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Two attempts to incite riots, the first one failed but the second did not by Deepu Sebastian Edmond

Four days after the riots that killed four in Rudrapur, the exodus hasn’t stopped. Over the six hours during which curfew was relaxed on Wednesday and Thursday, hundreds left the town.

Just before the curfew was lifted on Thursday evening, the town celebrated Dussehra. The event was more ritualistic than celebratory. The three effigies were burnt down, and the Mahatma Gandhi ground emptied in a matter of minutes.

There is no history of communal tension, it’s for the first time that the Hindus and Muslims who have been living together in this town in Uttarakhand’s Udham Singh Nagar district has ever clashed. It happened because someone planned to create a riot.

Abdul Rahman, Sher Singh Yadav, Jacky and Afsal were killed in the crossfire when the two groups clashed outside the Kotwali of Rudrapur on Sunday morning. While the first two were residents of the town, Jacky was from Rampur and Afsal hailed from Pilibhit.

Police maintain that the deaths were caused by the two groups firing at each other. “Their injuries were consistent with that of country-made weapons: the 12-bore and the .315 rifle,” said Inspector General of Police (Kumaon Range), R.S. Meena. He added that the police had only used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Curfew was imposed in the town on Sunday afternoon, only to be relaxed for two hours on Wednesday, and between 2 pm and 6 pm on Thursday.

According to police sources, the first attempt to breach peace was made on the night of September 28. “Those who came to the Shani temple to offer puja on the morning of September 29 saw a Quran wrapped in a red-coloured cloth.

The book was kept under the tree next to the idol. It was assumed that the cloth had been dipped in blood,” said Rajesh Kumar, a resident of the Badhaipura locality in Rudrapur, where the temple is situated.

When it came to trying to incite, the attempt was a masterstroke-the brains behind it had offended both the Hindus as well as the Muslims.

“The Mohammedans were angry, but we reasoned that we were angry too. Those behind the act had, after all, desecrated a Hindu temple,” said Kumar. After police intervened and promised to investigate the matter, both communities let the matter rest.

Muslims are a minority in Badhaipura, which mostly accommodates migrant labourers who work in the SIDCUL (State Infrastructure and Industrial Development Corporation of Uttarakhand Ltd.) Industrial Estate in the adjoining Pantnagar district. The temple straddles an area that has only two Muslim houses and another, where the rest of the Muslims in the colony live.

While the first attempt to incite violence failed, the second one did not. “On the morning of October 2, someone passing next to the temple found a green-coloured polythene bag that contained bits of paper in the premises.

There was Arabic lettering on the paper, and it was mixed with some kind of meat,” said Kumar. Police sources confirmed it and said that they were yet to ascertain what kind of meat it was.

A crowd of about 150 Muslims approached the Kotwali at around 6.30 in the morning, complaining about the incident. They were dispersed, but soon, a larger crowd of around 800 returned. The mob soon grew out of control, and began attacking police and vehicles.

A total of 38 police and district administration officials were injured in the incident. “I reached around 7.25. The second group was already there when I reached. I remember trying to control to crowd, but suddenly, someone hit me from behind,” said Sub Divisional Magistrate B.S. Budiyal, who sustained injuries to the head and hand. He is back on duty, wearing a baseball cap that only partially covers his large bandage.

Soon, a mob comprising Hindus attacked from the other side, and the situation spiralled out of control. According to the police, more than 30 civilians were injured, 100 vehicles were put to fire and about 100 shops were destroyed in the ensuing violence, which engulfed the town till 12.30 in the afternoon. Curfew was declared in the afternoon.

The town still betrays a sense of how it observed this Gandhi Jayanti: the Delhi-Nainital Highway, where almost all the action took place, is pockmarked with charred tar, where vehicles were burnt. Vehicles, stripped to their metal frames, line the road, which incidentally leads to the TATA

Motors plant from where the first Nano rolled out. A large party of policemen and Rapid Action Force guard the road in front of the Paharganj locality, where two thrashed buildings stand defiantly, refusing to collapse.

Chand Babu, a rickshaw-puller, was inside his one-room shack by the highway with his wife and four children when the mob came. “It was 10 in the morning on Sunday. I heard a loud noise and went out. They had already poured petrol and had lit the fire. The front of my house was burning. I shouted to my wife to take the kids out, and save whatever we had inside. Then, I tried to extinguish the fire with a bucketful of water. However, they stoned me, and threatened to pour petrol on me too,” he said.

Babu has since sent his wife and children to a relative’s house in Rampur, and spends his day sorting out the remains of the two metal trunks he salvaged from his house. “They knew I was a Muslim. They knew my neighbour Naeem Ahmad is a Muslim; so they thrashed his house too,” he said.

Sanjay Kumar Valmiki and his family of eight were among those who joined the procession of people that went towards Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur, which borders Rudrapur. “We hope to get buses from Rampur and reach Bareilly, which is my hometown. If we do not get a bus from there, well, we will keep walking,” he said.

Kumar lives in Rudrapur’s Rampura on rent, and is a driver. “Most of my acquaintances left yesterday. I waited, hoping there would be some respite. After all, I have no choice but to come back. I will be back in a day or two after dropping my family off,” he said.

The police have registered two First Information Reports relating to the incident. The first, relating to incitement and hurting religious sentiments, was filed on the September 29 incident against unnamed people.

The FIR relating to the riot names 37 - of whom 24 have been arrested - and about 4,000 unnamed people. In all, there have been 110 arrests: the rest have been picked up for breach of peace during the period of curfew.

The state government took the view that the October 2 incident could have been averted if the district administration had acted in earnest on September 29, and replaced the IG, Deputy Inspector General and District Magistrate. Meena, Abhinav Kumar and P.S. Jangpangi, respectively, have taken charge since.

An inquiry into the matter will be conducted by Ajay Nabiyal, Commissioner of Garhwal, who has been asked to submit his report by October 11.

A Peace Committee meeting was called by the district administration on Thursday afternoon, which was attended by community leaders and public. It was decided to take out a peace rally soon. The officials also met with Muslim leaders separately, and assured them that they would be allowed to hold the Friday prayers without hindrance. “We will relax the curfew gradually, but will wait at least till the 11th before we lift it completely,” said IG Meena.