IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Access Open Access
- License CC 4.0
All research articles published in International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis are open access and available to read, download and share, subject to proper citation of the original work.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis.