Before Bihar polls, communal incidents have steadily been on the rise

A spate of incidences during the last six months across Bihar shows a trend of rising communal violence. According to various sources, nearly 320 small incidents of communal clashes and rioting occurred in the last three years. The curfews imposed recently during Dussehra and Muharram almost for a week at Kudra in Rohtas district and Kishanganj might have escaped the attention of the national media, but it has exposed the underbelly of Bihar, where communal flare-ups have become dominant. [caption id=“attachment_2492012” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. PTI[/caption] The rise in communal violence has posed a big challenge for the security agencies, including the state police, in tackling the skirmishes, besides Maoist threat. As per a data tabled in Lok Sabha, Bihar that ranked sixth in communal violence with 61 incidents last year, has climbed to the third position this year with 54 incidents and 169 injuries and deaths. Arun Kumar, Inspector General, Central Reserve Police Force, Bihar said, “There has been a steady rise in communal tension in Bihar in the past six months, and it has become a big challenge for the Central Armed Para-military Forces (CAPFs) to tackle it. There had been several skirmishes in Bihar Sharif, Bhagalpur, Nawada, Gaya, Patna, Kishanganj, Dharbhanga, etc. To deal with it, we have deployed exclusively 20 companies of Rapid Action Force (RAF) in communal-prone areas. In Bihar, communal tension had never been the culture. Rather, the general culture is that of religious harmony and social mixing with one another.” “But, off-late this trend of communal clashes, which is very local in nature, has emerged. May be, some forces have been trying to polarize voters by inciting communal tension,” added Kumar, who’s also Force Coordinator of CAPFs in Bihar. Hannan Mollah, former eight-time MLA of CPI (M) and in-charge of Bihar said, “There has been a three-fold surge in communal violence in Bihar after JD(U) and BJP parted ways in June 2013. As per official estimates, 320 small communal flare-ups have occurred in Bihar in the last three years. Without secular ideals, it’s very difficult to fight out such communally-charged situation.” The communal tension during the immersion of Durga idol and Muharram procession was not limited to these two districts, but in other areas, like Chanpatia in west Champaran and small towns and villages in Seemanchal region with high concentration of Muslim population too witnessed palpable tension. Patna-based theatre activist Anish Ankur remarked, “Bihar has always been known as friendly state for different communities. But, now the rise in communal violence across the state indicates an attempt to polarise voters on communal lines. Even, the festival venues have been used for the purpose, to incite against the other community.” According to an intelligence report, from January till October, various incidents of communal clashes leading to injuries and deaths took place in Muzaffarpur, Sasaram, Jamui, Begusarai, Rohtash, Rajgir, Jehnabad, Aurangabad, Gaya, Bhagalpur, Bihar Sharif, Patna, Kishanganj, etc, which were triggered during Hindu festivals. According to the website ‘Nitish for Bihar’ that promotes the vision, policies and programmes of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar: “The triggers for the incidents were usually deliberate—beef thrown inside mandirs or pork found in masjids. Other examples included rumours about mosques being built next to ghats or vice versa. Religious processions were also used to foment violence. Most of the violent incidents were concentrated in areas that have less than the state average (16.5%) of Muslims - that is 24 districts. Between June 2013 and June 2015, these districts saw an increase from 151 incidents to 471. At least 19 districts that had seen a total of 3 incidents between January 2010 and June 2013 experienced more than 10 incidents from June 2013 to June 2015.” Patna-based journalist Mrityunjay Kumar added, “With these communal flare-ups the Hindu-Muslim divide has widened in the state. Why the BJP instead of talking about the social security schemes initiated by PM Narendra Modi for the poor and backward, is following the caste and communal politics like its opponent Mahagathbandhan, is incomprehensible.