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| India-Pakistan |
| Muslims must denounce rioters |
| 2007-08-30 |
| Wednesday's communal violence in Muslim-dominated areas of Agra is indicative of the fragile peace that prevails in many places across the country. It also shows that all it takes is an incident as far removed from Muslim issues as a road accident for the community's goon brigade to go on the rampage, secure in the knowledge that they shan't be punished for their criminal behaviour. It will be recalled that after Saddam Hussain was hanged in Baghdad, Muslim hoodlums owing allegiance to the Samajwadi Party had gone berserk in Agra, stoning buses and setting upon tourists while pretending outrage over a fallen dictator's execution in a foreign land. On that occasion, too, the political leadership of the day and a pliant district administration had silently watched goons claiming to represent the Muslim community running amok, causing destruction if not death. This time, it is worse. A truck accidentally hit four Muslim men riding a motorcycle in violation of all traffic rules; they were ostensibly observing Shab-e-Barat although it defies imagination as to how a night of prayers for departed souls can be equated with shocking hooliganism in the streets and on highways, as was witnessed on Tuesday night all over the country. Soon after the road accident, no doubt caused by the recklessness of the four men who died in the incident, large gangs poured out into the streets of Muslim-dominated mohallas of Agra, stormed the police station where the truck had been parked, set it ablaze along with other passing vehicles, attacked Hindu homes and terrorised their occupants in an orgy of pre-planned violence. If the accident had not occurred, the mobs would have manufactured some other reason. Such was the ferocity of the mobs that the police initially took shelter behind closed doors and the District Magistrate had to cower in a locked room. By the time the police regrouped and tried to restore order, the damage had been done. That the Director General of Police and the Home Secretary of Uttar Pradesh, who had gone to assess the situation, had to sneak out from the Circuit House which had been surrounded by a murderous mob led by BSP MLA Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto speaks volumes about the law and order situation. We will no doubt hear the champions of 'secularism' argue that such appalling arson, loot and vandalism are expressions of legitimate Muslim angst; we can also be sure that the facts will be lost in the clamorous defence of Wednesday's hooliganism that will be put up by the Samajwadi Party, the Congress, the Left and, not to be ignored, the BSP - after all, the villain of the piece is a ruling party legislator. Yet, it would be in order to suggest that the Uttar Pradesh Government should not be seen to be succumbing to Wednesday's crass expression of communalism, fuelled and fanned by malcontents within the Muslim community. This is an opportunity for Chief Minister Mayawati to demonstrate that her Government, unlike the previous regime, will not be found wanting in using force to put down trouble-makers and ensuring peace prevails. Neither Mr Bhutto nor his supporters should be allowed to hold Agra to hostage and thus instigate violence elsewhere. A second point that needs to be made unambiguously is that the men who ran riot in Agra do not represent the Muslim community, nor are they interested in protecting the interests of Muslims. But to underscore this point, saner Muslims must speak up and ensure their voice is heard. |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #3 If the accident had not occurred, the mobs would have manufactured some other reason. Sorta whittles away all the bullshit in just one sentence. That was either one big motorcycle or a circus act in training. Quite obviously you have not traveled to any of the Asian nations. In Taiwan, motorscooters are the cockroaches of street traffic. Once the green light appears they scurry forth into intersections with astonishing numbers. It is not unusual to see an entire family of four or five riding upon a single scooter. Pop will have one or two astride the gas tank in front of him and sitting behind him will be mom with another tyke on her lap as well. Bracketing this human cargo on all sides and in defiance of most physical laws will be either an entire week's worth of groceries or the complete inventory of their roadside flea market stall. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-08-30 13:59 |
| #2 "...hit four Muslim men riding a motorcycle in violation ..." That was either one big motorcycle or a circus act in training. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2007-08-30 12:32 |
| #1 Rioting is jihad, which is like breathing to a slave of allah the moon god. |
| Posted by: McZoid 2007-08-30 12:07 |