New Delhi: The unexpected Muslim hysteria over the Citizenship Act was a nightmare for Uttar Pradesh. It still is and will haunt the administration for a while. After more than 27 years the state witnessed a massive upsurge of Muslims resulting in large-scale arson, violence and organised attacks on the police force.
Muslims of the state had been living on the edge ever since 2014 when their bête noire Narendra Modi became the PM with a thumping majority. The anxiety levels stretched to the seams as BJP steamrolled the UP assembly elections in 2017 and saffron-clad Yogi Adityanath, again a verbose anti-Muslim politician, became the chief minister. To add salts to their wounds was a second and even more thumping term for Modi in May 2019.
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Then came a spate of decisions which could be construed as anti-Muslim. From the law on triple Talak, repealing of Articles 370 and 35 (A) in J & K, save the cow campaign and related highhandedness of Yogi administration and saffron brigade in UP to the recent Supreme Court verdict on Ayodhya, every little bit contributed to the fuming Muslim psyche. The well-orchestrated confusion of the opposition parties over CAA and NRC pulled the trigger.
After 1992 riots following Ayodhya demolition did UP witness such extensive Muslim hostilities. Nearly 20 districts were engulfed by vociferous and violent protests spread over a week. A dozen people were killed and property worth over Rs 300 crore was gutted.
Police resorted to firing at some places whereas tear gas, water canons and lathis were used to disperse huge stone-pelting mobs of Muslims. The state was handed over to seething Muslim frenzy.
Inefficiency and lack of ideas do lead to an administrative stupor. Complete chaos prevailed in state capital Lucknow and major towns like Kanpur, Meerut, Rampur and Muzzaffar Nagar. Though CM Yogi announced that the rioters will have to bear the cost of damage to public property, senior officers paraded cluelessly as mobs operated at will. More than 6,000 persons were rounded up but no plan of action seemed in place as small police pickets were at the receiving end of the mob fury.
Almost replicating the J&K tactics, the administration suspended Internet services in many UP towns including Lucknow almost for a week without much logic. This led to losses worth over Rs 1500 crore as net banking, credit-debit transactions, taxi services, and restaurant businesses nose-dived. An unprecedented witch hunt was launched as 19,400 social media posts were identified as malicious. As many as 93 FIRs were lodged against the social media and 124 persons were arrested.
Experienced hands point out that the dearth of officials adept at handling crowd situations is a major reason for such administrative breakdown. All officials who were known for their crowd control skills in 1992 have retired and no specialised training has been imparted to the younger ones. The only on-the-job training these days is to handle VIP security and movement or managing political rallies. Genuine policing is a virtue of the past.
Another facet to this intense arrogance of Muslims stems from the unqualified pampering they have been receiving from all other national and regional parties in UP. Muslims believe they have had a crucial role in the formation of majority governments of Samajwadi Party in UP in 2002 and 2012 besides the BSP government in 2007.
Being 19.3% of the state's population, Muslims had started believing that they are well-poised to get their pound of flesh when BJP surfaced as the spoil-sport. Given the belligerent Muslim mood, BJP and CM Yogi Adityanath can expect more such future showdowns.
