Aligarh, Meerut and Muzaffarnagar remain tense a day after clashes

A day after simultaneous communal clashes in Aligarh, Meerut and Muzaffarnagar disturbed the fragile peace of western Uttar Pradesh, the three towns remained tense with possibility of the situation going out of control. The local administration, however, made arrangements to prevent fresh clashes.

Political leaders jumped into the fray on Saturday to mobilise people and their votes to keep the communal pot boiling ahead of the early 2017 Assembly polls.

In Aligarh, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Dharam Jagaran Samiti and other Hindutva groups sought to portray the minor clash between boys who happen to belong to the majority and minority communities, as “Dalit vs Muslim.” Gaurav, the twenty-two-year-old boy who succumbed to injuries sustained during the clash, was a Dalit belonging to the Khatik community.

Gaurav, an electric mechanic by profession, along with several others was injured when residents of Khatikan and Saraimia, in Delhi Gate, confronted each other with stones and started firing at each other, allegedly over bursting of crackers.

Muslims and Dalits have been living in Delhi Gate largely peacefully for quite some time. Delhi Gate, which is part of the Old City of Aligarh, has a mixed population -- Dalits in Khatikan and Muslims in Saraimia.

Satish Gautam, the BJP Member of Parliament from Aligarh, claimed that Gaurav was a BJP worker but said he didn’t hold any official post in the organisation. The situation in the area was so polarised that members of the Khatik community alleged that Gaurav who was admitted in the hospital of Aligarh Muslim University, a “Muslim hospital,” was “allowed to die.”

Local VHP leaders warned the administration that they would take to the streets if the family of Dalit boy did not get sufficient compensation. The administration gave Rs. 10 lakh to Gaurav’s mother as compensation but the Hindutva groups demanded the same amount of compensation which was given to the family of Akhlaq who was lynched by a violent mob in Dadri over rumours of storing beef.

They argued that Gaurav’s family deserved Rs. 40 lakh which was given to Akhlaq’s family by the UP government. Mr. Gautam and the BJP Mayor of Aligarh, Shakuntala Bharti, endorsed the demand.

While Section 144 remains in place, heavy police force was deployed in affected parts of the town.

People stayed indoors and the local market was partially closed. Police had earlier booked 45 named persons from both the communities and 1,000 unnamed people for rioting. Nine persons were arrested.