Articles by Asghar Ali Engineer

The year 1995 was not the worst in the recent past in regard to the communal situation, but neither was it free from communal violence. A report on the year's incidents.

Commission Report Asghar Ali Engineer IT would be no exaggeration to maintain that the Bhagalpur riot of October 1989 was one of the major riots of the post-independence India. More than 1,000 people perished and many more were permanently maimed. Property worth crores of rupees was destroyed and the riots left permanent scar on the minds of several thousands of people. Bhagalpur riots were a worst example of religious frenzy and communal madness. They also show how, for the sake of capturing votes, the communalists brought about extensive destruction and how entire secular political discourse was thoroughly communalised. No secular space was left for any kind of dialogue between the two major communities.

Asghar Ali Engineer AFTER the comparative lull on the communal front a series of riots broke out recently. Moradabad in February witnessed a communal outburst claiming more than five lives. It was followed by Aligarh where eight people died in police firing and stabbings. Agra witnessed a riot even as Aligarh calmed down. In Hubli the Holi procession was stoned and violence erupted resulting in a few casualties.

challenged in the short term considering the compulsions of the new economic order arid the pressures on a state such as Karnataka to continue to attract national and international capital. The arrogance of the English-speaking elites in such a situation is firmly rooted in the fact that they wield considerable economic and commercial, if not political power. The segmentation of the city has now become so 'natural' that the new corporate elites of Bangalore are able to continue, without embarrassment, to aggressively resurrect a colonial culture in their private architectural tastes and leisure activities, while the renaming of streets and public areas in other parts of the city continues apace. The fact that there is state support for the latter activity appears to make no difference to the development of a corporate, neo-colonial, culture.

The police together with other law enforcement machinery, such as the local administration and judiciary, play a crucial role in communal riots. Greater attention needs to be paid to their training and education so that they may act impartially, following the law of the land.