Petty issues trigger most riots in Delhi, shows police probes
“Unlike other states, the genesis of a riot in Delhi is usually not political. But then it takes political colour quickly. Maybe it is the north Indian heat that makes Delhi residents aggressive and violent,” a senior police officer said.
Riots and communal clashes in Delhi are hardly political, rather the trigger is most often a trivial issue such as quarrel over a cricket match, tiff over parking, kids fighting over a stray kite or road accidents, investigations carried out in different cases by the Delhi Police have shown.
Cases of riots are becoming rare in the Capital, police data suggests. Compared to 160 cases registered under the legal sections for rioting registered in 2014, there were only 23 such cases last year. Only two cases of riot have been registered this year so far.
“Unlike other states, the genesis of a riot in Delhi is usually not political. But then it takes political colour quickly. Maybe it is the north Indian heat that makes Delhi residents aggressive and violent,” a senior police officer said, requesting anonymity.
The two riot cases reported this year were triggered by row over parking and a road accident. In the first one, an altercation over parking of a bike near a temple snowballed into a major incident with some members of Muslim community allegedly vandalising in Old Delhi’s Hauz Qazi area. Heavy deployment of police and paramilitary was arranged to contain tension.
The second one was reported from Mukherjee Nagar where a shared auto driver was beaten up by the local cops after he brandished a sword and injured a policeman when his vehicle brushed past a PCR van. Members of the Sikh community protested and beat up a senior officer at the Mukherjee Nagar police station following the incident.
Last year, Muslims and the Valmiki community clashed in Model Town after a 10-year-old accidentally pushed a man on the road who then fell on a man sleeping on the road. In Trilokpuri, one of the most sensitive areas in the Capital, Hindus and Muslims pelted stones and Molotov Cocktails at each and damaged vehicles after a quarrel in a cricket match turned violent.
“I remember, we had to organise a cricket match in the area and ask a member of both faiths to participate. It was called the Sadhbhavana match. The cricket match was a message to the youths to engage in productive work and also be friends with neighbours of another faith,” the officer said.
Tanvir Aeijaz, assistant professor at Delhi University, also an expert in public policy said, over the years, particularly last decade, people have become more aggressive. “This aggression may be partly because people are not able to cope with the ethics of cosmopolitanism. Maybe some people are not able to transcend the boundaries of caste, religion or region. Also, some groups have over the years got emboldened and feel they can get away with anything. Political parties also become active quickly if a petty issue happens in Delhi because it is the national capital. Parliament is here. The recent Mukherjee Nagar incident was portrayed as the persecution of the community without even finding out about the kind of people involved.”
Retired IPS officer Maxwell Pereirra, who served in Delhi police for over three decades between the mid-70s to early 2000, said petty issues did lead to clashes earlier too but such incidents are rising. “There is established discord between communities in some pockets. It takes small incidents to flare it up. The incident could be non-communal but the deep-rooted discord allows some people to give it a communal colour. One must also understand that some groups are encouraging violence.”
