Only the BJP stands to gain by inciting communal riots in Uttar Pradesh

by Guest Sun Apr 23, 2017 10:09 pm

New Delhi: Images of arson and destroyed property flooded social media in the aftermath of communal clashes in Saharanpur last week. The riots triggered by BJP MP Raghav Lakhanpal Sharma’s ill-timed call for a “shobha yatra” (a procession) in memory of social justice icon B.R.Ambedkar, and Hindutva groups’ insistence to take it through communally-sensitive areas of Saharanpur – known for its exquisite furniture designs and the only wholesale cloth market in the region – left major parts of the town blighted for the second time in the last few years.

Saharanpur also witnessed a Muslim-Sikh riot in 2014 over a land dispute. The Muslim leadership of the town had stoked the fears of the community, which was already demoralised by the rise of the BJP. In the days following the clash, the BJP further polarised the city along communal lines and exacerbated the already tense environment of the city.

This time around, however, the riots in this volatile town broke out quite tactically, just a month ahead of the civic body polls, which will take place for the first time in May 2017. Saharanpur was declared a municipal corporation around ten years ago but elections for it kept getting stalled for one reason or another. Despite an unprecedented victory for the party in the recent assembly election, the BJP failed to make a mark in the city. It lost both the assembly seats – Saharanpur and Saharanpur Nagar – to the Samajwadi Party (SP)-Congress alliance by a thin margin.

https://thewire.in/127619/only-the-bjp-stands-to-gain-from-inciting-communal-riots-in-saharanpur/

by Guest Sun Apr 23, 2017 10:37 pm

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/violence-in-saharanpur-crowd-vandalised-my-office-bjp-mp-was-among-them-says-ssp-4625518/

Only the BJP stands to gain by inciting communal riots in Uttar Pradesh

Only the BJP stands to gain by inciting communal riots in Uttar Pradesh

Re: Only the BJP stands to gain by inciting communal riots in Uttar Pradesh