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August 6, 2006

India: Mosque Arson Attack Thwarted

Last year, the town of Mau in southeastern Uttar Pradesh state, northern India, saw an eruption of Muslim/Hindu violence on October 14, during the Hindu Dussehra festival. Muslims had objected to encroachment of Hindus onto what was seen as Muslim "territory". The rioting lasted only a short time, but trains were diverted, curfews were imposed, and 250 people were arrested. Twenty people were killed in rioting and inter-religious strife. Local politicians allied to the BJP Hindu nationalist party were later accused of inciting the violence.

Mau lies near the Hindu holy city of Varanasi, which was hit by Islamist bombs this year on March 7, in which 18 people were killed. The bombers were Bangladeshis, from the Muslim terror group Harkatul Jihad, under the leadership of a local Muslim cleric. The principle commerce of Mau derives from its weaving trade. The town is predominantly Muslim, in a state which is predominantly Hindu.

Before the October rioting, there had been a situation of little tension in the locale of Mau since the Gujarat Hindu/Muslim riots of 2002. Before the conflicts in Gujarat, which saw 1,000 people killed (mainly Muslims), the destruction of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya in 1992 by Hindu militants acted as a catalyst for the killing of 3,000. Ayodhya is located in Faizabad district in Uttar Pradesh.

A month after the October riots in Mau, a mosque was set on fire in an arson attack on November 13.

Today, the Times of India reports that at Mau today, unidentified individuals tried to set a mosque on fire in the Muhammadpura area. Police managed to intervene and prevent the blaze.

Tensions had been rising since Wednesday 2 August, when a student, Ankit Kumar Soni, was shot dead. The student's father was a legal advocate, and a senior member of the district Ramlila Committee. This is a Hindu organisation, and it had played a part in the political background of last year's riots in Mau.

As a result of the killing of the student on Wednesday, security in Mau has been tight. Lawyers protested last week about the death, demanding compensaton for his family and also demanding an immediate arrest of the culprits. The killers have still not been caught.

Now, some members of the Mau bar association are threatening to set fire to themselves tomorrow, as a gesture of protest against the shooting. The district administration has tried to calm them down, but they declare themselves as set on carrying out this act.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at August 6, 2006 11:07 AM

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