Bihar, dependent on the polls, was among the northern states of India with the fewest incidents of community violence recorded until 2017. But that has changed in the last three years.
While Bihar had few incidents of community violence in the 2012-17 period, Rajasthan had one of the fewest deaths among the Hindi heartland states, data collected through responses from union ministers Kiren Rijiju and Hansraj Ahir show. at Lok Sabha in 2016 and 2018 respectively.
Among the northern states of India, Bihar reported 366 such incidents in this period, Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of cases with 1,010, Madhya Pradesh 441 and Rajasthan 380. Other large states such as West Bengal reported 180 incidents and Jharkhand 85 (Jharkhand data for 2017 was not available).
Mortality in such cases during this time was highest in UP with 237, Madhya Pradesh had 53, Bihar 42, Rajasthan 32, and Jharkhand 12.
Another study on “cow-related” crime showed that it was mainly concentrated in the northern Indian states of UP, Haryana, Gujarat, MP and Rajasthan.
Out of 63 incidents related to attacks on cows, the majority of crimes were also recorded in northern India, according to a study by India Spend that investigated community violence between 2010 and 2017.
The highest number of crimes of this type was registered in Uttar Pradesh with 10, Haryana 9, Gujarat and Karnataka 6 each, and Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan 4 each. Jharkhand reported 3 incidents. Bihar reported an incident in Saharsa, while neighboring Bengal also reported an incident.
Bihar saw a sudden increase in communal violence in 2017. There were 270 reported cases of this type, the same year that Prime Minister Nitish Kumar broke the alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress, and forged an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). ). Cases of community violence were reported in Bhagalpur, Araria, Munger, Aurangabad, Samastipur, Sheikhpura, Nawada and Nalanda.
Some analysts believe that the rise in sectarian violence in 2017 and 2018 was the result of polarization that began in 2013. “Historically, Muzaffarpur-Vaishali in northern Bihar has been free from community violence,” says Mohammad Sajjad, who teaches modern history in Aligarh. Muslim university. “Small incidents started from 2013, and in 2018 there were many riots in Bihar. There were riots in Muzaffarpur in 2015, and then again in 2018. “
Community violence continued in 2018, affecting districts such as Gaya, Arrah, Champaran, Muzaffarpur, and Vaishali around the Ram Navami festivities.
“The Nitish Kumar government managed to prevent some community incidents from turning into riots. However, it failed in many areas, ”adds Sajjad.
A careful examination of data on community violence over the past decade shows that while the state did well in terms of overall numbers, it has recently witnessed an exponential increase.
“There were many incidents of community tension that were not allowed to escalate into violence. However, 2018 was a year of large-scale fires, looting and violence in Bihar, ”says Sajjad.
From January 2010 to June 2013, there were 226 “communal incidents” statewide, a report from The Indian Express showed. The number reportedly increased almost three times to 667 between June 2013 and July 2015. In just three months in 2018, the state witnessed 64 communal incidents in Bihar: 21 in January, 13 in February, and 30 in March, in 9 districts, including Bhagalpur. Siwan, Munger and Nalanda.
As the state goes to the polls this month, the problem continues to precipitate. Nitish Kumar, on the other hand, had claimed that community violence dropped in 2019 compared to the previous year. “If we look at the crime figures for January-May of this year (2019) and compare them with the corresponding period in 2018, we find that the riots have decreased by 32 percent,” the CM had said in the state assembly.
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