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03 December 2012, 08:26 AM IST Faizabad Violence
The real face of the new communal politics came to the fore in Faizabad. The build-up to the whole affair ought to be seen: In July 2012, the police locked the gates of a functioning Masjid in Faizabad’s Mirzapur’s area. Of late, several new Mandirs—some overnight—have sprouted in Faizabad; most of these reflect a desire of some small time politician or a neo-rich wannabe to acquire political clout through religion.
There was a similar dispute regarding land in front of the Mirzapur Masjid; then on September 23, 2012, three idols were stolen from the Deokali Mandir in the heart of Faizabad city; after September 30, 2012, following Akhilesh Yadav’s directive (see Part I and II of this series) to DMs for the possible release of innocent Muslims framed in terror cases, Faizabad lawyers went on a 25 day strike. Anti-Muslim, hate speeches began blaring almost overnight from loudspeakers; the district administration and SP politicians did nothing.
In October 2012, Mahant Adityanath, the Gorakhpur BJP MP—known as a danga master as he creates riots everywhere he goes just by abusing Muslims—was allowed not only to visit Faizabad but warn Muslims of returning the idols even when the district administration was following some other line of investigation.
Adityanath’s Hindu Vahini volunteers suddenly became active; shakhas—manned not by the RSS but Hindu Vahini cadres—sprang up suddenly in several small towns of Faizabad and adjoining areas. Then four Hindus were arrested from Kanpur and shown as the real moorti chors of Deokali by the police.
But organizations like the Durga Puja Committee and various so-called Hindutva organizations refused to believe the Police version and continued blaming the Muslims. Insiders reveal that the Deokali temple is under the control of two Pathak brothers. A legal case for possession with another party is underway; the idols are expensive; the brothers are close to several politicians including Pawan Pandey, the sitting SP MLA of Faizabad.
As a city, Faizabad enjoys communal harmony; in the 1857 war, Mahant Ramdas, Maulvi Ameer Ali, Shambhu Prasad Shukla and Acchan Khan, a Muslim notable from the Hasnu Katra mohalla, were sawed to death by the British at a spot close to the site where the Babari Masjid was demolished on December 6, 1992. The four freedom fighters—two Muslims and two Hindus—shouted Bahadur Shah Zafar Ki Jai! Begum Hazrat Mahal ki Jai! Har Har Mahadev! Allah O’ Akbar!
Such is the great Faizabadi culture—even now Hindus and Muslims are joint caretakers of Bahu-Begum ka Makbara and the Gulab Bari—the great monuments built during the reign of Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula and Asif-ud-Daula—in the second half—of the 18th century. Before shifting to Lucknow, Awadhi Nawabs held Faizabad as their capital.
In 1992-93, Mumbai and other places in India saw riots; but despite the best efforts of decadent BJP leaders like Vinay Katiyar—who fell out with a famous Mafia Don of Faizabad also named Pawan Pandey (nothing to do with the sitting SP MLA) involved in temple destruction in 1992 but subsequently hounded out by the BJP when he questioned the tendency of some big Faizabad BJP leaders to indulge in womanizing—Faizabad did not witness a single incident of violence involving people of the city. The said Pawan Pandey later joined the BSP.
Most post-Masjid demolition, anti-Muslim violence in December 1992 in Faizabad was the handiwork of Shiv Sainiks from Maharashtra or Kar Sevaks from Andhra Pradesh.
Muslims making mukuts for the various temples of Ayodhya and Faizabad, and Hindus maintaining mosques, is part of the composite tradition of Faizabad and Avadh. All this was disturbed when on 24th October 2012, the day of Durga Puja immersion, a total breakdown of law and order, and paralysis of district police and civil district officers, led to an abominable assault on Muslim shops, homes and personals. During my tour of the district on November 23, 2012 to ascertain facts, I discovered a shocking conspiracy to turn Uttar Pradesh into another Gujarat.
The Nexus
With the help of local Left oriented social activists like Anil Singh, and other youth activists like Shah Alam and Afaq, I discovered a nexus between communal forces attacking Muslims in various towns of Faizabad, the district’s political class, and the district administration. This led to lumpen mobs, composed of Mahanta Adityanath’s Hindu Vahini, Bajrang Dal, RSS, BJP and Shiv Sena letting loose a reign of terror which affected several towns like Rudauli, Bhadarsa, Shahganj—almost the entire district—as well as the main Chowk in the heart of Faizabad city—on October 24, 2012.
In Faizabad city, assaults on Muslims took place roughly between 5.30 pm and 10-11 pm—several Muslim shops were burned. An old mosque—which was a symbol of communal harmony as Hindu women used to throw flower petals on Durga Puja processions earlier from its roof—was vandalized.
The attack on symbols of composite culture again recalls Gujarat—there too the tomb of Shah Wali Dakkhani—the father of Urdu language—loved both by Muslims and Hindus—was leveled to the ground. In Faizabad, a shop of watches inside the mosque was gutted and looted thoroughly.
The office of `Aap Ki Taaqat’, a Hindi-Urdu bilingual weekly, a symbol of Faizabad’s composite culture, was destroyed by Hindu Vahini/ Bajrang Dal/Shiv Sena goons and miscellaneous miscreants. Manjar Mehndi, the editor of the weekly, is a respected, secular citizen of Faizabad. Hindus of the area I spoke to expressed, their anguish over the attack on Manjar Sahab’s office. Hindu shopkeepers swore on the Bhagwat Geeta that no one from the Chowk area was involved in the attack, which “was the handiwork of outsiders owing allegiance to Mahant Adityanath”.
The mosque itself was attacked as goons shouting anti-Muslim slogans entered the main area.
The Faizabad Mosque—symbol of composite culture—burnt and vandalized, courtesy Amaresh Misra
The Faizabad Mosque—symbol of composite culture—burnt and vandalized, courtesy Amaresh Misra
Remarkably, both the District Magistrate (DM) and the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP)—the two most high ranking officers—of Faizabad—reached Rudauli between 2.30 and 3pm; despite the fact that violence erupted in several other places—even inside Faizabad city—after the Rudauli incident—the DM and SSP were not seen anywhere else. Mystery shrouds their role—where were they till late at night (11pm or so) when the violence in Faizabad city began petering out?
In Faizabad city, violence started around 5pm near the Royal Plaza area after rumours that a Muslim boy was caught teasing a Hindu girl during the Durga Puja procession; later it turned out that a Hindu boy was involved in the eve teasing incident; but by then the crowd had begun vandalizing properties owned by Muslims. Around 6.30 pm or so, the SP city fled; then a Police daroga was hit by stone pelting; he started bleeding; recently, in Bhatta Parsaul it was seen how the Police becomes violent against a mob or a crowd of people when one of its officers are hit—in Faizabad the opposite happened—the Police ran away from the scene with the injured daroga; between roughly 6pm and 11pm, communal elements continued their dance of loot, arson and terror.
Nawabi era burnt gates of the Faizabad Chowk area—the main arena of the 24th October 2012 violence; courtesy Amaresh Misra
Uttar Pradesh on a boil - Part III
Amaresh Misra03 December 2012, 08:26 AM IST Faizabad Violence
The real face of the new communal politics came to the fore in Faizabad. The build-up to the whole affair ought to be seen: In July 2012, the police locked the gates of a functioning Masjid in Faizabad’s Mirzapur’s area. Of late, several new Mandirs—some overnight—have sprouted in Faizabad; most of these reflect a desire of some small time politician or a neo-rich wannabe to acquire political clout through religion.
There was a similar dispute regarding land in front of the Mirzapur Masjid; then on September 23, 2012, three idols were stolen from the Deokali Mandir in the heart of Faizabad city; after September 30, 2012, following Akhilesh Yadav’s directive (see Part I and II of this series) to DMs for the possible release of innocent Muslims framed in terror cases, Faizabad lawyers went on a 25 day strike. Anti-Muslim, hate speeches began blaring almost overnight from loudspeakers; the district administration and SP politicians did nothing.
In October 2012, Mahant Adityanath, the Gorakhpur BJP MP—known as a danga master as he creates riots everywhere he goes just by abusing Muslims—was allowed not only to visit Faizabad but warn Muslims of returning the idols even when the district administration was following some other line of investigation.
Adityanath’s Hindu Vahini volunteers suddenly became active; shakhas—manned not by the RSS but Hindu Vahini cadres—sprang up suddenly in several small towns of Faizabad and adjoining areas. Then four Hindus were arrested from Kanpur and shown as the real moorti chors of Deokali by the police.
But organizations like the Durga Puja Committee and various so-called Hindutva organizations refused to believe the Police version and continued blaming the Muslims. Insiders reveal that the Deokali temple is under the control of two Pathak brothers. A legal case for possession with another party is underway; the idols are expensive; the brothers are close to several politicians including Pawan Pandey, the sitting SP MLA of Faizabad.
As a city, Faizabad enjoys communal harmony; in the 1857 war, Mahant Ramdas, Maulvi Ameer Ali, Shambhu Prasad Shukla and Acchan Khan, a Muslim notable from the Hasnu Katra mohalla, were sawed to death by the British at a spot close to the site where the Babari Masjid was demolished on December 6, 1992. The four freedom fighters—two Muslims and two Hindus—shouted Bahadur Shah Zafar Ki Jai! Begum Hazrat Mahal ki Jai! Har Har Mahadev! Allah O’ Akbar!
Such is the great Faizabadi culture—even now Hindus and Muslims are joint caretakers of Bahu-Begum ka Makbara and the Gulab Bari—the great monuments built during the reign of Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula and Asif-ud-Daula—in the second half—of the 18th century. Before shifting to Lucknow, Awadhi Nawabs held Faizabad as their capital.
In 1992-93, Mumbai and other places in India saw riots; but despite the best efforts of decadent BJP leaders like Vinay Katiyar—who fell out with a famous Mafia Don of Faizabad also named Pawan Pandey (nothing to do with the sitting SP MLA) involved in temple destruction in 1992 but subsequently hounded out by the BJP when he questioned the tendency of some big Faizabad BJP leaders to indulge in womanizing—Faizabad did not witness a single incident of violence involving people of the city. The said Pawan Pandey later joined the BSP.
Most post-Masjid demolition, anti-Muslim violence in December 1992 in Faizabad was the handiwork of Shiv Sainiks from Maharashtra or Kar Sevaks from Andhra Pradesh.
Muslims making mukuts for the various temples of Ayodhya and Faizabad, and Hindus maintaining mosques, is part of the composite tradition of Faizabad and Avadh. All this was disturbed when on 24th October 2012, the day of Durga Puja immersion, a total breakdown of law and order, and paralysis of district police and civil district officers, led to an abominable assault on Muslim shops, homes and personals. During my tour of the district on November 23, 2012 to ascertain facts, I discovered a shocking conspiracy to turn Uttar Pradesh into another Gujarat.
The Nexus
With the help of local Left oriented social activists like Anil Singh, and other youth activists like Shah Alam and Afaq, I discovered a nexus between communal forces attacking Muslims in various towns of Faizabad, the district’s political class, and the district administration. This led to lumpen mobs, composed of Mahanta Adityanath’s Hindu Vahini, Bajrang Dal, RSS, BJP and Shiv Sena letting loose a reign of terror which affected several towns like Rudauli, Bhadarsa, Shahganj—almost the entire district—as well as the main Chowk in the heart of Faizabad city—on October 24, 2012.
In Faizabad city, assaults on Muslims took place roughly between 5.30 pm and 10-11 pm—several Muslim shops were burned. An old mosque—which was a symbol of communal harmony as Hindu women used to throw flower petals on Durga Puja processions earlier from its roof—was vandalized.
The attack on symbols of composite culture again recalls Gujarat—there too the tomb of Shah Wali Dakkhani—the father of Urdu language—loved both by Muslims and Hindus—was leveled to the ground. In Faizabad, a shop of watches inside the mosque was gutted and looted thoroughly.
The office of `Aap Ki Taaqat’, a Hindi-Urdu bilingual weekly, a symbol of Faizabad’s composite culture, was destroyed by Hindu Vahini/ Bajrang Dal/Shiv Sena goons and miscellaneous miscreants. Manjar Mehndi, the editor of the weekly, is a respected, secular citizen of Faizabad. Hindus of the area I spoke to expressed, their anguish over the attack on Manjar Sahab’s office. Hindu shopkeepers swore on the Bhagwat Geeta that no one from the Chowk area was involved in the attack, which “was the handiwork of outsiders owing allegiance to Mahant Adityanath”.
The mosque itself was attacked as goons shouting anti-Muslim slogans entered the main area.
The Faizabad Mosque—symbol of composite culture—burnt and vandalized, courtesy Amaresh Misra
The Faizabad Mosque—symbol of composite culture—burnt and vandalized, courtesy Amaresh Misra
Conspiracy
The conspiracy angle in the Faizabad bares itself when one examines
the way the district administration reacted between October 24-26, 2012.
The first sign of disturbances came from Rudauli—about 40 km from
Faizabad. Ramchandra Yadav, the BJP MLA from Rudauli was active in the
fracas, which started at 2.30pm or so, after a rumour that some Muslim
boys tried harming Durga idols being taken by a crowd for immersion;
similar rumours were heard in places like Shahganj and other areas
almost simultaneously. The concurrent dispersal of rumours over areas
separated by 40-70 km is difficult even in the mobile phone age. It is
impossible without the help of a secret organization.Remarkably, both the District Magistrate (DM) and the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP)—the two most high ranking officers—of Faizabad—reached Rudauli between 2.30 and 3pm; despite the fact that violence erupted in several other places—even inside Faizabad city—after the Rudauli incident—the DM and SSP were not seen anywhere else. Mystery shrouds their role—where were they till late at night (11pm or so) when the violence in Faizabad city began petering out?
In Faizabad city, violence started around 5pm near the Royal Plaza area after rumours that a Muslim boy was caught teasing a Hindu girl during the Durga Puja procession; later it turned out that a Hindu boy was involved in the eve teasing incident; but by then the crowd had begun vandalizing properties owned by Muslims. Around 6.30 pm or so, the SP city fled; then a Police daroga was hit by stone pelting; he started bleeding; recently, in Bhatta Parsaul it was seen how the Police becomes violent against a mob or a crowd of people when one of its officers are hit—in Faizabad the opposite happened—the Police ran away from the scene with the injured daroga; between roughly 6pm and 11pm, communal elements continued their dance of loot, arson and terror.
Nawabi era burnt gates of the Faizabad Chowk area—the main arena of the 24th October 2012 violence; courtesy Amaresh Misra
Nawabi era burnt gates of the Faizabad Chowk area—the main arena of the 24th October 2012 violence; courtesy Amaresh Misra
Pictures captured on mobile phones show goons having a free run and
some Policemen left on the scene standing as mute spectators often in a
huddle.
Crowds of looters intermixed with the Police just before the attack on historic arched gates of the city—24th October 2012, Faizabad Chowk area—courtesy anonymous, Faizabad
Crowds of looters and arsonists shouting Jai Shree Ram—24th October 2012, Faizabad Chowk area—courtesy Anonymous, Faizabad
Crowds of looters and arsonists shouting Jai Shree Ram—24th October 2012, Faizabad Chowk area—courtesy Anonymous, Faizabad
Police in a huddle—24th October 2012, Faizabad Chowk area—courtesy Anonymous, Faizabad
To be continued...
