Deborah Quist

DESIGN_THINKING

DESIGN_THINKING_199_EXAM

The clashes between the Jat and Muslim communities in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar

Pradesh, India.By date 17 September, the curfew was lifted from all riot affected areas and

the army was also withdrawn.The riot has been described as "the worst violence in Uttar

Pradesh in recent history", with the army, as a result, being deployed in the state for the

first time in last 20 years.The Supreme Court of India, while hearing petitions in relation to

the riots, held the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party prima facie guilty of negligence in

preventing the violence and ordered it to immediately arrest all those accused irrespective

of their political affiliation.The Court also blamed the Central government for its failure to

provide intelligence inputs to the Samajwadi Party-governed state government in time to

help sound alerts.In 2021, a local court allowed the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government to

withdraw a case of inciting violence against 12 BJP leaders involved in the riots.In 2022, BJP

MLA Vikram Singh Saini along with 11 others were sentenced to two years imprisonment

by a special court which convicted them of rioting and other offences.== Initial clashes ==

On 21 August 2013, communal clashes were reported from Muzaffarnagar and police

registered cases against 150 people and 14 persons were taken into custody.Clashes

between two communities, Jats and Muslims, in Shamli and Muzaffarnagar, grew on 27

August 2013.The original cause of the rioting is disputed.In this case, the cause of this

rioting alternates between a traffic accident and an eve-teasing incident.According to the

first version, the cause was a minor traffic accident involving some youths which then

spiralled out of control when it eventually took on religious overtones.In the second
version, a girl from the Hindu Jat community was allegedly harassed in an eve-teasing

incident by one Muslim youth in Kawal village.In retaliation, Jat relatives of the girl in

question, Sachin Singh and Gaurav Singh, killed the youth named Shahnawaz Qureshi.The

two brothers were lynched by a Muslim mob when they tried to escape.The police arrested

eleven members of the girl's family for killing the Muslim youth.According to Zee News

report some locals, the police did not act against the killers of the Hindu brothers.According

to police records, Gaurav and Sachin picked a fight with Shahnawaz over a motorcycle

accident.While it has been widely reported that the fight was sparked off when Shahnawaz

harassed Gaurav and Sachin's cousin sister, the FIR in the murder makes no mention of

sexual harassment or molestation.According to the other version, the girl who was allegedly

harassed by Shahnawaz commented that she had not gone to Kawal and did not know

anyone named Shahnawaz.In the FIR registered for Shahnawaz's death, five people along

with Sachin and Gaurav were named as responsible for his death.The reports mentions that

the seven men entered Shahnawaz's home, took him out and killed him with swords and

knives; he died on the way to the hospital.In the FIR registers for Sachin and Gaurav's death,

seven other men were reported to be responsible; that episode was sparked by an

altercation after Mujassim and Gaurav were involved in a bike accident.After news of the

killings spread, members of both communities attacked each other.The police took

possession of the three dead bodies, and temporarily brought the situation under

control.The authorities also deployed Provincial Armed Constabulary personnel to Kawal.In

September 2013, fresh riots sparked off and around 11 people including TV journalist

Rajesh Verma were killed and more than 34 were injured after which indefinite curfew was

clamped and the army deployed to help maintain law and order.== Gathering of masses ==

The killings in Kawal village started echoing across the district.On 30 August, two days after

the incident, despite a ban on assembly of crowd, Muslim religious leaders gathered after
Friday prayers and local Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Congress leaders had hijacked the

Muslim meeting demanding justice for the Kawal incident and made inflammatory

speeches.Also, local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders allegedly gave an incendiary

speech instigating the Hindu farmers on 31 August.A First Information Report (FIR) has

been lodged against all the leaders.After the meeting, the Jats were attacked and killed on

their way home by mob with assault rifles and weapons.== Jauli Canal Incident ==

Clashes between the two communities occurred at low frequencies for the next two

weeks.The Beti Bachao Mahapanchayat, attended by lacs of people, proved to be

inflammatory as it was allowed to be held by the district administration, despite imposition

of 144 Crpc in the area, around 2,000 Hindus returning from Panchayat were ambushed by

Muslim mob armed with assault rifles and other sophisticated weapons near Jauli Canal on

7 September.The mobs had set fire on 18 tractor trollies and 3 motorbikes.According to an

eyewitness account, the bodies were dumped into the canal.Although six bodies were

recovered, it was rumoured that hundreds were missing.Bodies of three Jats were found at

the site of violence and three Hindus bodies were fished out from Jauli Canal.The District

Magistrate agreed that many people were missing but expressed doubt as to whether they

had been killed or had fled.Survivors of the Jauli Canal incident added that policemen who

were watching the assault did not help the victims, as the police said that "they do not have

orders to act".This Jauli Canal incident aroused Jats to go on a rampage against Muslims

since the latter were responsible for the killings.This led to the riots, which killed around 42

Muslim people and 20 Jats (including a news reporter and a photographer).