With 247 incidents of communal violence in 2013, Uttar Pradesh has topped the list of states as compared with others as far as incidence of communal riots is concerned. And in 2014 also the situation for Uttar Pradesh remains the same. Last year 77 people got killed during communal violence in Uttar Pradesh. As per data which is still in the process of compilation by the Union Home Ministry the number of communal violence cases reported in 2014 so far is around 65 in which 15 people have died. In Saharanpur, violence broke out between two communities in which three persons were killed and 33 people were injured.
In Muzaffarnagar, last year 60 people were killed and more than 90 people were injured and over 50,000 people were displaced due to the communal riots. Uttar Pradesh had registered a maximum of 118 communal incidents in 2012 in which 39 people were killed and 500 were injured. Maharashtra came next with 88 communal incidents last year followed Madhya Pradesh (84), Karnataka (73), Gujarat (68), Bihar (63) and Rajasthan (52). A total of 149 communal incidents were registered across the country during April-June in 2014.
CURFEW IMPOSED IN JHARKHAND AFTER COMMUNAL RIOTS
Violent clashes broke out in Ranchi district of Jharkhand over a land dispute between two communities when people were celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr. DIG Ranchi range has confirmed that one person succumbed to his injuries while around 20 of them got injured at Chanho block which is 40 km from Ranchi. Violence broke out when a group of people from a community had gathered at a disputed land in Chanho to offer prayers which was opposed by another group of people which holds that the other group had illegally occupied the land.
DISPROPORTIONATE NUMBER OF MUSLIMS IN POLICE BEHIND TRUST DEFICIT
According to a former IPS officer of West Bengal cadre, Nazrul Islam, in West Bengal which has nearly 30 per cent minority population Muslims do not have enough representation in the police forces. It has resulted in a trust deficit between the community and the administration. Nazrul Islam shares the same perception that a report by three DGPs – Sanjeev Dayal of Maharashtra, Deoraj Nagar of Uttar Pradesh and K Ramanujam of Tamil Nadu has put forth. “At present, Bengal has 30 per cent minority population, which is pretty high in terms of the all India scenario and in terms of other states. However, we do not see any reflection of this population ratio in the police force of the state. Starting from the rank of constables to the IPS cadre, there are a handful of people in the force who belong to the Muslim community,” Islam who retired as an ADG said.
SANGH TO PUSH ‘SAFFRONISATION’ OF EDUCATION
Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas, an organisation affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has set up Bharatiya Shiksha Niti Aayog (Indian Education Policy Commission), the first commission of its kind in the non-governmental sector, to study “the present education system and suggest corrective steps to make it Bharat-centric”. It is likely to be headed by Dinanath Batra. This panel is being seen as RSS’ effort to put pressure on the Narendra Modi-led government to implement the Sangh agenda of “saffronisation” of education. Though the commission was formed a few months ahead of the swearing-in of the Modi government on May 26, RSS gave its go-ahead for the panel at a recent Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal meeting in Madhya Pradesh.
JUSTICE SONIA GOKANI RECUSES TO HEAR ABDUL QAVI’S BAIL PLEA
Justice Sonia Gokani of Gujarat High Court on 25 July recused herself from hearing a bail application filed by Mohammad Abdul Qavi, who was arrested in the 2003 in a conspiracy case. Justice Gokani presided over Pota cases including this case for a few years, when she was designated as a Pota judge. Gokani said that the bail application should be placed before a bench, in which she is not a member. As per the present business allotted by the Chief Justice, the bail plea came up for hearing before the bench of Justice Anant Dave and Justice Gokani. Qavi has moved the HC for bail after a special Pota court refused bail to Qavi earlier this month.
Qavi has sought bail on the ground that he was falsely implicated in the case as there is no evidence against him. Gujarat police had slapped terror conspiracy charges against nearly 100 persons for allegedly inciting and taking Muslim youths to Pakistan for arms training to avenge the 2002 riots and to target members of the Hindu right wing.
BJP MINISTER SUGGESTS ‘2002 GUJARAT-RIOT MODEL’ FOR ENTIRE INDIA
BJP’s national executive member and general secretary of the party’s Karnataka unit, C.T. Ravi has blown up a controversy by “tweeting” inflammatory comments on 27 July over the Saharanpur riots in Uttar Pradesh. C.T. Ravi tweeted: “Only the Gujarat model that worked from 2002 in containing their rioting elements can work. Apply across Bharat.” The tweet was subsequently deleted from his Twitter account. A petition was filed by Delhi-based lawyer and activist Shehzad Poonawalla to National Human Rights Commission saying that Rao is using social media to stroke communal passions.