BAHRAICH is an extremely poor and backward district in Uttar Pradesh.  It has a very low literacy rate and also a negative sex ratio with only 819 women to 1000 men, despite the fact that the district witnesses a fairly high rate of out-migration.  Muslims make up about 35 per cent of the total population and, in the urban areas, they outnumber Hindus.  Some of them have become fairly prosperous because of their involvement with crafts like jewellery-making, woodwork etc.

The district is politically polarised with a large section of Hindus voting for the BJP while the Muslims are, in the main, SP voters.  In the recent Lok Sabha elections, the ruling BJP lost 37 seats.  This has emboldened those in the party who are opposed to the CM Yogi Adityanath to step up their campaign against him.  It has also increased his determination to win the 9 assembly seats where by-elections are to take place in the next two weeks.  He has been addressing rallies across the state using extremely polarising language.  The slogan he coined recently ‘Bantoge tho katoge’ (you will be cut to pieces if you are divided) is a war cry against the consolidation of OBCs, dalits and minorities against the caste discrimination that Akhilesh Yadav is trying to strengthen.  It is also an indirect warning to Hindus that they will be ‘cut up’ by Muslims. 

The months of September and October have seen the use of the ‘visarjan’ (immersion) processions of the idols of Ganesh and Durga with which the celebrations of Ganapati and Durga Puja end to provoke and attack Muslims by playing obscene songs on DJs in front of mosques and in areas inhabited by them.   Muslims have responded by locking themselves in their homes but, nevertheless, they have been accused of attacking the processions and the idols.  Where the administration and police have intervened when a clash seemed inevitable, it has been averted but wherever they have colluded with Hindutva gangs there has been conflict, looting, arson etc.

In August, a minor clash between youngsters of both communities over a cricket match resulted in a skirmish and now, a month later, 3 Muslims, including a man of over 65 years of age, have been arrested under NSA; in the days after the Durga immersion incident in Bahraich, similar incidents occurred in Bara Banki and Deoria districts during the course of immersion processions.

In Bahraich district itself, 2023 witnessed tension during the Durga Puja festival and the last two months have seen several incidents of a communal nature.  Among them, the most significant was an altercation between Sarfaraz, the main accused in the Bahraich case and Ram Gopal Misra who lost his life in Bahraich.  This took place in the village of Rehwa Mansoor to which Misra belongs at the time of the Ganesh immersion in the course of which the Hindutva elements resorted to the same incidents of provocation as have been described.  Then, on October 10, in a nearby village that has two settlements of Hindus and Muslims respectively, an ‘illegal’ Durga idol installed by the Hindus was to be taken out in a procession which was to stop in the Muslim settlement.  The pradhan of the area was able to alert the authorities and the procession was stopped. 

In the light of all these incidents, the station officer of Hardi, the police station under which Maharajganj falls, had written to the district SP requesting additional police force because of the likelihood of trouble erupting during the immersion ceremonies.  His request was ignored and no preparations were made.  When processions routes that have been decided and have been used for several years are no longer adhered to and Hindutva organisations are allowed to take their processions through Muslim areas and stop them in front of mosques and when DJs which have formally been banned are used indiscriminately and songs that are abusive and vulgar are played at top volume, it is only prompt and firm administrative intervention that can prevent a communal attack from taking place.  When this is prevented by those in the administration itself then, of course, a conflagration is bound to take place.

The Durga immersion processions in the small town of Maharajganj in Bahraich were taken out in the morning of October 13th.  Many processions from the neighbouring villages passed through Maharajganj one after another without any altercation taking place even though they took a route that went into an area where there is a mosque and a Muslim population.  They were accompanied by DJs and the participants were raucous and abusive but nothing untoward happened.  The last processions were from two villages – Rehwa Mansoor and Aheliya.  The processions stopped in front of the mosque.  The DJs blared obscene songs in which the Muslims were subjected to the worst kind of abuse:  what is known as ‘maa-bahen ki gaali’ in Hindi.  The fact that this was done during a religious procession in honour of Maa Durga is a telling comment on the degeneration of religious practices because of the fact that Hindutva forces are interested in weaponising them against the Muslim minority.

The processionists started trying to enter Muslim houses forcibly and some of them, led by Ram Gopal Misra, climbed on to the roof of Sarfaraz’s house.  The green flag of Islam flying there was brought down by him.  He trampled on it and then hoisted a saffron flag in its place.  It is alleged that he tried to enter the house and hurled abuses and threats at its occupants, specially the women.  In the confusion and melee, Misra was shot and he fell bleeding to the ground.  Hundreds of videos of him climbing the roof, of the processionists attacking the homes and of the ‘music’ being played outside the mosque have been shared but there is no video of him being shot.  The post-mortem report released by the government hospital the next day states clearly that he was injured by pellets and his death was caused by excessive bleeding.

Misra’s death, however, resulted in looting and arson.  Sarfaraz’s father is a well-known jeweler.  His house had a lot of gold and silver and also ornaments for sale during Dhanteras and Diwali.  All of this was looted.  Cash and other valuables in the house were also looted.  Many houses in the neighbourhood were torched and looted.  Some shops belonging to Hindus suffered too. Simultaneously, messages were put out of social media claiming that Misra had been shot several times, his body was full of knife-inflicted wounds and even his toe-nails had been pulled out.  Along with these, messages demanding the immediate execution of Abdul Hameed and his sons also went viral.

The next morning, Misra’s body was taken out of the mortuary after the post mortem had been completed and placed in the main market of Bahraich town.  A large crowd collected and the local BJP MLA intervened, insisting that the body be removed and taken to Maharajganj.  This was opposed by some belonging to his party and he was attacked.  Later his car was stoned. 

Misra’s body was taken to Maharajganj and, it is alleged, the police told the crowd that had gathered there that they had two hours to ‘take revenge’.  What followed was an orgy of rioting, loot and arson and many Muslim homes and shops were destroyed.

Abdul Hameed and his sons (who were shot in the leg by the police) have been arrested, accused of murder.  More than a 100 people both Hindus and Muslims were arrested for rioting.  While the Hindus were all released after a few hours, the Muslim had to spend 10 days in jail before getting bail.  Several Muslims have now been arrested with serious cases registered against them.  Not a single FIR has been registered by the police against the looting and destruction of Muslim homes.

Within two days, 43 establishments had notices pasted on them threatening them with demolition.  Bulldozer justice in action!  A local lawyer, however, immediately approached the High Court which has stayed the demolition till November 4.  The matter has also been taken to the Supreme Court.

The message from the chief minister and his government in Uttar Pradesh is clear – justice will be seen to be done in a partisan manner.  Muslims will be at the receiving end while Hindus guilty of rioting, loot and arson will be let off.  The chief minister should ponder on the real truth hidden in his slogan of ‘Bantoge tho Katoge’.  Dividing the citizens of a country on religious grounds has had serious repercussions earlier in our history.  That is the real truth to be grasped.