RIOTS & MAYHEM IN MAU, UP

RSS Desperate To Overcome Political Decline

Subhashini Ali Sahgal

ON October 14, communal riots broke out in the weaving centre of Maunathbhanjan, commonly known as Mau, in eastern Uttar Pradesh. The population of Mau consists largely of weavers and others connected with various aspects of the weaving trade. Most of them belong to the minority community. There have been incidents of rioting and communal tension in the past, but there have been no clashes or major incidents for the last 20 years. Prompt administrative action has contributed significantly to this.

CONTRIBUTORY ‘TRADITIONS’

There are certain ‘traditions’ in Mau that lend themselves very easily to communal conflict. At the end of the Ram Lila every year, a Bharat Milap procession is taken out and it stops in front of the main mosque of the town in Shahi Katra Maidan. A stage is erected here and Bharat Milap enacted. For a couple of hours, the Maidan is full of the processionists and bhajans etc are sung and recited on loudspeakers. The entire population around this area is of Muslims who too participate in the celebrations. Before independence, when the mosque was repaired and renovated, the Ram Lila committee raised an objection that the mosque had been extended by a few feet. The administration of the time arrived at a peculiar compromise according to which the wall of the mosque is hit three times by Ram’s chariot.

Similarly, the Tazia procession during Moharram passes in front of the nearby Sanskrit Vidyalaya. In the same period, when it was renovated, Muslims alleged that this building too had been extended by a few feet. The administration resolved this issue by deciding that those carrying the Tazias at the head of the procession would climb two steps, leading up to the Vidyalaya (but only two) and then descend and continue on their way. As a result of these strange administrative decisions, there is often tension in the town at the time of Moharram and Dussehra and the administration has to be very alert. 

For a long time in the 1940s and until the early 1970s, Mau was a CPI stronghold and Left cadres played an important role in maintaining communal harmony. The influence of the Left, however, diminished rapidly and today politics in Mau, as in the rest of UP, is dominated by caste and communal mobilisations, propoganda and voting.

This year, Dussehra coincided with Ramzan and the situation became more sensitive. Unfortunately, the UP government today takes administrative decisions on political considerations and important officials are posted because they are pliable and/or corrupt rather than because of their administrative abilities. The administration in Mau was particularly inept and completely under the influence of important politicians belonging to the ruling party. The criminalisation of politics in general and the fact that the local MLA, Mukhtiar Ansari, has an impressive criminal record obviously made matters worse. It is also important to remember that eastern UP is a region in which former (BJP supported) Hindu Mahasabha MP from Gorakhpur, Mahant Avaidyanath, has formed various militant organisations like the Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV). For the last few years, he has been indulging in a most vicious anti-minorities campaign. They go to the extent of attacking the minority homes, shops and persons --- all with complete impunity. He has consistently put himself to the right of the Sangh Parivar itself and has outdone it in the shrillness and violence of his campaigns. All these factors had a role to play in the tragedy that enveloped Mau after October 13.

CPI(M) TEAM’S FINDINGS

A CPI(M) delegation consisting of Premnath Rai (state secretariat member), Ram Kripal (MLA) and myself visited Mau on October 30, when curfew was lifted in the town for the first time. The CPI(M) district committee secretary Veerendra Singh and other comrades --- Chow, Shamsul, Imtiaz, Ramavadh Singh, Misra, Faheem etc --- joined the delegation in Mau. We went round most of the affected areas, met many of the riot victims, press people and also the district magistrate and other officials. At the end of our visit, we were able to come to some conclusions about what happened in Mau.

Soon after the main Durga Pandal was erected on October 7, a tense situation developed because part of the structure was in front of some Muslim owned buildings. Crowds collected when objections were raised. There was some verbal altercation and then stone throwing. The police had to intervene. A police officer was injured but they acted determinedly and removed the structure. A few days ago there had been an incident when an idol was removed from a temple and found the next day. It was very clear, therefore, that there was a great need for prompt administrative alertness and intervention. 

On the 13th evening, the Bharat Milap procession came out and the crowd assembled in front of the mosque.  Because of Ramzan, worshippers inside the mosque were there for much longer than usual in order to recite the taravi (Quranic verses). While their recitations were going on, the Ram Lila committee turned the loudspeakers on started playing bhajans started. Unfortunately, the members of the administration present did not do anything. Verbal altercations started after some Muslims voiced their objections. There was a lot of confusion and hullabaloo and it is alleged that some miscreants removed the loudspeaker wires. Soon, senior officers arrived and intervened, and then spent several hours talking to Ram Lila committee members who had announced that they were suspending the Bharat Milap programme. Ramjit Singh, a BJP MLC and committee member, was present and he along with others finally decided that Bhartat Milap would now be held on October 29. Then everyone left the place, thinking that the matter had been resolved.

On the 14th morning, at about 8.00 a m, however, local unit of the HYV sat on dharna in front of the adjacent police chowki, protesting against interference in their religious observances. The police did precisely nothing. Soon, large crowds collected, followed by verbal altercations and stone throwing. But Ajit Singh Chandel (HYV) allegedly starting firing, injuring 3-4 Muslim youth. This news spread like wildfire, and shops and buildings belonging to Hindus were set on fire in the nearby Rauza and Sindhi Colony areas. A large printing press and several cloth shops etc were burnt. The policemen standing here ran away. The administration remained paralysed for several hours before curfew was finally imposed. By then, there had been several incidents of arson and looting.

ANSARI’S ROLE

Soon after the imposition of curfew, Mukhtiar Ansari made a public appearance in Mau aboard an open jeep. It was reported that the administration had requested him to help them restore peace. But his moving around openly after curfew was imposed was an extremely provocative and unjustifiable act. If the administration had really asked him to come, this only proves their total incompetence and criminal ineptness. Ansari went to the Kotwali, met the wounded youth and then proceeded to Salahabad Mod (turning) on the main highway.

On one side of this turning is a very large building that houses a sizing and calendaring unit belonging to Hali Atiq Simla and his brothers. This had been set on fire and a large crowd of Muslims had collected in front of it. The road turning off the highway has many small shops and tenements inhabited by Yadavs.

We visited this area and met many people here. Ashok Gupta’s house is in front of Simla’s unit; he and his family had helped the Simla family in rescuing their workers and salvage some of their belongings. But, then, they themselves had to face arson and loot. Many of the poor Yadav families also met us. All their shops and tenements had been completely destroyed and everything they possessed had been burnt to ashes. They claimed that the crowd that was watching the Simla unit being torched was greatly provoked by Mukhtiar Ansara’s arrival here and they followed his vehicle and were then responsible for the losses they suffered. In the middle of this road is a neem tree under which one Ram Pratap Yadav, a poor man who had come to Mau for some work and to make some purchases from his village a kilometre away, was shot dead.  The people we talked to said that at the time he was killed, they were running away for their lives or trying to save their families or some of their possessions. So they did not see who shot him, but that someone around the MLA had fired the shot. When we asked them if any of the Simla family were there at that time, they said they did not see any of them; in any case they were busy saving themselves at the time. Only one man said that one of the brothers might have been in the crowd.  These points are important because in the FIR filed by him, Ram Pratap Yadav’s brother has named Mukhtiar Ansari as his brother’s killers. Subsequently, when he met the chief minister along with Mukhtiar’s brother, Afzal, an SP MP, he retracted his earlier statement and said that in fact one of the Simla brothers had killed his brother.

In the afternoon of the same day, there was a mob attack on the railway station where a train was waiting. It was only because the few GRP personnel present reacted and fired into the mob that a major calamity was averted. There are two mosques near the station. One of them has suffered some damage and 2 people were killed in this incident. After this, all trains running to and from Mau were stopped for two weeks.

EVIDENCE  OF HUMANITY

Further down the road from Salahabad, there is a large settlement of very poor weavers known as Alinagar, on the left, and another similar settlement, Chhoti Rahjaniya, beyond it. No less than 176 homes in the former and 56 in the latter have been totally destroyed.  There is not a scrap of clothing left in any of them. A man and a woman were burnt alive and one man was being treated for serious burn injuries. All the looms were either burnt or looted; all these families are completely destitute.

Damage to property all over Mau has been tremendous. While several shops and buildings belonging to the majority community have been burnt and looted, the minority community has suffered immeasurably greater losses. Large wedding halls, educational institutions, hospitals and nursing homes, shops, seed stores and hundreds of homes have been looted, burnt or reduced to rubble. There were many attacks on Muslims in the outlying areas and semi-rural areas also.

In the midst of all this madness and viciousness, there was much evidence of humanity. Comrade Veerendra, whose own house was looted, saved many shops and houses with a few other people in his area. Comrade Shamasul and others kept 4 Hindus in their homes for several days before handing them over to police protection. In the whole Mirza Hadipura area, which comprises a large section of Mau town and is completely dominated by the Muslim community, no harm whatsoever befell the majority community.

On October 16, the district magistrate and police superintendent were transferred and the new ones restored peace almost immediately. As a result, the Alvida Namaz on the 28th was also permitted and it passed off peacefully. By the time we visited Mau, the town was limping back to normal but the scars will take some time to heal.

It is important to remember that the Sangh Parivar and HYV left no stone unturned to spread violence and gain as much political mileage from the tragic events as possible. Panchayat elections were on in UP when the rioting broke out and the BJP called for bandhs in many nearby towns like Ghazipur and Ballia. They also made very provocative speeches and statements at press conferences in which they repeatedly referred to “Hindu genocide in Mau.” Within days of the outbreak, Avaidyanath tried to enter Mau with a huge mob of supporters and all hell would have broken loose if he had not been prevented by Gorakhpur administration. 

FOIL PARIVAR’S EVIL DESIGNS

After we went around the town, met the press, some political leaders and also the administration’s members, we gathered that there are very disturbing developments that may lead to more unfortunate events in future. For one thing, there is intense political rivalry not only between but within political parties, which results in their indulging in one-upmanship in promoting caste and communal polarisation. Nay, some leaders and activists of the ‘secular’ parties were also seen looting and encouraging rioting. Moreover, Sangh Parivar and HYV members too are convinced that communal polarisation is the only way out of their political decline.  An example is the fact that while some BJP leaders were in favour of going ahead with Bharat Milap on the 29th, they were shouted down by the hotheads in their ranks who said they would not only not hold the Bharat Milap but would not celebrate Diwali either. While it is certainly true that they will have few takers for this new announcement, their attempt to keep tempers high is clearly visible.

It is absolutely imperative, therefore, for the government to come down strongly against all communal elements and to ensure peace and harmony. It must post able and effective officers in districts, especially those known to be sensitive. It must also take steps to curb the dangerous activities of Avaidyanath and his cohorts and of criminals of every hue. 

While all those who have died or injured during the riots must be compensated, those who have suffered great economic losses must be helped in every way to resume their economic and livelihood related activities. 

What is most important is that all Left and secular groups, organisations, parties and individuals must do all that they can in Mau and neighbouring areas to restore some sense of trust and amity between different communities.