Victims of Jihadism and Appeasement

In a case of deliberate and planned large scale arson and violence, a Muslim mob attacked members of the Hindu community and looted and burnt their property in Bhainsa town of Nirmal district, Telangana, on January 12. As the Muslim mob went on a rampage, 18 houses belonging to Hindus were burnt and properties were looted. The mob also pelted stones at police who rushed to the spot.

The trouble began when a Muslim youth was admonished by elders for rash driving and abusive language against the residents of Korba street in Bhainsa town. Keeping this in mind, the Muslim youth returned with a mob of around 400-500 Muslims after 9 pm, and started violence say local residents. The mob first started burning two-wheelers parked nearby and later resorted to pelting stones on residents.

Local residents have reported that the mob exclusively targeted houses belonging to members of Hindu Vahini organisation and went on a rampage with criminal intent. As the fire lit by the mob was spreading to roadside shops, the fire department rushed in with fire engines to douse the fires and stop it from spreading. However, the Muslim mob cut the water pipes of the fire engines which rushed to the spot to extinguish the rapidly spreading fire. The intention of the mob was clear – they wanted the fire to spread and burn more Hindu shops and properties.

The police were called in as the violence spread and after several hours of effort, the police were able to control the violence from spreading. In the violence by the mob, eight police personnel too were injured. Subsequently, section 144 was imposed in the town. Internet and phone services were also suspended. Despite the curfew and patrolling by the police, stone-pelting on Hindu houses and properties continued on the second day too.

Around 1,000 police personnel, including two companies of Rapid Action Force were deployed in Korva Galli area of Bhainsa town. 59 persons have been arrested and 6 cases of arson and rioting have been registered by the police.

BJP MLA from Goshamahal, Raja Singh has alleged that workers from the Owaisi—led All India Majilis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) ‘targeted’ Hindus while the state party unit condemned the incidents and claimed the state was sitting on “a landmine of communal hatred” fanned by rallies against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. The BJP has said that anti-CAA rallies are being “freely allowed and even sponsored” by TRS and AIMIM. Raja Singh has directly charged the AIMIM activists with targeting Hindus at Bhainsa and asked people to act in self-defence if they came under attack again.

The BJP has demanded a judicial inquiry into the violence that continued on Monday too and left 19 people, including eight police officials injured. Condemning the “mindless violence” triggered by a trivial issue between two communities, the Telangana BJP claimed it was a proof of “volcanic situation of communal disharmony emerging and ready to erupt in Telangana”.

“BJP holds Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao responsible for his utter neglect of law and order situation in the state and the way he has unleashed AIMIM goons from Old City to Karimnagar to Nizamabad and Adilabad under the guise of anti-CAA rallies,” party chief spokesperson K. Krishna Saagar Rao said in a statement. He demanded prompt action to bring the perpetrators of this criminal violence to justice.

Nizamabad MP Arvind Dharmapuri from BJP has tweeted that stone-pelters and arsonist mobs have selectively targeted Hindu properties, vandalized it. The police were helpless in controlling the mobs as they belong to KCR backed MIM groups, he alleged in his tweet.

Bhainsa is in Nirmal district of Telangana and estimates suggest that it has a Muslim population of close to 50%. As the population of Muslims in Bhainsa increased, incidents of communal nature increased with Hindus on the receiving end most of the times. The state police considered the place as sensitive sensitive in terms of law and order situation.

The Bhainsa municipality is dominated by the AIMM. The Owaisi brothers, member of Parliament from the Hyderabad Asaduddin, and his brother MLA Akbaruddin are regular visitors here and have made many incendiary speeches during elections.

The AIMIM has been winning the municipality from the last three terms. Every ‘Ijtema’ results in the Muslim mob indulging in delinquent acts against public property and Hindus. Muslims kids have been found vandalizing Rangolis drawn in front of Hindu homes and spitting in front of temples during Muslim processions. Silencers from vehicles are removed by miscreants, items are taken away forcefully from roadside shops, apart from regularly targeting Hindu businesses even for minor differences.

Hindu ‘Shobha Yatras’ and Ganesha processions are always targeted in the town with Muslims indulging in stone pelting on the procession. Every time a Muslims is held for arson, communal rioting or any other crime, it is the AIMIM leaders and lawyers who come to their rescue and get them released. It is such blatant support that has emboldened the anti-social elements say the local Hindu leaders.

In 2008, major violence had erupted in Bhainsa after a Muslim family lost its life in accidental fire. Local Muslims leaders alleged that members of Hindu Vahini had caused the fire but the charges did not hold in court. All the accused were let off and the rabid Islamists had failed in their agenda to target Hindu leaders in the area.

It is said that last week’s violence in Bhaisa was in response to the 2008 incident and hence houses of Hindu Vahini leaders were targeted.

The Hindus in the area are living in fear ever since the violence erupted. Leaders of the community say that the police will be stationed only for sometime and when they go away the Muslims might create trouble again.

Bhainsa has seen an abnormal increase in Muslim population in the last two decades. While the birth rate of Muslims is higher than the Hindus, local residents say that is not the only reason for the increase in Muslim population. They allege that illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and Rohingya immigrants have been settling here from the past many years.

The illegal immigrants have support of the Muslims leaders in the state and the state government is not really bothered to tackle the menace. The Ganesha processions and Shobha Yatras have been happening for decades but the incidents of stone pelting and attacking the people in procession started only after the illegal immigrants settled here allege local leaders. The Owaisi brothers and AIMIM leaders have been opposing the CAA but are alleged to have been abetting the settling of illegal Muslim immigrants in Hyderabad and other parts of the state. BJP leaders have said that it is the fear-mongering over CAA by the likes of Owaisi that has caused lot of mayhem like the one at Bhainsa and in many other parts of the country.

Bhainsa has become a victim of communal and vote bank politics. While the Hindus suffer and the TRS government looks the other way, they would be the ultimate losers. What TRS, which pampers AIMIM and the Owaisis, does not realize is that in the long run, the Hindus of Bhainsa and elsewhere in the state would only choose for someone who would protect them and their interests. The Owaisis would have their vote bank but where would the TRS go?