Western
Uttar Pradesh is burning again. Communal tension is simmering in the
region, even as the state government offers lipservice against such
repeated violence.
On
Saturday July 26,2014, at least three persons were killed and over two dozen were
injured after two groups belonging to two different minority communities
clashed in the Saharanpur district of western Uttar Pradesh.
Besides civilians, a city magistrate and about half-a-dozen policemen were also injured.
Shops, petrol pumps and government properties were burnt, prompting police action and deployment of paramilitary forces
As
the district administration rushed in with more troopers to control the
situation, the grim reality of unabated violence clouded Saharanpur. In
the end, the entire district was brought under curfew, with fear of
more violence looming large over the region.
Saharanpur's
violence has attracted political reactions, more so with the Assembly
by-election not far away. The BJP blamed leaders of a particular
community for the violence.
"As
Assembly by-election will be held in Saharanpur, some community leaders
are trying to polarise a particular vote bank in their favour, and that
is why they planned such a violent act to disturb the law and order.
Also, the district police administration is to be blamed as they were
aware of the tension and did not take necessary steps to prevent it,"
Saharanpur BJP MP Raghav Lakhan Pal, who was earlier the MLA from the
area told
Trouble
began late on Friday night on Gurudwara Road in the Qutub Sheikh
locality of the town, where a group belonging to a particular community
decided to build on a disputed piece of land.
Litigation
was going on in the High Court over this land, and a few days back the
Court had decided in favour of the community which began construction on
Friday.
Irked
by the move, the other community objected. After a verbal spat, the
situation turned ugly and violent.
The rival groups soon started pelting
stones and firing at each other.
The Shiv temple in Moradabad
where it all began
Though the local police tried to control the situation by using mild
force, trouble spread to other parts of the district. It forced the
district administration to rush in more policemen.
On Saturday morning July 26,2014,
the police recovered two bodies in the Mandi Police Circle. Both the
bodies bore bullet marks
Forces from the
neighbouring districts have also been roped in to control the situation.
As far as the latest information, two persons have died and 17 have
been injured. The inspector general of Meerut has taken charge of the
situation, and we are monitoring the situation. The situation is tense
but under control," ADG (law and order) Mukul Goel told
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