Reports suggest that many of the recent cases of communal incidents involved direct confrontation between Dalits and Muslims

"Our daughters go to schools and colleges. They (Muslims) do not believe in sending their girls to schools. Our daughters, therefore, are vulnerable to filthy remarks, unwanted advances and eve-teasing. We have to fight for our izzat (honour)," said Uday Veer. One comes across different versions of the same narrative in Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur and Meerut. It cuts across caste lines and made class differences redundant.

The honour narrative gained credence following reports of a Hindu girl getting married to a Muslim boy after forcible conversion in Meerut. A video clip supposedly of the girl narrating her story of how she was tricked into conversion has made way to several mobile phones through Whatsapp. No one is even ready to question the authenticity of the video clip.

The narrative gets its sustenance from the widespread rumour of "love jihad" being waged by Muslims. "Muslim boys dress as Hindus and entice Hindu girls into marrying them. This is a new method being employed by them to engineer conversion. Several Muslim organisations are funding this drive," said a Bharatiya Janata Party leader of Muzaffarnagar.

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