The new art of communal violence: Here's how to manufacture the perfect riot

New Delhi: The communal tension in Trilokpuri in East Delhi, Bawana in the West, Majnu ka Tilla in the North and Okhla in the South in recent weeks reveals a crucial development in the art of engineering communal trouble for immediate benefit: sophistication. Creating a communal frenzy leading to violent incidents is passé - these are difficult to control and the consequences are often difficult to manage. The new idea is to create a context, latch on to even minor incidents involving communities and provide it a communal colour. It’s effective as it has limited impact, the targeting is more accurate and when violence erupts it does not spread beyond affected localities. [caption id=“attachment_1793971” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AP[/caption] According to Dr Hilal Ahmed, assistant professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), it is also a well-thought-out plan to ignite only spark, not fire. “Post Gujarat riots, three important characteristics of communal violence have emerged: organised, initially limited and insertion of the communal discourse at a later stage. Initially, the troubles in Trilokpuri and Bawana were not of communal nature. But communal colour was given to the incidents.” He, however, does not hold any single political party responsible for the incidents. “It will not be fair to hold a single political party responsible for the ongoing unrests. In the Trilokpuri incident, who had stopped the Congress or the AAP from intervening in time and stop the conflict from spreading? The AAP did not take any principled stand on the Trilokpuri violence,” he said. Harsh Mander, director of Centre for Equity Studies, observes a “standard template” in the recent incidents of violence. “A standard template recurs whenever organisations choose to organise riots for political gains. The first step is to create a context for the conflict. And the most reliable staple of communal riots since the Partition has been to stir a dispute around a place of worship. In Trilokpuri, just across from a local mosque, a Mata ki Chowki or jagran is organised for the first time, and loud prayers relayed round the clock through a loudspeaker directed towards a mosque in Block 20. Tempers are further frayed when word spreads that — contrary to tradition — this makeshift temple would not be dismantled after the festival, but converted into a permanent structure. “With communal tempers sufficiently inflamed, the actual flashpoint is created near the temporary temple with a drunken brawl on Diwali night between young men of two communities inebriated with the hooch freely sold in the colony. Word quickly spreads that a Muslim young man had desecrated the chowki, and crowds gather as brickbats begin to fly. Some shops were burnt and large-scale stone pelting took place in narrow lanes of the colony.” Indicating that the incident was “manufactured riots”, he said, “This small communal fire could have been firmly and swiftly doused by the local police, with speedy dispersal of rioting crowds and immediate enforcement of curfew. But, as in all manufactured riots, the police response was initially muted, allowing violence to continue for two to three days until prohibitory orders were finally enforced.” Arguing that “communal tension and communal and targeted violence” should not be defined as low-intensity or sporadic cases, civil rights activist John Dayal told Firstpost, “To persons killed, injured, arrested, molested, seen their life’s savings, livelihood and investment reduced to ash, confined to their houses for days under a curfew or just plain terrorized and afraid they would lose their lives, it does not matter if it was widespread violence or that just confined to their locality.” He added that communal tension builds up over a period of time as part of a well defined strategy or conspiracy. “The capital has seen many communal incidents since 1947, the biggest in 1984, and several anti-Muslim incidents over time. This is therefore not new. I am not surprised these incidents took place now. The Bawana case, which has been well documented, shows how political elements of the Sangh Parivar and even elements of the Congress have been involved in the raising of passions and the fomenting of trouble. The police have not made any arrests of those guilty of such provocation.” Asked if it is an attempt to polarize voters and will this dirty politics work in the national capital, which is inhabited by progressive people, he says, “The voters were polarized for the assembly elections, which the AAP won and the BJP did not score too badly. They were further polarised in the Lok Sabha elections. This is just an escalation preparing for the 2015 state assembly elections.” Noting the strong political dimension to the recurring conflicts, Mander said the riots like the one at Trilokpuri are manufactured to polarise voters. “Bitterness of communal distrust leads to polarisation. The Delhi elections will be fought and won in a newly polarised electorate. I worry about how long communal hatred will be deployed as an instrument of political triumph through manufactured violence.” Professor Saroj Giri, who teaches political science in Delhi University, says, “It is clear that the incidents in Trilokpuri and Bawana were orchestrated as part of a larger political conspiracy to polarise communities and heighten communal tensions in the run up to possible Delhi assembly elections in the near future. These set of events are in line with similar actions by communal forces elsewhere in the country that have resulted in riots and communal polarisation, for electoral gain.”