Armed,they vowed,’We need to take matters into our own hands’

Almost all were armed,carrying knives,serrated weapons,sticks or guns.

They came on tractor-trolleys,tempos,autorickshaws or on foot,from not just the region but also other districts in western Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring Haryana. Almost all were armed,carrying knives,serrated weapons,sticks or guns.

In the arms they brandished or the slogans they raised,those who attended the Jat mahapanchayat in Sakheda on September 7 left none in doubt about their intentions. They complained about the district administration being biased,about nothing being done about the killing of their boys,about all this being about politics. We need to take matters into our own hands, was a common refrain.

Then came the rumours of attacks on Jats in Muslim-majority villages en route to the mahapanchayat. One group,with a members face covered in blood,sought support to go back to that village in larger numbers. Several supporters on vehicles left. Some said they were attacked in Shahpur,others said Purbaliyan.

With recovery of three bodies of Jats by Friday,police sources said attacks on them may have been the flashpoint that triggered a Jat reprisal,leading to killing of several dozen Muslims.

At least 13 tractor trollies were on the way back (from the mahapanchayat) when they were waylaid. They were attacked near a bridge by people with guns, a senior police officer said. Four more Jats may have died in that incident.

Says Muzaffarnagar District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma,There were incidents of stone pelting on Jats. In one case,a group from the mahapanchayat led an attack in Purbaliyan,but ended up getting trapped instead. We rescued them.

But at the mahapanchayat,held barely a kilometre from the Sakheda police station,there was barely any police presence. A mob attacked Insar Vakeel and his family en route to Shahpur and took him to the mahapanchayat. He was later found dead. Participants at the mahapanchayat insisted on seeing his identification to believe he was a Muslim.

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The mahapanchayat also repeated incessantly that their women were under attack. One leader said,Four months ago,one of their boys abducted our daughter and took her away to Lisarh. We had to chase him down and bring her back. He was put in jail.

Another said,In Kawaal they dishonoured us by supporting a man who had harassed one of our sisters. Our boys tried to protect her and became martyrs instead…

Also circulated was a fake video purportedly showing the Jat boys being lynched by a mob.

And all the speeches ended with a call to arms.