The Hindu : Nothing trivial about violence

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jun 09, 2003

Opinion

Opinion - Editorials

Nothing trivial about violence

THAT A TRIVIAL dispute over a soiled currency note could take such menacing proportions and end in murder and arson is indicative of the deep communal divide in Hyderabad which has a long history of politics based on religious polarisation. The Old City area in Hyderabad is known to be prone to communal violence, but, despite the early warnings and slow beginnings of the trouble, the police were found wanting in their response to a volatile situation. Indeed, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, who visited the affected area, admitted that the police were unable to assess the situation properly. Apparently, after a period of peace and calm, the police were unprepared for the quick spread of violence. The judicial probe ordered by the State Government into the incidents should cover all aspects of the violence, including the complaints against some police personnel. The charges against the police made by the local residents are serious, ranging from indifference to instigation. While Mr. Naidu has already announced the transfer of the Habeebnagar inspector, Madhu, who was named by the family of Mohammed Ghouse, the person killed in Thursday's violence, the Government must ensure that the actions of the police force are not vulnerable to charges of communalism. Even if the surprise element explains the failure to prevent a petty issue from developing into a major flare-up on Thursday, the State law and order machinery would still have to answer for the inability to control the arson on Friday during the funeral procession of Ghouse. Despite heavy police deployment, stone pelting and vehicle burning marked the funeral procession. Violence continued unchecked for the second day showing the police in a poor light.

The sequence of events, beginning with the quarrel over a soiled currency note in a restaurant, and ending in communal violence, points to the ever-present possibility of ordinary incidents gaining a communal colour in sensitive areas. Whatever the origins of disputes between Hindus and Muslims, however trivial the issues, these quickly assume threatening proportions in places with a history of communal violence. Moreover, organisations based on religious identity tend to exploit petty issues for political ends. Actually, apprehensions have been voiced over the possible link between the communal violence and the impending by-election for the Karwan Assembly seat that is vacant following the recent death of a Majlis-e-Ittahadul Muslimeen legislator, Syed Sajjad. Karwan, especially, is an area of religious polarisation where the MIM and the BJP are evenly matched. Without doubt, communal parties stand to benefit from violence of this kind. In the present instance, the MIM was quick to intervene, as Ghouse was a local leader of the organisation. MLAs belonging to the MIM also managed to secure the release of youths arrested for stone-throwing, despite the objection from a senior police officer. Obviously, the police were susceptible to political pressure.

Although Mr. Naidu might seek to attribute the violence to "anti-social elements" and treat it as a law and order problem, his Government would have to face the problem of the communal divide, and the distrust of the police force before restoring lasting peace in Hyderabad. Otherwise, personal squabbles would take the form of communal violence without any warning. The immediate cause of the violence might be trivial, but not the end-results. It is never easy to keep sparks away from inflammable material. Rather than try and eliminate sources of provocation, the Government must make efforts to defuse the volatility of the overall situation.

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