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Western Uttar Pradesh was again at the doorstep of a communal tipping point on Saturday, with Kandhla’s Shamli district witnessing crowds taking to the streets and resorting to violent protests against the alleged assault of five Muslim scholars.
Some youths aboard the Delhi-Kandhla train manhandled members of Tablighi Jamaat on May 1, who upon reaching Kandhla, filed an FIR. Several people subsequently gathered outside the police station and laid siege to it, pelted stones, and set vehicles afire; 16 policemen were injured in the violence.
After the protest turned violent, disrupting train services and damaging railway property at Kandhla railway station, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) booked ruling Samajwadi Party member of legislative Assembly (MLA) Nahid Hasan and 2,000 others.
Assistant Commissioner of RPF P K Pandey was quoted as saying on Monday that 2,000 people had been booked under Section 174 of Railway Act for violence, while 12 people, including SP legislator Nahid Hasan and Chairman of Kandhla Nagar Panchayat Haji Balu Hasan, had been named.
Meanwhile, keeping in mind the situation and need of the hour, security was tightened on trains on Monday. Inspector General of Government Railway Police Dawa Sherpa as quoted as telling reporters that police and RPF personnel in plain clothes had been deployed after the incident.
A delegation of Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind met with senior railway officials and held discussions over adequate security on trains plying on the route and sought immediate arrest of the accused in the assault case.
The incident has triggered another session of tension in the district and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has alleged that communal forces are looking for an opportunity to spread poison.
