Religion based riots, 2013

India witnessed another heart rending religion based riots in Muzaffarnagar district, Uttar Pradesh. These riots began on 27 August, 2013. Two biggest Indian communities were involved- Hindus and Muslims. According to fact manual almost hundred people got injured and almost fifty people lost their lives. But in true sense, every Indian got injured and their faith in humanity reached ventilator. It was the worst violence witnessed by Uttar Pradesh. It's root cause was a traffic accident and eve teasing. A girl from Hindu jat family was eve teased by a Muslim youth in kawal village. But the question is how an incident like eve teasing got connected to religion. A girl is a girl whether from Hindu community or Muslim community or any other community. A culprit is a culprit. It doesn't matter whether he is Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or christian. Defining victim and culprit by their religion has caused so much havoc in the state. It has shaken our country too. It has compelled us to think that in-spite of increasing literacy rate in our country, we haven't developed a rational outlook towards life. Culprit of eve teasing  was Shahnawaz Qureshi who was resident of kawal village. Brothers of victim namely Sachin Singh and Gaurav Singh tried to take matter in their hands only to make it worse. Both had fight with Shahnawaz Qureshi. He got killed in that quarrel and both brothers were later caught by people of kawal village( Muslim)  and were beaten to death. Clashes occur at low frequency for the next two weeks. Hindus arranged a " Bahu Beti Bachao " mahapanchayt in Uttar Pradesh itself. Rampage happened when two thousand jats were brutally killed by Muslim mobs at Jauli canal on 7 September. Three motorbikes and eighteen tractor trolleys were set on fire. Dead bodies were dumped in canal. Survivors claimed that policemen were present during the incident and became mute spectators. This led to rampage against Muslims by Hindu community. To control the situation 1000 army troops, 10,000 Provincial Armed Constabulary Personnel, 1300 Central Reserve Police Force troopers, 1200 Rapid Action Force were forced in to action by U.P. government. Up to 11 September, ten thousand arrests were made, two thousand arm licences got cancelled. Muslims took shelter in Masjids and state run relief camps. It was revealed during sting operation that U.P. minister Azam Khan ordered police to release Muslims from jail and not take action against them. So some selfish people crossed all bounds to take advantage of the situation. As a result, again humanity suffered most. We are not born with hatred towards any community. It is included in our behavior and mental state during our forming years. If a culprit is from Muslim community, then it doesn't make whole community a culprit. If a victim is from Hindu community, that doesn't mean that every person of the same community feels like victim and take matter in their hands. So, the point is that many innocent lives could have been saved if rational approach was applied. 


We should remember that Allah is with people who have peace in their heart. Lord Krishna has said that - road that leads us to peace is the best one. Peace is priceless.