Uttar Pradesh is on the boil again. In just about three weeks, there were as many as a dozen incidents of communal violence.
Nine districts of the State, including urban areas like Kanpur, Mianpuri, Kannauj, Pratapgarhm, remained tense because of communal clashes during Durga idol immersion and the Tazia procession in the State.
According to officials in the Lucknow police headquarters, over 100 people have been arrested and 25 cases filed in the last one week which saw the two festivals.
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According to Inspector General (Law and Order) A. Satish Ganesh, the affected districts are Kannauj, Kanpur city, Fatehpur, Hathras, Balia, Banda, Deoria, Siddharth Nagar and Pilibhit. Central paramilitary forces have been deployed in Kanpur, Kannauj and Fatehpur.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday again told the media that in case of a communal riot, the District Magistrate and the Superintendent of Police would be held responsible. While Mr. Akhilesh Yadav issued the stern warning to the officials, the police headquarters removed O.P. Shrivastav, the SP of Fatehpur and Sonbhadra.
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While the official number is just over a dozen, activists on the ground said: “One communal clash every day” is being reported from across the State. Shahnawaz Alam of Rihai Manch said that it appears that right-wing groups were having a “field day” in the absence of a crackdown by the government.
Mr. Akhilesh Yadav has on various occasions in the aftermath of the Dadri lynching, held the BJP responsible for the situation.
Activists, who were extremely concerned with “rapid communal polarisation,” say the government didn’t have any control over the law and order situation.
Senior police officials, however, were of the view that the level of communal polarisation has gone to such an extent that “anything and everything” can trigger a communal riot.