By P.K.Balachandran

Colombo, January 25: India’s Western States, particularly Maharashtra, had emerged as the “epicentre” of communal rioting in India in 2024, according to an all-India study done by the Mumbai-based Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS).

Maharashtra accounted for 12 of the 59 riots in 2024.

India, as whole, witnessed 59 communal riots in 2024, a significant rise compared to 32 riots in 2023, an 84% increase. These incidents resulted in 13 deaths—10 Muslims and 3 Hindus, the study states.

The “cow belt” comprising Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and others like Gujarat and Bihar, saw a higher number of communal riots along with Maharashtra. But, as per tradition, the southern states of India reported a far lesser number of communal riots. The same is the case with the state of West Bengal. There has been no change in this regional pattern.

Since 2022, there had been a spike in communal riots in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. In 2024, Maharashtra had 12 riots, Gujarat 5, Madhya Pradesh 5, and Rajasthan 3. With 25 communal riots, these states accounted for 42% of the total cases of communal rioting in 2024.

Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Haryana reported 13 communal riots – 22% of the total. Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha, saw 13 riots or 22% of the total cases.  

Karnataka and Telangana in the South reported seven communal riots constituting 12% of the total. The North Eastern region reported only one riot, and that was in Tripura. However, Manipur had been having continuous ethnic and religious rioting. But this was not Hindu-Muslim rioting. In India the term communal rioting applies only to Hindu-Muslim riots. Most communal riots are between Hindus and-Muslims.

The CSSS’s study was based on reports from prominent newspapers- the Mumbai editions of The Times of India, The Hindu, Indian Express, Sahafat (Urdu), and Inquilab (Urdu).

Most communal riots were triggered during religious festivals, especially religious processions. There were four riots during the Pran Pratishthan ceremony at Ram Mandir in Ayodhya in January, seven during Saraswati Puja idol immersion ceremonies, four during Ganesh festivals, and two during Bakr Eid.

Religious celebrations were used to fuel communal tensions for political mobilization.

Electoral Polarization

The spike in the number of communal riots in India in 2024 may be  partly attributed to the general elections that were held in April/ May, 2024. Similarly, riots occurred when important States held assembly elections. Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand had elections in 2024. Hate speeches with communal overtones were used to polarize communities on religious lines. But a part of the spike could be attributed to the ecosystem of impunity that was  promoted by governments specially those of the Bharaiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled States.

Ideology of the Regime

Out of the 59 communal riots in 2024, 49 took place in States where the BJP was ruling either on its own, or in coalition with other parties. Coalition partners included Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) and National Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction) in Maharashtra and Janata Dal in Bihar.

Seven out of 59 communal riots took place in States ruled by the Indian National Congress (INC) while three took place in West Bengal, where the Trinamool Congress was in power.

This data can be interpreted to mean that the BJP-ruled States took little or no action to deter communal violence and religious polarization. State authorities had used bulldozers to fatten houses  or shops of Muslims as punishment for allegedly breaking the law. The non BJP ruled states had desisted from such actions and that deterred communal riots.

In the recent years, riots have been spontaneous events with no pre-planning, unlike in the past. According to the study, this is because anti-Muslim feeling is already embedded in communities and a small spark can trigger a riot. Even arguments on personal mundane issues between individuals from two different religious groups, had triggered riots.

Hindu Rashtra:

Communal riots in 2024 were marked by the bold assertion of Hindu right-wing power in public spaces. Processions deliberately passed through Muslim-majority neighbourhoods with loud music and provocative slogans. Numerous right-wing Hindu groups were emerging at the grassroots level, and to gain popularity and influence, they organized processions or protests in front of mosques and in Muslim neighbourhoods, aiming to provoke or humiliate the community.

Three Trends

Recent communal riots point to three trends, the study says. The first is the domination or hegemony of public spaces by Hindu right-wing groups. The second is implication of Muslims in serious criminal cases, and the third a trend of meting out collective punishment to Muslims by the demolition of their properties, like houses and mosques.

Domination involves provoking and humiliating the Muslim community by Hindu right-wing groups. Retaliation from the Muslim community was used as a pretext to disproportionately arrest Muslims or invoke the severest provisions of the law. Even when Hindu right-wing groups marched aggressively in Muslim-majority areas and vandalized their property, a large number of Muslims were named by the police. These were charged with serious offenses, and investigations were handed over to the National Investigating Agency (NIA), linking them to terrorism.

In January in Mumbai, government demolished 15 properties belonging to Muslims in Haidary Chowk on Mira Road after communal riots took place. In Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, known for arbitrary demolitions, the state demolished 11 houses of Muslims after communal riots took place during Muharram procession on 18th July.

Contested Places of Worship:

The year 2024 witnessed six communal riots over places of worship, triggered by Hindu right-wing fringe groups alleging that the mosques and dargahs were illegal or that they were built on Hindu place of worship. The total number of lives lost in such cases was ten (nine of Muslims and one Hindu). Nearly all the arrested were Muslims.It is notable that most of these conflicts were in the Northern states of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

Mob Lynching

India witnessed 13 incidents of mob lynching in 2024. These ncidents resulted in 11 deaths: one Hindu, one Christian, and nine Muslims. This is a decline from 21 incidents of mob lynching recorded in the year 2023. But the persistence of such attacks remains a concern. The decline in the number of incidents of mob lynching may be attributed to a ruling of the Supreme Court on this matter.

Mob lynching by cow vigilantes continues. There were seven incidents of lynching linked to cow vigilantism or accusations of cow slaughter.

Other cases of lynching had to do with accusations of interfaith relationships, targeting Muslims. Maharashtra accounted for three lynching cases long with Uttar Pradesh. Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, and Haryana each reported two incidents. Karnataka recorded one.

Seven out of thirteen, that is over 50% of the cases, could be attributed to cow slaughter. On June 7, 2024, Chand Miyan (23) and Guddu Khan (35) from Uttar Pradesh were lynched by cow vigilantes near the temple town Arang, in Chhattisgarh, while transporting buffaloes. Saddam Qureshi, the third victim, survived with critical injuries.

On August 28, 2024, Munyar boarded a train from Chalisgaon in Jalgaon district to visit his daughter who lives in Kalyan. Munyar was travelling alone in a general compartment where over a dozen men began to harass him. The goons slapped and kicked him on his face constantly, asking him to show what he was carrying in his bag. Munyar was begging with folded hands to spare him as the assaulters threatened to call the Bajrang Dal to chop his body into pieces. The police filed a case but it didn’t include section 307- attempt to murder.

Love Jihad

Accusations of interfaith romance or relationships, termed as ‘love jihad’ has been used to foment communal tensions and target people. A 19 year old Muslim student of Savitribai Phule Pune University was attacked by five persons who accused the student of “love jihad”. According to the police, the attack took place on 8th April when the male student was accompanying two female students on the campus. They started questioning the student and asked him to show his Aadhaar card. Upon seeing the student’s Muslim man, the assailants attacked him. The police registered FIR against unidentified persons.

(See: https://csss-isla.com/secular-perspective/hegemony-and-demolitions-the-tale-of-communal-riots-in-india-in-2024/)

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