Radical Islamist cleric Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan has been declared as the mastermind behind the 2010 anti-Hindu Bareilly riots by the Additional Session’s Judge Court in Uttar Pradesh. The controversial maulana has been summoned on 11th March in the case.
Anti-Hindu riots rocked the Bareilly district in 2010 after a mob, which was part of a Muslim Barawafat procession, diverted from its decided route and attempted to forcefully pass through a Hindu area. Large-scale violence and arson by Islamists continued in parts bringing the city to a standstill owing to curfew for more than 10 days.
The case diary reportedly cited by the court reveals how Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan was at the helm of the riots. Several accounts researched by OpIndia reveal how the Muslim mob was armed and had even indulged in communal sloganeering during the religious procession. It was after Maulana’s violent address that the mob unleashed a terrorising attack on Hindus.
Not only Hindus, Sikhs too were targeted by the Jihadi mobs. BJP MP SS Ahluwalia raising the issue in the Parliament said that shops of Sikhs along with other minorities and Hindus were also targeted by the mob. He said that several Sikhs in Bareilly had relocated from Punjab and surrounding regions following the ani-Sikh riots in 1984 in order to find a fresh start but they met the same fate with the attacks by the mob.
What is the Barawafat procession
Barawafat procession is carried out by the Barelvi sect of Sunni Muslims on the day of Milad-un-Nabi (birthday of Prophet Mohammad) in Bareilly, which is the seat of the holiest shrine of Barelvis, the Bareilly Sharif Dargah or Dargah-e-Alahazrat.
Muslims march across the city of Bareilly in small groups called anjumans. Each anjuman comprises about 100-150 people and over 100 anjumans form a large congregation which marches from Kohadapeer to the main shrine. The rally is reportedly organised by the Anjuman Khuddama Rasool Tanzeem (AKRT) and passes through a fixed route.
2010 anti-Hindu Bareilly riots
On 2nd March 2010, a large congregation of Barelvi Muslims embarked on a Barawafat procession in Bareilly.
One of the groups of Muslims from the rally diverted from their decided route of Prem Nagar area to the Kohada Peer locality. This did not sit well with the residents of Kohada Peer.
Another account of the riots quoting The Bareilly Jagran states that the procession was planned to move through the Kohara Peer area but was diverted by the mob at around 3 pm to pass through the Chahbai area.
Both accounts confirm that the route pre-decided for the procession by the district administration was diverted by the Muslim mob.
It must be noted that this sinister change of route by the Muslims came following the decision of the district administration to postpone the procession on account of Holi, which was on 1st March. As per reports, the rally was scheduled for 27th February but was postponed by the administration to 2nd March owing to Holi.
Another account of the riots raises questions on the then-Mayawati government for allowing a second Barawafat procession.
According to the Organiser, the Muslims had already carried out a procession on 27th February, which was the birthday of Prophet Mohammad. But another procession was announced on 2nd March.
“Here the intention of the local administration becomes doubtful why it granted permission for the second procession when one procession had already been allowed?” the report asks.
Interestingly, reports from 2010 reveal that a similar situation erupted in 2006 when the Barawafat procession tried passing through the Kohada Peer area drawing an objection from the residents. An alternative route was then decided for the same.
Despite this history, the BSP-led administration appeared unprepared in 2010. The procession diverted from the pre-decided route and tried to pass from Kohada Peer area knowing fully well that the residents had reservations against the same.
The residents objected following which the Muslim mob in the procession manhandled the locals, and began pelting stones at them, drawing ire from the residents. Police outposts, shops and vehicles were set on fire. Moreover, shots were also fired.
Nearly 20 shops were set on fire in the Kabutarkhana market. The Kohada Peer police station was also set ablaze and an idol in the temple inside the police station was also destroyed by the mob. Several police personnel were also injured.
According to Bareilly Jagran, the Muslim mob forcefully entered and vandalised the house of the residents. Shockingly, they set the gas cylinders in the houses on fire leading to multiple explosions.
The violence quickly spread from Kohada Peer to other areas including Subhash Nagar and Kotwali, Baradari, Qila and Prem Nagar. Amid escalating tensions, the administration imposed a curfew that was in place for at least 14 days.
Despite the curfew, small-scale firing and stone pelting from the mob continued till late night on 2nd March. Witness accounts, which find no mention in the mainstream media reports from then to this day, reveal that the mob was heavily armed.
“The police was, obviously, not able to do anything as they were encountering a mob with weapons. To add fuel to fire, there was stone pelting on temples from the aggressive mobilized minority which lead to retaliations from the majority community,” an account quoted in a blog rajeev2004 states.
The blog further quotes the witness equating Bareilly to Pakistan on 2nd March. “I literally saw Bareilly turning into Pakistan that day…there were just green flags and people swinging swords everywhere on the street. When the police tried to stop the crowd and fired in air, the mob went on a rampage,” the witness states.
Another report quoted Mahesh Sharma, a resident of Kotwali area which was one of the worst-hit in the riots, saying “It was a deliberate attempt of the communal elements to provoke the sentiments of Hindus. The sequence of incidents and changing the route of the procession despite specific directions from the local administration and the public display of arms and raising communally sensitive slogans throughout the route of the procession fomented the communal clash.”
As per reports, more than 60 houses of Hindus were charred and at least 10 people were seriously injured. Property worth crores of rupees was damaged. What’s more shocking is that the vandalism by Muslim mobs continued unabated holding the city to ransom.
Welcoming the court’s order, BJP leader Rajesh Aggrawal said that while the shops of Hindus were targeted, the shops of Muslims were saved and not attacked because they had green flags on them for identification. Fire brigade was not allowed to enter and douse fire in the shops that belonged to Hindus.
Despite a two-week-long curfew, Muslim mobs issued warnings to the Mayawati-led BSP government and local administration over the arrest and then subsequent release of Maulana Tauqeer Raza, the mastermind of the riots.
How Maulana Tauqeer Raza not only incited the Islamist mob in the procession but also sparked another spate of violence amid the curfew
The founder of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (Jadeed) and the Ittehad-e-Millat Council (IMC), Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan has now been declared by a UP court as the mastermind of the Bareilly violence.
The court in its order reportedly mentioned that the maulana had got a stage made in the Kohada Peer area and began addressing the procession with hate speech, inciting the mob.
Maulana was successful in his attempt and the enraged Muslim mob began attacking the police deployed in the area. It was after the Maulana’s speech that the Kohada Peer police station was attacked by the Islamists and the idols in the temple inside it were also broken.
Shops and houses of Hindus were targeted in what appeared to be a spate of terrorist attacks as the armed mob set off gas cylinders and hurled petrol bombs.
The court further cited the case diary which mentions that the Maulana, along with his party members, threatened the administration and the Hindus saying that if the procession is not allowed to pass through the Chahbai area then the result will not be good.
“I will shed rivers of blood of Hindus. I will set their (Hindus’) homes and shops on fire,” the Maulana had reportedly said.
The court said that this clarifies that it was after Maulana’s inciteful address that riots were sparked across Bareilly thus making him the mastermind of the anti-Hindu riots.
The court while making the observation expressed its shock that the maulana’s name was missing in the chargesheet.
Furthermore, the arrest of Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan on 8th March, four days after the violence, angered the Muslim mob which went on a spree of violence and vandalism once again. Muslim groups began to threaten the BSP government that they would boycott Mayawati’s rallies thereby threatening her votebank.
The jihadis rendered the security arrangements impotent as they defied the curfew not only upon the Maulana’s arrest but also after his release three days later on 11th March. Once again, police personnel were injured in the violence unleashed by the Muslim mob upon the release of the Maulana. As the Muslim mob went on a rampage for a full two weeks, the state remained a mute spectator.
His release was also condemned by the Bareilly Bar Association stating that the local administration had made a mockery of the judicial system and some lawyers even wrote to the then CM Mayawati.
