UP: Clash Between Hindus & Sikhs Leave A Dozen Injured, Hundreds Booked

Over 80 people have been booked for rioting and damaging public property after a clash broke out between two communities outside a gurdwara in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh. According to the Times of India, the ensuing chaos injured over a dozen people, including two policemen.

What Happened?

Additional SP (rural) Subhash Chandra Shakya said that tensions in the area mounted when the watchman of a gurdwara in Banda block of Shahjahanpur district objected to putting up a cart to sell rakhis outside the gurdwara by a minor girl on August 25, reported The Hindu. The watchman also reportedly hit the 14-year-old girl on her leg with a stick.

Soon Hindus and Sikhs gathered in the area, and heated arguments between the two communities devolved into the crowd pelting stones at each other, injuring over a dozen people. Reportedly, gunshots were also fired in the air.

“One police vehicle and two other vehicles have been damaged due to stone pelting,” Sub-divisional Magistrate Satyapriye Singh said on Saturday, as reported by News18.

Police Response

The police have registered three FIRs against over 80 individuals from both sides and hundred others under various sections of IPC for rioting and damaging public property. The FIRs were lodged on complaints by Sher Bahadur (father of the girl), Rajesh Jain (Banda resident) and the police respectively.

“The situation is under control. Police and PAC units (armed police of UP) have been deployed in the area to avoid any untoward incident,” S Chinappa, Superintendent of Police, Shahjahanpur told.

The SP further revealed that the District Magistrate Amrit Tripathi had called for a meeting between the two communities to establish peace in the area. The locals have also been warned against believing any rumours circulating on social media.

DM Tripathi has told PTI that the culprits will be identified and arrested after analysing the CCTV footage from the area, as reported by The Quint.

The Logical Indian Take

Our country is famous for its ‘unity in diversity’, which means our nation can grow only if we embrace our secularism and be tolerant of our differences. In the current political environment, it becomes imperative that we rise above such petty situations. News of such communal violence will only breed more hatred in the hearts of the people.

The Logical Indian urges the authorities to take strict action against all the people responsible for causing such disharmony in the district and work extensively towards maintaining peace.