INDIAN MANDALA Uttar Pradesh fuels new divisions between Hindus and Muslims

The local BJP government wanted to force hoteliers and restaurateurs to display their names so that Hindu pilgrims who flock to Shiva temples during these days can avoid places run by Muslims. The Supreme Court has suspended the order and will review the matter. The district where the ordinance was to apply was already the scene of serious violence in 2013.

Lucknow () – The ruling issued by the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand requiring hotels, restaurants and vendors along the Hindu pilgrimage route to display the names of their owners has ended up in the hands of the Supreme Court judges.

On July 22, the Indian court issued an interim order to suspend the decision that local governments said they had taken to prevent religious disputes from breaking out during the Kanwar Yatra, an annual pilgrimage dedicated to Shiva that begins at the Ganges River near Haridwar in Uttarakhand and passes by various local temples dedicated to the deity. It began on Monday and will conclude on August 2.

The decision, initially adopted on July 17 for the district of Muzaffarnagar, is actually aimed at identifying Muslim traders and making pilgrims buy only from Hindus.

The Uttar Pradesh government, led by the ultra-nationalist Hindu party BJP, defended the decision in the Supreme Court, saying it was taken in order to maintain “peace and tranquility”. “Even minor confusions over the type of food served to the Kanwariyas (pilgrims) may hurt their religious sentiments and create unrest, especially in a communally sensitive area like Muzaffarnagar,” the defence lawyers argued. The court has questioned their motives and will review the case today before issuing a final verdict.

Muzaffarnagar district was already the scene of sectarian violence in 2013. In late August and early September, the murder of a Muslim man by two Hindu youths sparked violence, resulting in more than 60 deaths and more than 50,000 displaced, mostly Muslims but also Gang rapes and other sexual violence attacks against women.

The western part of Uttar Pradesh, where the districts of Muzaffarnagar and Shamli are located, is mainly inhabited by farmers belonging to the ethnic Jat community (which includes Hindus and Muslims) engaged in sugarcane cultivation. This is one of the areas where the Bharatiya Janata Party has managed to increase its influence by change the narrative of local communities.

In rural areas like Muzaffarnagar district, it was always caste divisions, rather than religion, that marked the differences. But local BJP leaders began fuelling sectarian divides by misleading the underprivileged castes with the promise of getting what they had always been denied, leading to widespread violence.

After a Muslim was murdered by two Hindus, a group of Muslims decided to take revenge. Shortly afterwards, BJP leaders posted a fake video on social media about the massacre, passing it off as current, when in fact it showed an episode that had occurred in Pakistan many years before. But the images went viral within a few hours and caused a stir.

The difficulties in accurately reconstructing events also prevented many people from obtaining justice. The sentences handed down so far have been partial, while independent reports have reiterated the local administration’s responsibility for the outbreak of violence and the security forces’ poor handling of the clashes.

However, as in many other districts of Uttar Pradesh, the socialist Samajwadi Party won in Muzaffarnagar in the last parliamentary elections that concluded in early June. A historic result for the party, which has now become the third political force after the BJP and the Congress, which leads the opposition. And a refusal, after years of divisive politics, to fuel new sectarian tensions.

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