India- UP: Violence in Shamli (selected news reports 2-4 may 2015 )

The Hindu, Meerut, May 4, 2015

Bid to evoke ‘Godhra’ in UP town

Mohammad Ali

Muslims in Kandhla protested on Saturday against the alleged assault on Tablighi Jamaat members on a local train in Baghpat. Photo: Special Arrangement

Days after Muslims in the Kandhla area of Shamli district in Uttar Pradesh clashed with the police over alleged assault of Tablighi Jamaat workers, the social media and local Whatsapp groups were abuzz with messages claiming a Muslim conspiracy to perform “another Godhra” in Shamli.

An angry crowd from Kandhla, a Muslim majority town, blocked the rail track on Saturday protesting against the alleged ill-treatment of a few Tablighi Jamaat volunteers on a local train near Badaut, in Baghpat.

The crowd threw stones at trains at Kandhla after which the Railway Police had to resort to lathi charge.

After the clash, hundreds of social media users, mainly from western Uttar Pradesh, and led by those ideologically affiliated to the right of centre, alleged that Muslims in Kandhla captured and detained Hindu passengers at the railway station in an attempt to portray the incident as “another Godhra”.

Mass messages were circulated mainly by numbers originating in western Uttar Pradesh claiming that “another Godhra” was enacted by Muslims at the Kandhla railway station on Saturday and alleged that the police and the media remained silent.

The messages also claimed that the police did not take any action against the “Muslim protesters who allegedly misbehaved with the Hindu passengers”.

Shamli SP warns rumour-mongers

Shamli Superintendent of Police Vijay Bhushan, however, rejected the rumour mongering and claimed that action was taken against the protesters at the Kandhla police station.

“Thousands of Muslims in Kandhla have stopped the 04735 Bikaner-Haridwar express and have captured and detained several Hindus. Where is the media and where are the political leaders,” claimed a Whatsapp message accessed by this correspondent.

“Muslim rioting mob is looting trains on Saharanpur-Delhi route. The Samajwadi Party MLA Nahid Hasan is leading the mob,” claimed another Whatsapp message.

Shamli remained tense on Sunday with markets in Kandhla remaining closed.

The conspiracy theories which were rejected by the authorities found endorsement on Twitter. Social media users with rightist leanings used the hashtag “GodhraAgain” which was trending on Twitter on Saturday.

“Why media is silent on Shamli incident. Are they waiting for something worse and big to take place. #GodhraAgain,” tweeted Rohit Chahal, national secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of the BJP.

The Shamli Superintendent of Police said the police were maintaining a watch over rumour mongers and would take action against them.

Virender Singh, BJP leader in western Uttar Pradesh, alleged that “there was a clear directive to the police and the administration not to act against Muslims who were manhandling Hindu passengers at Kandhla railway station.”

“If you want justice for the alleged misbehaviour of Jamatis you should also apprehend those who misbehaved with passengers at the Kandhla railway station. And if the police can’t do justice then we will do justice on our own,” Mr. Singh warned.

‘Clear bias’

“This is clear bias and discrimination against Hindus and Jats. It only helps them nurse grievance against Muslims and will get expressed in a big retaliation when their patience crosses its limits,” he said.

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The Times of India

Violence erupts in Shamli after assault of 5 Muslim scholars in train

Sandeep Rai,TNN | May 2, 2015, 11.12 PM IST

Meerut: Kandhla town in Shamli district witnessed rowdy crowds on the streets on Saturday who resorted to violence to protest against the alleged assault of 5 Muslim scholars who were purportedly beaten up by miscreants in a train on Friday night. The crowds blocked road and rail transport and also roughed up policemen who tried to stop them. According to reports, almost 16 police personnel were injured in the melee.

Sources said that tension started to simmer on Friday night, when reports came in of five Muslim religious scholars from Maharashtra, who were onboard a train bound for Saharanpur, being heckled by a few persons at Baraut railway station. They were also allegedly manhandled and beaten up. The victims, after reaching Kandhla, filed an FIR, post which their medical examination was conducted. A number of people subsequently gathered at Kandhla and demanded speedy arrest of the accused.

On Saturday morning, the Samajwadi Party MLA from Kairana, Nahid Hasan along with other locals, blocked rail and road transport to protest against the incident. He told TOI that they were protesting peacefully but a few miscreants threw stones at the police. In retaliation, the police resorted to the use of lathis in addition to opening fire, he added. Soon, a number of protestors reportedly got aggressive and entered Kandhla police station where a number of police personnel were manhandled. The crowd even set a few vehicles parked in the station on fire.

Police, however, maintains that only rubber bullets and lathis were used to disperse the crowd. IG Meerut zone, Alok Sharma, said, "Police never fires at the public with real bullets. It only uses plastic pellets but we found a few empty cartridges of 0.315 bore at the site which were fired from country made weapons. One person sustained bullet injury as well. FIRs are being filed by the police against miscreants who destroyed public property and indulged in arson."