History of Communal Violence
The history of communal violence in India, spans to last few centuries.
It is characterized by conflicts between different religious and ethnic communities.
Historically, riots have occurred due to large scale religious Conversions especially islamic, poverty, unemployment, poor living conditions, conflicts between ethnic groups, caste or religions, consequent to outcome of a sporting events, hooliganism or frustration.
However the major cause is venomous historical literature, in school text books as well as various libraries, permitted to be spread across the country against Hindus especially Brahmins, Rajputs, Khatris etc.
The venom has gone deep into the sub-conscious of younger non-hindu generations, that they get provoked without any assignable cause & damage public & private properties.
There are two major types of riots, which are:
1. Protest riots, which are political in nature.
2. Celebration riots, which are apolitical.
Lord Minto is known as the father of the political/communal riots in India, consequent his muslim appeasement policies especially the introduction of Indian Councils Act, 1909 which introduced separate electorates & voting rights for Muslims.
This act only had led to creation of Pakistan & Bangladesh exclusively for muslims, because no voting right facility was extended to majority hindu population by the then British government.
Unfortunately consequent to 1947 Partition, the successive congress governments, had continued with the appeasement policy of Minto.
On the basis of the recently released NCRB report, it has been observed that no riots have occurred in the state in the past five years, UP has become riot-free. Government of India must analyse the history of riots & establish causes of riots, who were actual trouble makers, & of course they must analyse venomous religious & historical scriptures, & compel the religious teachers to modify such religious verses/texts which provoke followers of particular beliefs to kill loot & rape, so called infidels.
Indian states must follow the administrative model of Uttar Pradesh.
And if rioters don’t obey government directives, then such people should be declared traitors in secular India.
Reasons of no riots in UP also need to be analysed & suitable administrative policies, should be implemented by Government of India.
Notable instances of communal riots/ voilence include:
The major Hindu-Muslim riot, was engineered by the British government & Mohammad Ali Jinnah, during 1947 partition, leading to the creation of India and Pakistan.
Mostly, communal tensions have occurred periodically over the years, thereafter, which often were sparked by socio-political issues, religious differences, or regional disputes.
The Indian government and civil society must continue to work towards promoting communal harmony and addressing the root causes of such conflicts to ensure a peaceful and inclusive society.
Following are the major communal riots in India, since last one century:
The first riot between the Hindus and Muslims in Mumbai in August 1893 erupted, (without any assignable cause/provocation) while hindus were worshipping at Hanuman Temple at Pydhonie.
1. 1947 Partition Riots: Occurred during the partition of British India into India and Pakistan, resulting in widespread violence and mass migrations.
1947 – Partition riots, the hardest hit region was the densely populated state of Punjab. Death toll of Hindu & Sikhs estimates are: between 500,000 and 2,000,000.
This was the deadliest riot, ever known to humankind.
2. 1964 Calcutta and rural parts of West Bengal
3. 1967 Ranchi-Hatia riots.
4. 1969 Gujarat Riots: Communal tensions in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, led to violent clashes between Hindus and Muslims.
5. Early 1980 voilence against Hindus. (Till 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots)
Several hindus including young children & women were killed by khalistanis.
6. 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots: After the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, communal violence erupted against Sikhs in Delhi and various other parts of India.
7. 1989 Bhagalpur riots, 1989 Kashmir violence, Godhra train burning, 2002 Gujarat riots, 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots and 2020 Delhi riots.
8. 1992-1993 Bombay Riots: Following the Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya, communal clashes occurred in Mumbai (formerly Bombay)
The 1992-1993 Bombay Riots resulted in significant loss of life and property. The violence lasted for several months and had a profound impact on the city’s social fabric and communal harmony.
9. 2002 Gujarat Riots: Violent riots between Hindus and Muslims in Gujarat, particularly in Ahmedabad, resulted in widespread destruction and loss of lives. Understand cold blooded massacres of Hindu pilgrims at Godhra, had ignited these communal riots.
A group of muslims had put the compartments of trains with hindu pilgrims. Most of them were women & children.
10. 2013 Muzaffarnagar Riots: Communal clashes in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, led to numerous deaths and displacements.
The clashes between the Hindu and Muslim communities in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, India in August–September 2013, resulted in at least 62 deaths including 42 Muslims and 20 Hindus and injured 93 and left more than 50,000 people displaced.
11. 2020 Delhi Riots: Communal violence erupted in parts of Delhi, leading to fatalities and destruction of property.
12. The 1984 Bhiwandi riot was a Hindu-Muslim riot that occurred in May 1984 in and around Bhiwandi town in Indian state of Maharashtra. It left 146 people dead and over 600 injured. On 17 May 1984, riots broke out in industrial belt from Bombay, Thane, and Bhiwandi. In all, 278 were killed and 1,118 were wounded. It was one among the history of deadly riots in India.
13. The Calcutta Riots of 1946, also known as the “Great Calcutta Killing,” were four days of massive Hindu-Muslim riots in the capital of Bengal, India, resulting in 5,000 to 10,000 dead, and some 15,000 wounded, between August 16 and 19, 1946.
14. 2023 Mewat Nooh Voilence
