People's Democracy

CPI(M) TEAM VISITS KOSI KALAN

RSS-BJP are Main Culprits of Riots

AFTER the curfew was relaxed in Kosi Kalan on June 6 evening, the CPI(M) state secretariat sent a delegation to the town the next day to ascertain the causes of the riot and to assess the situation at present. Led by state secretariat member Karamvir Singh Solanki, the delegation comprised district secretary Dr Harishankar, district committee member Digambar Singh, Than Singh, Balram Sharma, Chetram Sharma, Prakash Chaand, Brajbhan Singh and others.

The delegation first reached the Sabzi Mandi (vegetables market) where 33 wholesale shops were reduced to ashes. The Sabzi Mandi Traders Association chairman, Swami Prasad, said the fire gutted things worth three crore rupees; this did not include the loss of the buildings’ construction costs. He said it was a pro-BJP crowd of some 150 persons who set afire the shops belonging to Hindus as well as Muslims.

According to vegetable seller Wali Mohammed, the loss of life and property could have been averted if only the police had intervened in time. Before moving into the town, the delegation also saw the hundreds of retail vegetable shops that were gutted by fire; men and women were seen trying to retrieve whatever was left unburnt or half-burnt.   

On the National Highway, the delegation saw the shop where the rioters had burnt two brothers, Bhura and Kalua Khan, alive. They were surrounded when Bhura was trying to take Kalua to some other doctor for treatment after a Hindu doctor had refused to treat Kalua. (The rioters had shot upon and injured Kalua earlier.) Here the rioters first thrashed the two brothers mercilessly and then threw them into a nearby shop that was already in flames.

The delegation then went to the Sarai Shahi Masjid from where the trouble had started. It came to know that the local people had already controlled the situation through persuation after a Hindu shopkeeper had thrust his hands into sharbat and was beaten by some youth. According to Wali Mohammed, the said shopkeeper then went away but then he called some people by phone, and it is these people who started the trouble. On the condition of anonymity, another person said that it was quite natural if these heinous attempts incited the Muslims.

The delegation found most of the people frightened in the Muslim majority locality of Nikasa. Here some individuals were seen muttering something and dissuading others from meeting the delegation. Hamid Quraishi said the deliberate inactivity of the police for three or four hours was responsible for the spread of the riot. After a big crowd was called from outside, two Muslims were burnt alive and a third (Salahuddin of Nikasa mohulla) was shot dead. When some elements tried to incite others here against the CPI(M) delegation, the latter made an appeal to the people to beware of rumourmongers.

When the delegation reached the Arya Samaj Road, Navneet Jaiswal’s query was why the Hindus should have remained silent when some Muslims had entered their houses. However, some others controverted him, saying that the rioters belonged to both communities. Kishan said most of his customers were Muslims and that such a situation was seen never before.

There were horrendous scenes all the way when the delegation visited Baldevganj, Ghantaghar, Gaushala Market, Bus Stand, Talab Shahi and some other localities. The deployment of the PAC and Rapid Action Force (RAF) had turned the whole town into a besieged area, with most of the shops remaining closed.

Tension still prevailed in Kosi Kalan and the Hindus and Muslims have apprehensions about one another. Though the police deployment has created the impression that normalcy has returned, there are fears that the situation may deteriorate any time.     

Even after the curfew was relaxed on June 6 evening, the police restrictions were making things difficult; even a team of the Minority Commission was not allowed to enter the town. Nor was a delegation of any other party allowed to come here. Former minister Lakshmi Narayan, too, was not allowed to enter Kosi Kalan. The CPI(M) team, too, was not allowed the visit the relatives of the dead.

After its Kosi Kalan visit, the CPI(M) delegation has reached the following conclusions:

1) A person thrusting his hand into the sharbat meant for distribution among the Muslim worshipper was a deliberate act, motivated by the RSS.

2) Even after the issue was settled through persuation, anti-socials were called in. Their attacks on the Muslims who were coming out of the mosque after the namaaz, were also a part of the same conspiracy.

3) While large-scale arson and loot in the town was something surprising, reports insist that professional criminals led the rioting crowds.

4) Most of the shops set afire belonged to the Muslims and were selectively targeted. However, a crowd of Muslims did the same thing to some Hindu shops in one part of the town.

5) The most shocking thing is that the district administration failed to deploy police forces from 2 p m to 8 p m, and that the local police failed to deal with the rioters. Later the state government removed the district magistrate, senior superintendent of police, circle officer, subdivisional magistrate and station house officer from their positions.

6) About 150 persons have been nominated on rioting charge and FIRs filed against about 1,200 unidentified individuals for having perpetrated the riot. Former minister Lakshmi Narayan (BSP), his brother Lekhraj (MLC) and nephew Nar Dev are included among the accused.

7) The government has issued cheques of Rs five lakh each for the family of the deceased, but nothing so far has been done about sanctioning compensation to the injured or for the properties destroyed.

8) Regional newspapers, like Hindustan, Amar Ujala and Dainik Jagran, played an anti-minority role and ignited sentiments against the Muslims.

9) Apart from the RSS and BJP, some other parties too are now running anti-minority campaigns in the adjacent rural areas which are in the grip of tension as a result.

10) The intensifying competition for the municipality polls were at the root of the riot, and the administration has now deferred these polls that were scheduled to take place on July 4 coming.

11) Continued closure of the market is exacerbating the situation. After FIRs were filed against anti-socials, the latter are threatening the shopkeepers of dire consequences in case they open their shops. The shopkeepers are thus being pressurised to withdraw their complaints and FIRs. The RSS and the BJP are playing the lead role in this nefarious campaign.

The CPI(M) delegation appreciated the role the local comrades played in mitigating the situation during and after the riots.

At the residence of CPI(M) district secretary Dr Harishankar, the delegation later addressed a press conference on June 7 evening. Here it raised the following demands ---

1) Strict actions must be taken against those guilty of rioting while cases against the innocent must be withdrawn.

2) The injured and those suffering loss of property must get adequate compensation.

3) A meeting of representatives of various political parties and leading citizens of both communities must be organised and an initiative taken for getting the market opened.

4) Strict action must be initiated against all the police officials found guilty of dereliction of duty.

5) Activities of communal forces of all hues must be curbed.

June 7, 2012