Muzaffarnagar - A case of ’Institutionalised Riot Systems’ | Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta

If one goes through majority of the mainstream media reports on the Muzaffarnagar riots, which displaced nearly 40000 Muslims and killed at least 50, the most important discourse that emerges is one of ‘administrative failure.’ Most reports rallied behind the notion that the riots could have been prevented if not for the state government’s laxity and delay in deploying troops in and around the riot-prone areas. However, while part of this hypothesis has some merit, it has also become a sophisticated way to couch the Sangh Parivar’s diatribes against Muslims. ‘Administrative failure,’ presented as the ‘most important angle’ of the riots has had a shrouding effect on the role of Sangh Parivar-led communal campaigns such as ‘love jehad’ in perpetuating the riots.

Not surprisingly, BJP leaders are harping on this aspect as opposed to other significant political factors leading up to the riots. A close look at the riots would help understand that the Muzaffarnagar riots, as with most riots, were nothing but a systematic and organised attempt by the Sangh Parivar to polarise votes in western UP before the 2014 parliamentary elections.

http://www.sacw.net/article5824.html