Articles by Asghar Ali Engineer

Remaking Indian Muslim Identity Asghar Ali Engineer The assertion of religious identity in the process of democratisation and modernisation should not be seen only as religious fanaticism or fundamentalism; it should also be seen as a method by which deprived communities in a backward society seek to obtain a greater share of power, government jobs and economic resources.

The Bloody Trail Ramjanmabhoomi and Communal Violence in UP Asghar Ali Engineer The wave of communal violence engineered all over the country in the wake of the BJP's 'rath yatra' and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's 'kar seva' has been the worst since 1947. In UP chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, abandoning his erstwhile 'secular' postures, has been a virtual bystander as anti-Muslim riots have erupted in most parts of the state. He has chosen not to act against either the incendiary propaganda campaign mounted by the VHP and the BJP or the partisan brutality of the PAC.

mobilise the middle classes under the senas, caste is again being used to incite the middle classes among the forward The Ramjanmabhoomi issue has played a major role in sharpening communal tensions where they already existed and creating a communal divide where there was none.

Role of Police-Criminal Nexus Asghar Ali Engineer THB Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid controversy has taken a heavy toll in terms of human life. In Bhagalpur and its suburbs alone a thorough inquiry has established that more than 800 people died, Bhagalpur is a district town, a centre of education with many English medium boys schools, convents, government-run high schools, about a dozen colleges, a medical college and a university. It is also the headquarters of the district administration and a revenue division. It has a commissioner and deputy inspector general of police. Bui Bhagalpur is also a boiling cauldron of crime, it is notorious for criminal gangs which operate there with political support. The politicisation of crime in this town cuts across communal lines. There are notorious Hindu as well as Muslim criminals. There is fairly large proportion of Muslims in and around Bhagalpur. There are several villages with considerable proportion of Muslim population. Many Muslims are either weavers or in the powerloom business. Some Muslims are well-to-do businessmen or property owners like the owners of the Shah Market in Bhagalpur. Thus we see that Bhagalpur had all the elements required for fuelling a communal riot--communal rivalries, political rivalries, and criminal rivalries. The Ramjanmabhoomi controversy was the spark required to ignite the situation.

Asghar Ali Engineer Narayan Dhanure, a former RSS man with criminal connections who is now in the Congress, signalled to a band of Hindu youths who came in batches and set fire to houses. Jabran colony was almost entirely burnt down. Some 270 huts belonging to Muslims were gutted while 15 Hindu huts were spared.