Delhi, beware!
27 Oct 2014 12:18 AM GMT
Trilokpuri in East Delhi has been burning for three days now. At least 35 people, including 13 policemen have suffered injuries and there has been heavy gunfire too. The violence which began on Diwali night after a religious gathering was organised in front of a mosque and which was objected to by locals is fast assuming communal hues. How untenable the situation is can be gauged from the fact that section 144 of the CrPC has been imposed.
The area has since then remained deserted and there are confirmed reports that people are shuddering to move out of their homes. Amidst this entire hullabaloo, East Delhi MP Maheish Girri from the ruling BJP has issued a statement targeting the Muslim community of inciting the violence and the subsequent stone-pelting. But why is the NDA government, or more importantly the BJP, finding it uncomfortable if the media is drawing parallels with its role in the Muzaffarnagar riots last year where three of its tainted leaders were let scot free even after verified reports had emerged of their complicity in the entire episode? It should not be a matter of consternation for the ruling party to answer questions at its own alleged involvement. With its incendiary past, criticism is bound to raise. Engineering riots in poll bound states for the purpose of polarising the vote bank is a tactic which has given huge incentives to political parties in the past.
It can therefore be rightly deduced that Narendra Modi’s call for a 10-year moratorium on not escalating communal tension has fallen on deaf ears and there seems absolutely no resolve to counter such incidents. Delhi is the national capital and is also one of the better administered metropolitan cities of the country and if an incident like this can happen here it is perhaps right to assume that it can happen in any other part of the country too.
Communal friction can never be negated and it just takes some provocative small talk to let it escalate into a crisis which is uncontrollable. Although Delhi Police may have said that the situation is under control, there is a need for stronger vigil and better administration to ensure that an incident like this is not repeated in the days leading up to elections in Delhi, dates of which should be announced soon.Â
The area has since then remained deserted and there are confirmed reports that people are shuddering to move out of their homes. Amidst this entire hullabaloo, East Delhi MP Maheish Girri from the ruling BJP has issued a statement targeting the Muslim community of inciting the violence and the subsequent stone-pelting. But why is the NDA government, or more importantly the BJP, finding it uncomfortable if the media is drawing parallels with its role in the Muzaffarnagar riots last year where three of its tainted leaders were let scot free even after verified reports had emerged of their complicity in the entire episode? It should not be a matter of consternation for the ruling party to answer questions at its own alleged involvement. With its incendiary past, criticism is bound to raise. Engineering riots in poll bound states for the purpose of polarising the vote bank is a tactic which has given huge incentives to political parties in the past.
It can therefore be rightly deduced that Narendra Modi’s call for a 10-year moratorium on not escalating communal tension has fallen on deaf ears and there seems absolutely no resolve to counter such incidents. Delhi is the national capital and is also one of the better administered metropolitan cities of the country and if an incident like this can happen here it is perhaps right to assume that it can happen in any other part of the country too.
Communal friction can never be negated and it just takes some provocative small talk to let it escalate into a crisis which is uncontrollable. Although Delhi Police may have said that the situation is under control, there is a need for stronger vigil and better administration to ensure that an incident like this is not repeated in the days leading up to elections in Delhi, dates of which should be announced soon.Â
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