How Riots Happen and What Ordinary Citizens Could Do To Stop Them

India is a diverse nation, our strength lies in our unity or so are we told since school but what we are not taught is how this very diversity is time and again exploited by certain elements to sow seeds of hate in the society we live in. Just last week we saw this happening in Delhi where a parking feud spiralled into communal confrontation, a boy went missing (?), a temple was vandalized, quickly came the men with slogans and then there was more. There is a lot to learn from this but I’m quite sure we would not. There is a reason why riots keep happening in India and people who until that day lived shoulder-to-shoulder burn each other’s houses and seek more blood. Until we understand this pattern and intentions behind people who initiate these ghastly crimes, the kind of unknown non-local faces who visit the disturbed towns, we will continue to reel under these riots.

India has seen many riots since 1980. Far too many. And one must try to retrace their origins, reasons why they were initially sparked; you’ll be amazed to know how silly and totally avoidable they were. Take for example the case of Moradabad riots in 1980. It all started when someone had thrown a body of a pig at an Idgah maidan and police refused to remove the same. Some 400 people lost their lives in the resulting violence. In Bhiwandi riots of 1984, 278 or so lost their lives. How did it all start? Someone had placed a saffron flag on top of the mosque. More than 1000 were murdered, this included people from both Hindu and Muslim religion in Bhagalpur violence of 1989 which started with an objection to Hindu procession in the Muslim area. 1990 Gonda riots started with some throwing stones at Durga Puja. There are fairly too many to cases of riots to mention in this regard. All this was in the days when technology wasn’t commonplace, social media wasn’t born as it is today. Rumours would just spread and there was just no way to cut that spread, it was hard to communicate with everyone in quick time like how it is possible today. So generally one would think technology must have helped bring peace or that people must have learnt from these many riots. Well, no. As recently as 2013, in Muzaffarnagar riots, more than 60 lost their lives while many had to flee the area. Although the main causes are still disputed, it swings between eve-teasing and traffic incident. Yes, it started with such common event but took shape of the riot thanks to Whatsapp forwards which flammed the communal pot with morphed images from Bangladesh and elsewhere claiming from Muzaffarnagar. How many of us share these emotionally charged posts without much thought? We don’t think of their repercussions; what can happen via a harmless WhatsApp forward right? Okay, the image and text are different, some of the facts mentioned in the forward are not really facts, so what? It’s not gonna cause any harm! How many times have we forwarded these ‘harmless’ forwards without much thought? 2014 Saharanpur riots started with a land clash but took shape of Muslim-Sikh riot. Baduria violence in 2017 was started by a Facebook post of class 11 student. All these and many more of such riots began from a minor quarrel. Trifling issues. It could be a dispute over a piece of land claimed by both Hindus and Muslims or over a street space claimed by both Hindu and Muslim hawkers. It could be provoked by a pig straying into a mosque or a dead cow being found near a temple. Who threw them and why? That’s another matter. Sometimes a riot might sprint from a minor quarrel that occurred due to coincidence that a Hindu and Muslim festival came on the same day and their processions clashed on the same street! (Some of the information in this passage is from Ram Guha’s India After Gandhi)

All these trivial incidents will somehow escalate. Riot will soon break out. It would somehow spread to different places. Public property and lives would be lost in far greater terms. It would run for days. Local politicians will take sides. Police most of the times would just stand still and watch. Quarrels would turn into fistfights and fists to swords and swords to guns. All because of a minor scuffle! Who benefits from this? Public? You sure know they’re the ones who suffer the most. And then there is the demon of polarization. Human relations suffer. People who stayed door-to-door, like close friends and brothers start having a suspicion about the other, they stop visiting other’s house, they stop inviting their neighbour to their house, people start to live in ghettos. People with diverse culture and thoughts separate and club into singular ghettos that share similar religion, food habits and thoughts. They close themselves from others. They stop entertaining the other culture and habits. They close their mind. It’s a gargantuan loss for their growth and psyche which they hardly realize. It all benefits someone at large. When a community of diverse people with diverse interests splits into singular interest it becomes easier for a politician to communicate and canvass for votes. All they have to do now is incite and ignite the fear of the other, fear of the unknown. In past, in a village of diverse minds, such a thing would be impossible. If you tell a gathering of Hindus and Muslims that in a Muslim house, the family sits and Slaughters a cow and eats it together, someone would shout and cut that lie in its origin. That politician would be forced to talk of things that interest both a Hindu and Muslim house. And what’s that? It’s everything that leads to a dignified human life of more freedom and happiness. But now, he can go to Hindu village and talk of how bad and barbarous Muslims are and to the Muslim part of the village how dangerous Hindus are.

“They are coming for your life, unite and vote for the stronger me else get ready to perish!”

Each riot benefits some political party. At times gives rise to a local goon who poses as a messiah. The party that benefits change from each riot but in all the riots, undoubtedly, it’s the public that suffers.

There is a lot an able and effective administration can do in these circumstances and in past some have. 

After Indira Gandhi’s murder riots broke out in Delhi and elsewhere. Most of the places they were lead or aided by congressmen. It was Sikhs and Sikhs alone who were the target. Their homes burnt, shops looted, their shrines and holy books violated and desecrated. In Delhi alone, more than a thousand Sikhs perished. Bonfires were made of bodies. The mobs composed of Hindus who lived in and around Delhi. Congress leaders promised money and liquor to those willing to do the job. This in addition to whatever goods they could loot.
Many steps taken just after PM’s death would have stopped this violence. Primarily among them the unwillingness to call in the army. There is a large cantonment in Delhi itself… The army was put on standby, but despite repeated appeals to new PM and his home minister, they were not asked to move into action. A show of military strength in the city on 1st and 2nd would probably have quelled the riots — yet the order never came.
While Sikhs in capital bore the brunt of violence, there were attacks on the community elsewhere too. More than 200 Sikhs died in Uttar Pradesh, 20 in Indore 60 in Bokaro where mobs were led by Congress politicians.
One city were violence was minimal was Calcutta. There were 50,000 Sikhs resident in the city, many of them the taxi drivers, easily identified by their turbans. Very few were harmed and not one died. The West Bengal Chief Minister, Jyoti Basu, had ordered the police to ensure that peace is maintained. Instructions were honoured… The example of Calcutta showed that prompt action by the administration could forestall communal violence; a lesson, alas, lost to the rest of the country.
- From Ramachandra Guha’s India After Gandhi

Remember this when you read about any riot and people losing their lives. Every time and in each riot, if administration so desires, loss of life and property can be avoided. If and only if administration so desires. The communal fanning in Delhi was averted much to Delhi Police’s efforts and also to religious leaders from the community who came and marched together, reached out to people. The community from whose fold the miscreants had vandalized the religious structure, quickly offered to repair it and they did repair the place. All this helped bring normalcy to the place. In situations like this and in today’s age when anti-social elements move quickly to make gains from these situations by spreading rumours and lies, the speed with which administration and common people of different fold come together is important. That is a lesson from Delhi.

Why do I tell you all this now? Because well, believe it or not, we are living in fragile times. Times where we forget our friends and neighbours whom we have been living for ages and have slowly started to see their religion and how different they live and go about their life, how differently they pray, how differently they eat and wear clothes. For decades now, we have been taught to live harmoniously, that India’s strength lies in its diversity but now, just look around, how many of us see with pride that diversity? How many of us cherish and honour it? So be on alert. You’ll receive plenty of emotional and provocative stuff on social media especially Whatsapp. Think hundred times before forwarding it. In recent years we have seen far too many murders that happened due to rumours that were spread via Whatsapp. You might think a simple forward won’t make any harm but it does. So be careful.

Technology can be used to build bridges, spread love and help people in many ways. You sure wish to do that, don’t you?

Watch out for those who share such provocative content. Ask them why they do it? There are those who hate certain communities — ask them why they harbor such hate. If you are one such person, trace backwards and try to remember what was the starting point of this hate. What did you watch or read that made you house this hate in your heart? See if that story factually checks out. Hate is a strong emotion and many people seem to be harnessing it for people they have never met or interacted with and for reasons that are vague and those that never check out. Watch out for fake news and doctored photos and videos. Note down repeated offenders and perpetrators of this hate-filled, bigoted news spinners. Talk about them, spread the word. Be vigilantes and good Samaritans. Remember the age-old adage?

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

That’s why just a few people speaking up can negate the propaganda. Just a few. For a lie to spread, for a fake narrative to take roots requires many to repeat the same lie over a long period but for the truth to take ground, it only takes simplest of simple courage from just one pupil. So please speak out against lies and hatred. Speak because your voice matters, each one of ours does. Don’t lose heart because of the odds stacked against sanity. Don’t let hate internalize in each of us. There is so much that each one of us is capable of doing to bring the change we all desire in our hearts. And much of the hate that disturbs us so much is present and is having life of its own because of few of us keeping quite and not calling it out. 

Thanks for reading so far. Do please share the post and comment your views.