Samajwadi Party leader Javed Siddiqui and 34 others have been arrested over setting ablaze the houses of Dalits in the Dalit Basti of a village in Jaunpur. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered the authorities to invoke the stringent National Security Act against the perpetrators.
As per reports On June 9, a minor argument among the children turned into a deadly communal clash in a village of Jaunpur, that led the destruction of more than a dozen houses that were owned by Dalits after they were was set blazed. Massive damage was caused to the scheduled caste community. Even the domesticated animals were not spared. Reportedly, three goats and one buffalo were burned alive.
In UP’s Jaunpur, several houses of Dalits were torched by a mob following a minor dispute on June 9. As of now, 35 people have been arrested. CM Yogi has ordered invoking stringent NSA against Noor Alam and Javed Siddiqui, the two main accused. pic.twitter.com/vypw6dGUQu
— ROHIT CHAHAL (@rohit_chahal) June 11, 2020
Cause of the communal clash
As per reports, children from the scheduled caste community in the Bhadethi village took their buffalo to graze in a field near a pond where the children from the Muslim community were also grazing their goats. Reportedly, while grazing the buffalo hit the goat that led to a minor quarrel among the group of children.
The children get back to their homes and narrated the story to their parents. As a result, the people from the Muslim community went to the Dalit locality armed with sticks and rods. After the exchange of words, three men Nabib, Lareb and Habib got injured. At the same time, Aftab aka Hitler, who is also the husband of the Village head, came to resolve the argument.
Around 8 pm, some 100 people from the other village raided the Dalit locality again and attacked the locals in which three Dalit men- Ravi, Atul, and Pawan were injured. The assailants started burning the houses. Many people including Nandlal, Nebulal, Rajaram, Jitendra, Sewlal lost their belongings along with their shelters.
On being informed, the Sarai Khwaja police station house officer reached the spot along with his personnel. The SHO called more cops later sensing that the trouble is big.
Jaunpur DM DK Singh and SP Ashok Kumar reached the spot and later other senior officials including Varanasi Divisional Commissioner Deepak Agarwal and IG range VS Meena came to review the situation.
The police force surrounded the Dalit Basti and admitted the injured people to the district hospital. A 16-year old boy was rushed to the Varanasi hospital after being reported as a critical case.
CM Yogi took cognizance
UP CM Yogi Adityanath took cognizance of the incident and ordered the police officials to invoke the Gangster Act and slam NSA on the culprits- Noor Alam and Javed Siddiqui. The CM also called for strict action against the SHO of the local police station as he failed to control the situation.
According to Varanasi IG VS Meena, 35 people were arrested in connection with the clashes including Samajwadi Party leader Javed Siddiqui. A heavy police force is deployed in Dalit Basti while a team of police has camped inside the village to assess the amount of loss.
The local police registered FIR against 58 people of the Muslim community under the sections of the Indian Penal Code and SC/ST atrocities act. A case is also lodged against 100 unidentified people in connection with the arson.
Adityanath directed the concerned authorities to compensate the victim with the financial assistance of 1 lakh each to those whose houses and belongings were burnt. They are also ordered to allot accommodation to them under the CM housing scheme to the victim.
