[2010] Communal Riots in Hyderabad: Understanding the Causes

From: The Economic and Political Weekly, VOL 45 No. 17 April 24 - April 30, 2010

Communal Riots in Hyderabad: Understanding the Causes

By a Correspondent

The communal violence in Hyderabad in early April was the result of decades of abandonment of the Old City and its people by secular parties and the almost complete neglect of basic administration. The Majlis-e- Ittehadul Muslimeen or the Majlis party, which has been strengthened by the communal politics of other parties, is today helping to revive Hindu communalism through its own politics of keeping religious divides alive. Establishing a good and impartial administration and opening up the space for secular politics is the only way to break out of this trap.
For the Old City of Hyderabad, har- bouring rabble-rousing fundamen- talist elements on both sides of the religious divide, communal riots come as no surprise. But what makes the latest bout of riots between Hindus and Muslims somewhat different is the asinine "reason" behind it - the tying of buntings and flags across streets.
The Nizam's Legacy
Squabbling over such a petty issue is a sign of the changed times and the tenuous relations between the two communities of a city otherwise known for its legendary "ganga-jamni tehzeeb" (cosmopolitan cul- ture) and communal harmony for most part of its pre-independence history of 358 years, though uninterruptedly ruled by Muslim kings. The city itself, according to a legend, was founded on the basis of a Muslim-Hindu marriage between the Golconda ruler, Mohammed Quli Qutub Shah and his beloved, Bhagmathi (who was given the name Hyder Mahal). As late as the 20th century, the fifth Nizam of Hyderabad, Mahabub Ali Khan had no problems applying a tilak on his forehead and performing puja to "propitiate" the Musi when it was in spate in 1908.
What then has gone wrong in the recent past?
The growing animosity seen now has historical reasons dating back to the tur- bulent period of the late 1940s when the seventh Nizam, Osman Ali Khan, was un- able to reconcile himself to a new develop- ing situation where people, like in other parts of the nation, struggled for democ- racy, freedom and liberation from his rule. Resisting merger with the Indian Union, he became so desperate to hold on to power that he tried to align with the newly created Pakistan, alternatively spoke of "Azad" (Independent) Hyderabad, encour- aged a type of militia - the Razakars - to unleash a reign of terror, even while suppressing the unique communist-led peasant revolt now known as the Telangana armed struggle.

Whatever good the Nizam had done for the Hyderabad State was lost in these few years ending September 1948, when he finally had to surrender to the govern- ment of India. Atrocities committed by his forces and the Razakars have left behind deep scars in the minds of Hindu popula- tions who, while constituting the majority, had to bear the brunt of this communal violence. No surprise then that the Majlis- e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (Majlis), a post- independence offshoot of the Razakars, has always been seen with suspicion by the Hindus, and largely explains the growth of organisations like the Arya Sa- maj first, and later, the Rashtriya Swayam- sevak Sangh (RSS), Jana Sangh and now the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Majlis continues to feel that it is the true inheritor of the Nizam's ruling legacy and harps on how the Muslims, who were ruling the country for well over 700 years, have been reduced to the status of paupers by consecutive governments and their policies. Muslims in the Old City, who live in abysmal poverty, ignorance and illiteracy, are made to believe that they were born to rule, decades after the demise of the monarchy. Much like a clone of the BJP, the party's main campaign plank of exclusive and divisive politics has only helped communal polarisation in the city. This politics continues though the mantle of leadership has passed on from Salahuddin Owaisi to his son, Asaddudin Owaisi, who is a young barrister from Lincoln's Inn, UK.

The Uses of Riots

Significantly, the Majlis could hardly make any electoral impact during the first two decades after the Hyderabad State was liberated and the secular parties like the Congress and the Communist Party of India got most of the votes and seats from the Old City of Hyderabad in both the Lok Sabha and the assembly elections. Neither the Majlis nor the saffron brigade were popular. The year 1978 was a major turning point in this, when the rape of a Muslim woman by policemen and death of her husband in a police station sparked off communal riots and ever since there have been a series of riots, the most serious being in 1990 when over 300 people lost their lives.
Riots in Hyderabad have also often been used for political purposes, as in August 1984 when Nadendla Bhaskara Rao, who became chief minister after removing N T Rama Rao, faced a trust vote in the assembly. Bhaskara Rao used the riots and the resultant curfew to iso- late the Legislative Assembly and the leg- islators and thus ensure that he won the vote of confidence. Even in 1990, the then Chief Minister, Marri Chenna Reddy went on record in the assembly to blame a group within the Congress for triggering riots to dislodge him, indirectly hinting at Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, who was a faction leader within the party then. Chenna Reddy was also implicated in the RSS efforts, in the late 1970s, to initiate Vinayak Chaturthi public processions in Hyderabad. He not only formally received this procession as chief minister, but also two important landmarks of the city, Mozamjahi market and Hussainsagar lake, were renamed "Vinayak Chowk" and "Vinayak Sagar" for the duration of this festival.
Political machinations apart, some- where down the line, the mainstream secular parties gave up the fight and passed on the mantle of the Old City of Hyderabad to the Majlis and the BJP. This process was accentuated with the polari- sation of the polity sparked off by the emotive Babri Masjid-Ram Mandir row. For some time it was an equal battle, with both the communal parties sharing the assembly seats from the Old City. With the Ram Mandir issue drying up, the BJP lost out and it is the Majlis all the way now winning all the seven possible seats encompassing the Old City.

Show of Strength

Yet, the Majlis seems dissatisfied, surpris- ing its ardent secular supporters who be- lieve that in the given circumstances, it is the best bet for Muslims. Otherwise there appears no reason why a party which had won so handsomely in the recent elections should resort to such crass politics of com- munity assertion through stringing flags and buntings on streets for an event (Milad ul Nabi) which is not considered a public festival, even in the holy land of Saudi Arabia. Many Muslim intellectuals of the city were aghast to see the unprece- dented, ugly, exhibitionism of religion,
similar to the equally condemnable, Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations. The present Majlis- inspired Milad ul Nabi celebrations began on 27 February and it went on till 28 March when trouble broke out. Green religious banners and posters occupied every inch of space, sufficient to provoke the Hindu organisations into action.

It was as if the Hindu organisations were waiting for the opportune moment to show off their own strengths and used the occasion of Hanuman Jayanthi (30 March) to do precisely this by replac- ing the green flags and buntings with saffron ones of similar dimensions. As with Milad ul Nabi, Hyderabad has had no previous history of public celebration of Hanuman Jayanthi, and it was clear that the hawks among the Hindus, with help from the saffron brigade, wanted to pay the Majlis in the same coin and show their own street strength. It led to avoidable tension, battle of words, scuffle and blood- letting, that left three dead and scores injured, for a "cause" that was so silly.

Majlis Party insiders say the extended festivities were consciously organised and funded, essentially to counter the Jamaat- e-Islami's rally organised a month ago to show the support of Muslims for Telanga- na. The Majlis, which has taken the stand that formation of Telangana would put the Muslims of the region at risk, wanted to show its dominance of the Muslims and its strength in the city.
The communal mobilisation by the Majlis, using Milad ul Nabi as an excuse, looked odd at a time when the BJP had become an almost spent force, and the Majlis itself has been able to expand its base both in votes and seats. Apart from making it a show of strength, there is a suspicion that the mobilisation was also intended to create a sense of fear and insecurity among Hindus living in the Old City, who have now been reduced to a minority in these areas with the hope that this would trig- ger their outmigration as in the past with communal riots.
There is now a feeling among many observers that the Majlis, by setting off a chain of provocative incidents in the Old City, has unnecessarily put the Muslims living in the newer parts of Hyderabad at risk. More importantly, it is now apparent that, perhaps unwittingly, their actions have had the effect of breathing life into an almost dead BJP. For, within hours of the incidents of stone pelting in Old City, a spate of attacks on Muslim properties in the new city, by young men participating in the Hanuman Jayanthi procession of the Bajrang Dal and Hindu Vahini (which were surprisingly allowed by the police even though prohibitory orders had been imposed), were reported.

If the Majlis strategy of mobilisation was politically wrong, it was criticised for other reasons too. This mobilisation of the community was not done for demanding educational facilities, political empower- ment or other social issues relevant to the minority community, like fighting against instances of poor Muslim girls being given in marriage to old Arab sheikhs. This ac- tion of the Majlis has strengthened the perception that it continues to keep the community under the spell of religion, wallowing in the past glory of being a ruling class, yet ignorant, illiterate and poverty-stricken in the present. That such a political strategy apes the BJP by banking on polarisation appears obvious. What is different is that the BJP's support- base constitutes a minority within the Hindu community, whereas it seems that the Majlis sway on Muslims in Hyderabad is almost complete, at least at the time of elections.

The large Muslim population of Hyderabad (42% in the 2001 Census) in- deed needs proper representation in both the legislative assembly and the Parliament. But the question arises, whether such representation should only be through a party which refuses to move beyond reli- gious agendas, to the exclusion of other issues afflicting the community. Is it not time for the Majlis, a party which has been there in the political arena for five decades and made more than its presence felt, to reinvent itself in tune with the changed times and prepare the community to face new challenges?

The Majlis has indeed set up a string of medical and engineering colleges in the name of minorities, but for many years it gave a majority of the seats to non-Muslim students, by accepting huge donations. Their defence then was that there were not enough Muslim candidates for these seats. But that merely begged the question. How could there be enough candidates for medical and engineering colleges when neither the state nor the Majlis had done anything to establish basic schools and colleges for Muslims? In fact, many Muslims have themselves found fault with Majlis' "top down ap- proach" of starting high level professional colleges while neglecting basic education. They allege that this was due to monetary considerations, professional colleges giv- ing a profit while basic schools providing none. There have been many cases where meritorious Muslim students have had to wage a battle to ensure their admission into these colleges.

With Majlis deeply entrenched in the political and public spaces of the Old City, secular parties as well as the government seem to have simply withdrawn from there. Any attempt made by secular par- ties to enter this part of the city has been met with stiff resistance from the Majlis and its cadre. Making the Old City its fief- dom, it does not allow even an alternative Muslim party to emerge, mounting physi- cal attacks on all those who threaten their leadership. Zahid Ali Khan, editor of Siasat, an established Urdu daily, too was not spared when he contested the Hydera- bad parliamentary seat with the backing of many secular parties. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) also made sincere efforts to reach out to the people in the Old City, with its Rajya Sabha MP, P Madhu even learning Urdu, but that too proved largely unsuccessful in the face of Majlis' opposition. He was targeted and attacked repeatedly. Far from making any attempt to bring about visible changes, it appears as if the Congress and its government have left the political space of the Old City to the Majlis, in return for (not so) covert help during elections.

Administrative Neglect

Like the communal divide, administrative neglect of the Old City has a history. What is termed the Old City of Hyderabad was its seat of government and political power for centuries. The first shifts began in the pre-independence era itself with the last Nizam, Osman Ali Khan, himself shifting seat of administration from Purani Haveli in the Old City to King Kothi palace in the new one north of the Musi river. Despite the fact that Osman Ali Khan brought some of the top city planners and engineers, in- cluding M Visvesvaraya, to overhaul the Old City's water supply and sewerage sys- tem, plan residential colonies, besides putting up scores of buildings for public utilities, all in the 1930s, the shift from the Old City to the new city began with the nawabs of the Nizam too following him.

The neglect continued after independ- ence. There appears to have been, in the post-independence rulers, a feeling that the Old City deserved its neglect for the wrongs done by the rulers of the immediate past in pursuing communal policies. There was never this realisation that people who lived there were being unfairly punished for the follies of their rulers. The Municipal Corpo- ration of Hyderabad was shifted and then the Police Commissioner's Office. Recent- ly, the High Court of Andhra Pradesh too has made an appeal to the government for alternate accommodation in the new city.

Whatever importance the Old City still had, was lost further after the formation of Andhra Pradesh in 1956. For people who migrated from other regions of this new state, the Old City was a culture shock. Telugus of the Old City spoke more Urdu than their "own language", wore sherwani with flair and showed a marked weakness for biryani! The alienation was complete, as the new democratically elect- ed rulers after 1956, thought that the way of governing the Old City was to follow a policy of benign neglect at best and one of active deprivation at worst. At one time
there was this contemptuous suggestion that the entire Old City should be razed to the ground and a new one built in its stead.

As a corollary of this shift in political lo- cus, governance and policing too have taken a backseat in the Old City. Virtually all open spaces stand occupied by Majlis' cadre, while a search for relocating dilapi- dated government school buildings proves futile. There is no respect for rule of law. Much like in the newer parts of the city, where Congress and BJP have consciously allowed their cadre to encroach public lands, it is Majlis in Old City. Quite

often it is unsocial elements who run shops and put up carts on the encroached road space creating problems for free flow of traffic as well as for law and order. With regular income assured, they come in handy for political parties during elections as well as riots. They grow up, often, to become municipal corporators, MLAs and MPs. For all practical purposes, the decay- ing Old City has been left to rot and dete- riorate, completing the process of ghettoi- sation - a fertile ground for any trouble, communal or otherwise. All it requires is a spark, or a flag as recent events show.