Japan-New Stirrings

Minister's extraordinary visits to Meerut and Moradabad on February 5 and to Baroda on February 9, ostensibly to look up and commiserate with victims of communal or, more precisely, police riots that took place in these cities months, indeed in Moradabad's case, years, ago. The shameful incidents in Meerut which took place in August- September (as those in Moradabad which took place almost three years ago in August 1980) were essentially the handiwork of the provincial armed constabulary; and the killings in Baroda which began as a gang fight between criminals and soon took the shape of a communal riot took place in October last year. Indeed, the whole theory of a 'foreign hand' in communal riots in India was first mooted at the time or the police killings in Moradabad by official agencies deriving sanction from the Prime Minister herself.