Politics becomes communal

The gaddi may have changed hands in distant Lucknow but its ripples are being felt in the Taj Mahal town with densely populated mixed ghetto...

The gaddi may have changed hands in distant Lucknow but its ripples are being felt in the Taj Mahal town with densely populated mixed ghettoes witnessing a pitched battle between Dalits and Muslims since Sunday night. The death toll as yet is one but a mosque has been attacked and the police have spent a hectic day separating stone-pelting mobs and violent young men carrying inflammable chemicals. Several persons have been injured. Reports of houses being set ablaze are pouring in. The Commissioner of Agra Division, Brij Mohan Meena, regretted that the curfew was withdrawn last night.

In the eye of the storm is a Muslim leader, elected last year on a BSP ticket from the Agra cantonment assembly seat. Twenty-eight-year-old Chowdhury Bashir has infuriated the backward Jatavs after crossing over to Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party. He was one of the over 40 BSP legislators, who as the local Jatavs pointed out, ‘‘surrendered themselves to sheer greed and demolished the small island of Dalit-Muslim unity that was achieved by electors here in old Chakkipat, Mantola, Sadar Bhatti and Tila Nandram’’.

‘‘We are keeping our fingers crossed,’’ said Deputy Inspector General Vinay Kumar Verma. ‘‘Curfew will continue. And vigil is being extended to other sensitive neighbourhoods like Lohamandi, Sahaganj and Jagdishpura.’’

Story continues below this ad

It all began when Chowdhury Bashir and his wife Gazala, another of those defecting MLAs, arrived here last Saturday. Chowdhury Bashir was obviously glowing with pride; Mulayam had gifted him the job of a Minister of State. At 28, he was proud of the perks, the additions to his already flamboyant lifestyle. He is a first-time MLA and had no inkling of the anger that had been building up against him.

Last evening around 5 pm, Chowdhury stepped out of his house in Mantola. He walked along the narrow six-feet wide lane to the Jatav part of the neighbourhood to meet his former BSP friends. He had climbed to the second floor house of Ramesh Vyas. And within minutes, the Dalits were scurrying up the stairs with crude bombs in their hands. Vyas’s house was set on fire as the minister cowered inside at the sight of a growing mob.

The police arrived. News had spread that Dalits were on the rampage. Chowdhury was asked to put on a helmet and he was escorted out through another gate. But Chowdhury refused to take the blame. ‘‘The locals are all my supporters. This is the result of Mayawati instigating them. I have spoken to Mulayam Singh Yadav about it.’’

It is apparent that the turncoats from BSP have not been accepted wholeheartedly by SP veterans. None of the local SP leaders came to his help last evening. The local unit of the SP deemed it a party issue only when their super-boss and chief minister Mulayam Singh intervened, and when local MP Raj Babbar, too, called up the local administration from London.

Story continues below this ad

Though community leaders helped in bringing back a semblance of normalcy after midnight, fresh violence erupted this morning. Said a local SP leader, Raisuddin: ‘‘Monday is the day of the weekly haat. This morning, when Muslim shoe-makers assemble with their fare along with the Dalit tanners, last night’s friction flared up again.’’ Muslims set up these stalls every Monday in Jatav-majority areas. Not just brickbats, the young on both sides brandished country-made guns and their version of molotov cocktails.

Mukesh Kumar was killed in the mixed neighbourhood of Tamulipara this morning. The police confirm his death but cannot say how he died. Similarly, a Muslim teenager, Nasir, has been admitted to a nursing home after being hit by a bullet. The peace committee meeting at the collectorate this evening ended in fiasco. The voices were lost among outbursts of fury.

After 1990, this is the first Dalit-Muslim riot that the district administration is confronted with. And as Meena pointed out, it may take some time to defuse the seething tension.

(WITH SIRAJ QURESHI)