Why Bhopal has been communally on the boil for some months

Bhopal, for long, was considered communally stable even though Hindus and Muslims live here cheek by jowl. The Madhya Pradesh capital, however, has been lately facing communal trouble that many blame on fringe groups and the police’s partisan handling of matters.

The latest incident emerged on May 11 wherein a Muslim man and a Hindu woman were allegedly ambushed by Bajrang Dal workers at a hotel in Bhopal’s Govindpura on the pretext of stopping ‘love jihad’.

Five people, identified as Rohit Singh, Brijendra Prajapati, Jitu Kushwaha, Ranjit Suryavanshi and Lala Ram Meena, were booked for allegedly stripping the man, beating him up and feeding him cow dung. The group had allegedly recorded the episode on mobile phones and shared on social media, and made communal comments.

The viral videos indicated police personnel were present when the incident happened. Their alleged inaction enraged the city’s Muslim community. On May 12, a big group of protesters, including Bhopal sheher qazi Syed Mushtaq Ali Nadvi, Bhopal North MLA Arif Aqueel and Bhopal Central MLA Arif Masood, reached the Bhopal police commissioner’s office demanding action.

A team was constituted by police commissioner Sanjay Kumar and a case registered. Two of the five suspects were apprehended.

In the intervening night of May 12-13, thousands of Muslims collected near Taj-ul-Masajid and accused the police of inaction. They demanded that the accused be paraded by the police, booked under the National Security Act and their houses demolished by bulldozers, just as was done previously in multiple cases where Muslims are accused. The police used mild force and teargas to disperse the crowd.

Meanwhile, Chandrashekhar Tiwari, who heads the outfit Hindu Utsav Samiti, demanded that the sheher qazi condemn ‘love jihad’.

However, the Hindu woman present with the Muslim man has told the police that the couple had been in a relationship for five years and had booked the hotel room to be able to meet.

Some weeks ago, the Hindu Utsav Samiti had alleged that Muslims had cut off the head of a calf during Navratri. This turned out to be false as the police scanned CCTV footage to trace a Hindu man who had killed the calf.

Muslim community leaders in Bhopal have been demanding stringent action against Tiwari and his group on grounds that they are vitiating the city’s communal peace.

Subscribe to India Today Magazine