MUZAFFARNAGAR RIOTS

Here is the summary of the report of the fact finding committee coordinated by Centre for Policy Analysis.

[For full report please click http://www.indiaresists.com/muzaffarnagar-2013-violence-by-political-design-report/]

Conclusions: Of state failure and political cynicism
The conclusions of this team are that the state government seems to have been taken by surprise, though they had no reason to, and that there was probably a deliberate disregard of rising tensions and intelligence reports. Muslims were attacked not so much with the intent of causing deaths, which would invite serious opprobrium, but with the object of chasing them out of the Hindu majority villages. The team has concluded that there was a plan to
end decades of coexistence and “cleanse” certain villages of the Muslim
presence. Having carried through this part of their agenda, the young males
–
particularly those of the Jat community
–
have also chosen at least during daylight hours, to make themselves scarce in their usual places of habitation. The police response has been too little and too late. Investigations into the

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cycle of provocation and violence that led to the conflagaration of September 7 have made little headway. And the police have been conspicuous by their absence in villages cleansed of the Muslim presence, where even the Jat community has chosen to make itself scarce. Mobile patrols and static pickets have been absent where they may have been most required. With the kind of religious cleansing that has been attempted, a number of pickets should have been set up in all villages of mixed religious composition, to check the growing animosity between communities.
And even if a number of complaints and FIR’s
have been registered, there seems to have been no attempt to arrest the perpetrators of the killing and the violent expulsion of Muslims. The state government has disregarded all norms of prudent staffing of police stations in a district of mixed religious composition. Police stations according to the many victim-survivors this team met, simply refused to respond to their urgent calls for help because they were manned by personnel in tacit sympathy with the caste agenda of the aggressors. In this respect, the locals believe that the Akhilesh Yadav ministry has reversed a healthy practice from earlier years, to assign police command posts in a manner that minimized the potential for conflict of interests arising from caste or religious loyalties. The outcome is a complete loss of faith in the agencies of the state, with the police now castigated as an accessory of caste and communal violence. This team was shocked at the inability and incompetence of the state government, with even the basic measures not being taken to ensure that those provoking a communal conflagration were thwarted in their designs. Under threat of communal strife, a government has four major tasks to perform, and this team which includes an experienced civil administrator and senior police officer feels that these tasks if done with commitment and competence, would have averted the threat of communal violence. The essential steps involved — prevention, control, rescue, rehabilitation and justice
–
are dealt with in greater detail below.
Prevention:
The Akhilesh Yadav government failed to still the rumours that spread through the area like wildfire, adding to burgeoning tensions and pushing communities into a confrontation. There are no two views that the Muzaffarnagar, and indeed the western belt of Uttar Pradesh, was plagued by

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toxic rumours designed to pit communities against each other. Instead of defusing these from the very beginning through a sustained information campaign, the state government chose to ignore them, contributing to a volatile atmosphere that could have erupted at any time. Reports of the fake tape that was posted on the social media by a BJP legislator of adjoining Meerut district were also not acted upon by the state government until it was too late to intervene. Arrest warrants of the legislator were issued, and the fact that the video was of an incident in Pakistan, were made known only when the violence had erupted. Despite the tension over the incidents of alleged harassment of young girls and the subsequent deaths, the state government allowed large gatherings from both sides to take place without check. Displaced villagers from different parts of the district told the team that the violence started after
panchayats
were held in their respective villages. Though DM Sharma claims that a number of preventive arrests were made between August 31 and September 7, his case seems to lack conviction. The team does not accept the explanation of the district authorities that they did not expect this
mahapanchayat
to take place. Villagers confirmed that there was sufficient notice for this, and at least they all knew it was going to beheld. The failure to act on information was an abject failure of the state government.
Control
: The state government was unable to contain the violence after it broke out. District authorities claimed that they had no idea it would spread to the countryside, and were expecting it only in the town area of Muzaffarnagar. The police was absent with not a single incident being reported by the villagers of police intervention to either arrest leaders making provocative speeches, or to help those being attacked by mobs. There is not a single shred of evidence to prove that the police acted against the mobs that freely attacked and killed their neighbours, and looted and burnt homes. The Army was called in eventually, and its presence brought down the levels of violence even though it was not authorised by the state administration to use force for ensuring peace. Women and children trapped in their homes told the team that they were rescued by the Army from the burning villages. The displaced villagers