Editorial: Manufacturing conflict

It is unmistakable that the demolition of properties—since stayed under a fiat of the Supreme Court—of individuals from the Muslim community at Jahangirpuri in Delhi on Wednesday were stage-managed by the State, particularly, the Delhi police at the behest of the BJP-led Union Government. The use of bulldozers to demolish properties of the so-called rioters at places like Khargone in Madhya Pradesh, in towns of Gujarat and now in the capital Delhi, all seem to be part of a script from the copybook of some strategists. The apparent objective behind all these episodes is to stoke communal violence, bring in bulldozers to target properties of minorities alleging violation of civic laws and arraign the victims as accused before the courts.

Various forces are being mobilized to work in tandem as part of this strategy. Agent provocateurs are appointed to act out the scripted roles. For instance, a Ramanavami procession is allowed to pass through a street with a dense Muslim population digressing from the allotted route. It raises provocative slogans. Some residents raise objections. A few stones fly in the air. Mobs go berserk and violence is unleashed in the area. Next day, bulldozers are sent in to demolish what are allegedly built in violation of civic regulations. Even portions of a mosque are demolished but a temple remains untouched.

Questions are bound to rise as to why the procession was allowed to divert from the assigned route. Why were arrests made without ascertaining from where the stones came? Why was there no action against those who raised provocative slogans? In the case of Hubballi where conflict luckily did not result in a communal clash, why were the high mast lights, the street lights and the CCTVs switched off before the events reached a flashpoint? Who pelted the stones? Who were the mysterious face-covered riders on motorcycles who passed through the area when the stones flew? The mockery of the law is manifest also from the implication of a handicapped man for pelting stones in violence-hit Khargone in MP.

The State’s prime duty is to act fairly, in a manner that is just and non-partisan. But the series of events that seem like a replica of each other, suggest that the State is assuming the role of the judge, jury and the executioner at the same time and at a speed and efficiency that has not been witnessed even in times of much more vicious conflagrations. It also raises the question if the state is justified in initiating punitive action for violation of civic laws and zonal regulations against presumed rioters.

The Supreme Court’s timely move in scuttling the highhanded action deserves appreciation no doubt. Part of the credit, of course, goes to legal and political activists who acted swiftly to secure relief from the assault by the civic authorities on the hapless victims.

This also underlines the fact that only an active citizenry and a vigilant judiciary can safeguard the poor and the vulnerable from the high-handed measures of those in power.