Reflections on Communal Riots

Hindu man, with whom he had a longstanding enmity. After the match, the Muslim wrestler decided he would take revenge on him. A few days later, he and a group of his companions spotted the man alone. They brutally stabbed him. He was rushed to hospital, where he revealed the names of his attackers and then succumbed to his wounds. The man’s death proved to be a boon to certain leaders of the town. They led an angry demonstration, raising provocative slogans. “Blood in exchange for blood!” they cried. Their emotion-driven rhetoric created a very sensitive situation. And then the town fell prey to deadly inter-communal violence. Consider the case of another riot, that broke out in 1980 in Moradabad, another town in northern India. Early that year, elections to the state assembly had been held, in which the Congress Party candidate, a Muslim man called Hafiz Muhammad Siddiq, won by a massive majority. The candidate of the Hindu-oriented Jan Sangh, Mr. Hans Raj Chopra, got so few votes that he lost his deposit. It was not only Muslims who voted for Hafiz Muhammad Siddiq. He received support from a good number of Hindus, too. The defeated politician was very upset. He was on the lookout for an opportunity, which, fortunately for him, soon came his way. One day, a marriage party belonging to the Hindu Mehtar caste was passing through the streets. It was almost time for the evening prayers in the mosque. The members of the marriage party were singing, dancing and playing music. Some Muslims tried to block the party. They asked them to stop the noise they were making near the mosque and told them to change their route. The members of the party did not agree to this. This led to an altercation, which soon escalated into violence. Some more Muslims joined those who were already present. They ran after the Mehtars and entered the Mehtar locality, where they beat up some Mehtars and set fire to some homes.