Short Takes
Post-riot Mess in Muzaffarnagar
Dr. Mohammad Manzoor Alam
Earlier this week Maulana Arshad Madni of Jamiatul Ulema-e-Hind said in Lucknow that the UP government was not responsible for the anti-Muslim riots last September. He said the local administration was responsible. This, however, is at variance with the general opinion among Muslims.
Even if this is technically the case, the government cannot be absolved of its guilt. No communal riot is possible if the chief minister of a state does not want it. How come CM Akhilesh Yadav could not do anything to control a single riot out of 130 riots during his regime?
People who staged the Muzaffarnagar riots were sure that it the government did not react to the 130 riots before Muzaffarnagar it would not be able or willing to prevent or control the Muzaffarnagar riots. In view of all this no clean chit can be given to the Samajwadi government.
The administration in UP in still as lax as ever. Victims of riots living away from their villages are still getting threats from those accused of violence. The victims are being coerced and cajoled to withdraw the cases and return to the villages from where they were driven out.
Victims had filed cases against individuals who were involved in gang rapes at several places. The victims had identified and named the culprits, but the police have failed to nab them.
The police say they are not traceable. This shows that the police are not serious. To be convincing the UP government will have to be serious and start grabbing the culprits by their necks. Quickly.
g