Bahraich: A town which refuses to tear its social fabric despite strains
Despite growing Hindu assertion and Muslim anger, communal amity in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich survives on personal bonds.
Shafat Ali, 47, has fond memories of growing up in the lanes and by-lanes of Bahraich celebrating Diwali with the same gusto as Eid. This year too, Ali is brimming with excitement as he prepares to celebrate Diwali with his friends despite the Maharajganj communal tension during the Durga idol immersion procession on October 13, which has failed to cast a shadow on the festive mood in the city.
“When I was doing my BSc in the mid-1990s, we were a group of 15 friends which we named G-15. Even after almost 29 years, the bond remains strong. We have formed a WhatsApp group to share our feats as well as fears. I am the only Muslim in the group, the rest are non-Muslims. We visit each other on festivals. This city is made of a different raw material- the Hindu-Muslim personal bond doesn’t break despite orchestrated communal tensions.”
Ali remembers two communal clashes in the past — the first clash occurred in 1983 when miscreants had started worshipping some “stones” placed near an over 100 -year-old mosque. Curfew was imposed; again in 2002, when torn pages of the holy Quran were thrown near the Eidgah.
This Muslim-dominated district, which is close to Faizabad, survived the intense Ram temple-Babri mosque movement of the 1990s. A large number of non-Muslims from here had also participated in the decades-long movement.
The Maharajganj incident occurred two decades later. However, normalcy is returning fast as, many like Ali, believe the harmony quotient in this city is high.
True, perhaps, as I recall visiting a professor at his home in the densely populated city to understand the mood of the voters ahead of the 2012 assembly elections. It was impossible to hold any discussion as loudspeakers blaring religious messages of the two communities kept growing louder as if a competition was on. The professor said, “You can yourself understand the belligerent mood of the two communities — we are somehow surviving while many have fallen sick because of this cacophony.”
Thus, when chief minister Yogi Adityanath decided to ban loudspeakers and got lakhs of them removed from religious places across the state, people in small cities and towns heaved a sigh of relief. Now, after Maharajganj clashes, both the communities want a ban on provocative songs and slogans.
A resident of Bahraich said, “It’s not only the loudspeaker and the disturbing songs, but the DJs are using woofers which create huge vibrations shaking the doors and the windows. Many have developed heart problems, those who can afford it, shift during the festive period. Others have to live through these vibrations.” On slogans and songs, the common refrain is that they heighten communal temperatures, incites mobs and provoke retaliation, as it happened in Bahraich. Ali and many others demand to know as to why the decisions taken by the peace committee, ahead of the procession, were not adhered to. The police failed to implement them.
Former UP DGP Vikram Singh says, “Hate speech is no rocket science that cops cannot decipher and act. In fact, any type of hate speech from any quarter should be dealt with unsparingly as per the rule of law. It can’t be one-sided — you show me the face and I show you the rule. Often the rule of law takes a back seat when there is intellectual dishonesty.”
Reports of communal skirmishes have been pouring in from various parts of the state; some get reported, others unreported. And if no preventive steps are taken, more Maharajganjs are waiting to happen.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath is known as a strict administrator. His model of law and order has been touted across the country by the prime minister and senior party colleagues at election rallies. It is his image that gets a beating, and not the official machinery. Till date, former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is bearing the brunt of the Muzaffarnagar communal clashes. And now Yogi may face the same challenge.
“Communal tension in the state hardly polarises the society as a whole – only a few elements both sides consolidate to create disturbance,” said a political expert preferring anonymity. He quoted the example of Ram temple movement and subsequent demolition that triggered tension in the state– check the data, the BJP gained initially only to go on the downslide later.”
As Maharajganj limps back to normalcy, people demand a comprehensive probe into the causes and aftermath of clashes especially after BJP’s sitting MLA Sureshwar Singh lodged an FIR against his own party office-bearers and workers.
Several prominent Hindus of the district have also raised their voices against the songs and slogans that were played by the DJ during the procession.
“The contents of MLA’s FIR should be covered by the probe,” people demand.
They also want the chief minister to first look into the fact that people have constructed their houses in rural U.P where clearance from any government body was neither considered mandatory nor was imposed strictly. Perhaps, the majority of the rural inhabitants may not have the requisite documents barring khasra khatauni of their agricultural land.
It is time the government makes it mandatory for approval of the map from zila panchayat for any new construction activity and not impose it retrospectively. .
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