Communal riots taking place in Bareilly raises several uncomfortable questions before us. The first point is that Uttar Pradesh has been free of communal riots for a long time. There were attempts in the past to increase communal polarization and enmity, and religious sentiments were continuously being used in politics, but this state was spared from communal violence.
Immediate Reasons
The riot that took place in Bareilly started with the skirmish during the procession of Barawafat (birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammad), but the ground for it was being prepared for long. No matter what the immediate reasons for communal riots are, preparations for them are made much in advance, and if eyes of the administration and society are sharp, they could see these signs floating in the air.
It is also a strange thing that the riot took place in the city of Bareilly, which has been Ala Hazarat or Ahmed Raza Khan's place of work, and even today his tomb is a place of worship for all.
Culture and Tolerance
Ahmed Raza Khan was a Muslim religious cleric who was the propagator of that sect of Islam, which is known as "Barelavi" sect. As opposed to pure fundamentalist Salafi or Wahabi sect, Barelavi is a liberal and coordinating sect and it is believed that most Muslims in the world believe in this sect. In the Barelavi sect, local culture and tolerance has been accepted. Ala Hazarat was a scholar of Islamic scriptures and Islamic scholars around the world respected him. In fact, Ala Hazarat defined the liberality and peace-loving qualities of Islam on the basis of religious scriptures, which is being easily followed by most of the Muslim community. Therefore, it should be considered as regrettable that communal violence spreads in a city that has such tolerance.
Otherwise also, the path that India is treading now, there should be no scope for quarrels on the basis of religion and caste. But communal riots are taking place in Karnataka in the South and in Bareilly in the North. During riots, none of the parties wins or loses, only those people win whose selfish motives are achieved by inciting communal violence, and common people no matter what community they belong to always lose.
Target of Terrorism
India has continuously been a target of terrorism and terrorists consider themselves as the real followers of a particular religion but despite that there is no tendency of communal polarization and violence among the Indian people. Wherever there have been communal riots, local vested interests have started them in a well-planned manner, be it in Gujarat or Karnataka. In Bareilly too, such elements could be identified and the administration should take strict action against them and the society should boycott them.
Issues like food, clothes, power, water, development, and security are more important to common man, no matter what community he belongs to. While solving these problems, the society should have no time to fight in the name of religion. Let us hope that the spark of Bareilly would be extinguished there itself and this blaze would not spread further.
