Communal Riots in Hyderabad: Understanding the Causes

Source: Economic and Political Weekly , APRIL 24-30, 2010, Vol. 45, No. 17 (APRIL 24-30,
2010), pp. 14-17
Published by: Economic and Political Weekly

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Communal Riots in Hyderabad:
Understanding the Causes
BY A CORRESPONDENT_
The communal violence in
Hyderabad in early April was the
result of decades of abandonment
of the Old City and its people by
secular parties and the almost
complete neglect of basic
administration. The Majlis-e
Ittehadul Muslimeen or the Majlis
party, which has been
strengthened by the communal
politics of other parties, is today
helping to revive Hindu
communalism through its own
politics of keeping religious
divides alive. Establishing a good
and impartial administration and
opening up the space for secular
politics is the only way to break
out of this trap.
139.167.236.22 on Wed, 13 Sep 2023 09:35:04 +00:00
peasant revolt now known as the Telangana
armed struggle.
Whatever good the Nizam had done for
the Hyderabad State was lost in these few
years ending September 1948, when he
finally had to surrender to the govern
ment of India. Atrocities committed by his
forces and the Razakars have left behind
For the Old City of Hyderabad, har deep scars in the minds of Hindu popula
bouring rabble-rousing fundamen tions who, while constituting the majority,
talist elements on both sides of the had to bear the brunt of this communal
religious divide, communal riots come as violence. No surprise then that the Majlis
no surprise. But what makes the latest e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (Majlis), a post
bout of riots between Hindus and Muslims independence offshoot of the Razakars,
somewhat different is the asinine "reason" has always been seen with suspicion by
behind it - the tying of buntings and flags the Hindus, and largely explains the
across streets. growth of organisations like the Arya Sa
maj first, and later, the Rashtriya Swayam
The Nizam's Legacy sevak Sangh (rss), Jana Sangh and now
Squabbling over such a petty issue is a the Bharatiya Janata Party (bjp).
sign of the changed times and the tenuous The Majlis continues to feel that it is
relations between the two communities of the true inheritor of the Nizam's ruling
a city otherwise known for its legendary legacy and harps on how the Muslims,
"ganga-jamni tehzeeb" (cosmopolitan cul who were ruling the country for well over
ture) and communal harmony for most 700 years, have been reduced to the status
part of its pre-independence history of 358 of paupers by consecutive governments
years, though uninterruptedly ruled by and their policies. Muslims in the Old City,
Muslim kings. The city itself, according to who live in abysmal poverty, ignorance and
a legend, was founded on the basis of a illiteracy, are made to believe that they
Muslim-Hindu marriage between the were born to rule, decades after the demise
Golconda ruler, Mohammed Quli Qutub of the monarchy. Much like a clone of the
Shah and his beloved, Bhagmathi (who bjp, the party's main campaign plank of
was given the name Hyder Mahal). As late exclusive and divisive politics has only
as the 20th century, the fifth Nizam of helped communal polarisation in the city.
Hyderabad, Mahabub Ali Khan had no This politics continues though the mantle of
leadership has passed on from Salahuddin
problems applying a tilak on his forehead
and performing puja to "propitiate" the Owaisi to his son, Asaddudin Owaisi, who
Musi when it was in spate in 1908. is a young barrister from Lincoln's Inn, uk.
What then has gone wrong in the
recent past?
The Uses of Riots
The growing animosity seen now has Significantly, the Majlis could hardly make
historical reasons dating back to the tur any electoral impact during the first two
bulent period of the late 1940s when the decades after the Hyderabad State was
seventh Nizam, Osman Ali Khan, was un liberated and the secular parties like the
able to reconcile himself to a new develop Congress and the Communist Party of India
ing situation where people, like in other got most of the votes and seats from the Old
parts of the nation, struggled for democ City of Hyderabad in both the Lok Sabha
racy, freedom and liberation from his rule. and the assembly elections. Neither the
Resisting merger with the Indian Union, he Majlis nor the saffron brigade were popular.
became so desperate to hold on to power The year 1978 was a major turning point in
that he tried to align with the newly this, when the rape of a Muslim woman by
created Pakistan, alternatively spoke of policemen and death of her husband in a
"Azad" (Independent) Hyderabad, encour police station sparked off communal riots
aged a type of militia - the Razakars - to and ever since there have been a series of
unleash a reign of terror, even while riots, the most serious being in 1990 when
suppressing the unique communist-led over 300 people lost their lives.
14 april 24, 2010 vol xlv no 17 DBS! Economic & Political weekly
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 Riots in Hyderabad have also often similar to the equally condemnable, Ganesh show its dominance of the Muslims and its
been used for political purposes, as in Chaturthi celebrations. The present Majlis strength in the city.
August 1984 when Nadendla Bhaskara inspired Milad ul Nabi celebrations began The communal mobilisation by the Majlis,
Rao, who became chief minister after on 27 February and it went on till 28 March using Milad ul Nabi as an excuse, looked
removing N T Rama Rao, faced a trust when trouble broke out. Green religious odd at a time when the bjp had become an
vote in the assembly. Bhaskara Rao used banners and posters occupied every inch almost spent force, and the Majlis itself
the riots and the resultant curfew to iso of space, sufficient to provoke the Hindu has been able to expand its base both in
late the Legislative Assembly and the leg organisations into action. votes and seats. Apart from making it a
islators and thus ensure that he won the It was as if the Hindu organisations show of strength, there is a suspicion that
vote of confidence. Even in 1990, the then were waiting for the opportune moment the mobilisation was also intended to create

Chief Minister, Marri Chenna Reddy went to show off their own strengths and a sense of fear and insecurity among
on record in the assembly to blame a used the occasion of Hanuman Jayanthi Hindus living in the Old City, who have
group within the Congress for triggering (30 March) to do precisely this by replac now been reduced to a minority in these
riots to dislodge him, indirectly hinting at ing the green flags and buntings with areas with the hope that this would trig
Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, who was a faction saffron ones of similar dimensions. As ger their outmigration as in the past with
leader within the party then. Chenna Reddy with Milad ul Nabi, Hyderabad has had no communal riots.
was also implicated in the rss efforts, in previous history of public celebration of There is now a feeling among many
the late 1970s, to initiate Vinayak Chaturthi Hanuman Jayanthi, and it was clear that observers that the Majlis, by setting off a
public processions in Hyderabad. He not the hawks among the Hindus, with help chain of provocative incidents in the Old
only formally received this procession as from the saffron brigade, wanted to pay City, has unnecessarily put the Muslims
chief minister, but also two important the Majlis in the same coin and show their living in the newer parts of Hyderabad at
landmarks of the city, Mozamjahi market own street strength. It led to avoidable risk. More importantly, it is now apparent
and Hussainsagar lake, were renamed tension, battle of words, scuffle and blood that, perhaps unwittingly, their actions
"Vinayak Chowk" and "Vinayak Sagar" for letting, that left three dead and scores have had the effect of breathing life into
the duration of this festival. injured, for a "cause" that was so silly. an almost dead bjp. For, within hours of
Political machinations apart, some Majlis Party insiders say the extended the incidents of stone pelting in Old City, a
where down the line, the mainstream festivities were consciously organised and spate of attacks on Muslim properties in
secular parties gave up the fight and funded, essentially to counter the Jamaat the new city, by young men participating
passed on the mantle of the Old City of e-Islami's rally organised a month ago to in the Hanuman Jayanthi procession of
Hyderabad to the Majlis and the bjp. This show the support of Muslims for Telanga the Bajrang Dal and Hindu Vahini (which
process was accentuated with the polari na. The Majlis, which has taken the stand were surprisingly allowed by the police
sation of the polity sparked off by the that formation of Telangana would put the even though prohibitory orders had been
emotive Babri Masjid-Ram Mandir row. Muslims of the region at risk, wanted to imposed), were reported.
For some time it was an equal battle, with
both the communal parties sharing the
assembly seats from the Old City. With Economic&PoliticalwEEKLY
the Ram Mandir issue drying up, the bjp
lost out and it is the Majlis all the way CD-ROM 2006
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ing its ardent secular supporters who be
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public festival, even in the holy land of
Saudi Arabia. Many Muslim intellectuals Circulation Manager,
Economic and Political Weekly
of the city were aghast to see the unprece
320, 321, A to Z Industrial Estate, Ganpatrao Kadam Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai 400 013, India
dented, ugly, exhibitionism of religion,
Economic & Political weekly QBSfl april 24, 2010 vol xlv no 17 15

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 If the Majlis strategy of mobilisation considerations, professional colleges giv Administrative Neglect
was politically wrong, it was criticised for ing a profit while basic schools providing Like the communal divide, administrative
other reasons too. This mobilisation of the none. There have been many cases where neglect of the Old City has a history. What
community was not done for demanding meritorious Muslim students have had to is termed the Old City of Hyderabad was
educational facilities, political empower wage a battle to ensure their admission its seat of government and political power
ment or other social issues relevant to the into these colleges. for centuries. The first shifts began in the
minority community, like fighting against With Majlis deeply entrenched in the pre-independence era itself with the last
instances of poor Muslim girls being given political and public spaces of the Old City, Nizam, Osman Ali Khan, himself shifting
in marriage to old Arab sheikhs. This ac secular parties as well as the government seat of administration from Purani Haveli
tion of the Majlis has strengthened the seem to have simply withdrawn from in the Old City to King Kothi palace in the
perception that it continues to keep the there. Any attempt made by secular par new one north of the Musi river. Despite the
community under the spell of religion, ties to enter this part of the city has been fact that Osman Ali Khan brought some of
wallowing in the past glory of being a met with stiff resistance from the Majlis the top city planners and engineers, in
ruling class, yet ignorant, illiterate and and its cadre. Making the Old City its fief cluding M Visvesvaraya, to overhaul the
poverty-stricken in the present. That dom, it does not allow even an alternative Old City's water supply and sewerage sys
such a political strategy apes the bjp by Muslim party to emerge, mounting physi tem, plan residential colonies, besides
banking on polarisation appears obvious. cal attacks on all those who threaten their putting up scores of buildings for public
What is different is that the bjp's support leadership. Zahid Ali Khan, editor of utilities, all in the 1930s, the shift from the
base constitutes a minority within the Siasat, an established Urdu daily, too was Old City to the new city began with the
Hindu community, whereas it seems that not spared when he contested the Hydera nawabs of the Nizam too following him.
the Majlis sway on Muslims in Hyderabad bad parliamentary seat with the backing The neglect continued after independ
is almost complete, at least at the time of many secular parties. The Communist ence. There appears to have been, in the
of elections. Party of India (Marxist) also made sincere post-independence rulers, a feeling that the
The large Muslim population of efforts to reach out to the people in the Old Old City deserved its neglect for the wrongs
Hyderabad (42% in the 2001 Census) in City, with its Rajya Sabha mp, P Madhu done by the rulers of the immediate past
deed needs proper representation in both even learning Urdu, but that too proved in pursuing communal policies. There was
the legislative assembly and the Parliament. largely unsuccessful in the face of Majlis' never this realisation that people who lived
But the question arises, whether such opposition. He was targeted and attacked there were being unfairly punished for the
representation should only be through a repeatedly. Far from making any attempt follies of their rulers. The Municipal Corpo
party which refuses to move beyond reli to bring about visible changes, it appears ration of Hyderabad was shifted and then
gious agendas, to the exclusion of other as if the Congress and its government the Police Commissioner's Office. Recent
issues afflicting the community. Is it not have left the political space of the Old City ly, the High Court of Andhra Pradesh too
time for the Majlis, a party which has been to the Majlis, in return for (not so) covert has made an appeal to the government for
there in the political arena for five decades help during elections. alternate accommodation in the new city.
and made more than its presence felt, to
reinvent itself in tune with the changed
times and prepare the community to face Faculty Positions
new challenges?
The Majlis has indeed set up a string of Centre for Culture and Development has been engaging in socially
medical and engineering colleges in the relevant research mainly in Gujarat. Persons holding a Ph.D. in social
name of minorities, but for many years it sciences, with quantitative analytical skills, having good knowledge
gave a majority of the seats to non-Muslim of English, Gujarati and Hindi, willing to carry out fieldwork related
students, by accepting huge donations. research projects, preferably already having some research experience
Their defence then was that there and publications, may apply with CV and two of one's best publications,
were not enough Muslim candidates for within a month. Persons with high marks or grades at M.A. and
these seats. But that merely begged the M.Phil in Social Sciences may also apply. Remuneration will match
question. How could there be enough
qualifications and experience.
candidates for medical and engineering
colleges when neither the state nor the
Director
Majlis had done anything to establish
basic schools and colleges for Muslims?
Centre for Culture and Development
In fact, many Muslims have themselves XTI Campus, Sevasi Post
found fault with Majlis' "top down ap Vadodara, Gujarat 391 101
proach" of starting high level professional
colleges while neglecting basic education. Email: drlancylobo@yahoo.com Phone 0265-2372001
They allege that this was due to monetary
l6 april 24, 2010 vol xlv no 17 DBS9 Economic & Political weekly

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 Whatever importance the Old City still
had, was lost further after the formation
of Andhra Pradesh in 1956. For people
who migrated from other regions of this
new state, the Old City was a culture cus, governance and policing too have
shock. Telugus of the Old City spoke more taken a backseat in the Old City. Virtually handy for political parties during elections
Urdu than their "own language", wore
sherwani with flair and showed a marked
weakness for biryani! The alienation was dated government school buildings proves mps. For all practical purposes, the decay
complete, as the new democratically elect futile. There is no respect for rule of ing Old City has been left to rot and dete
ed rulers after 1956, thought that the way
of governing the Old City was to follow a
policy of benign neglect at best and one of consciously allowed their cadre to encroach communal or otherwise. All it requires is a
active deprivation at worst. At one time public lands, it is Majlis in Old City. Quite
Amendment to an Amendment:
To Arrest or Not to Arrest
S R SANKARAN_
The 2008 amendment to
Section 41 of the Criminal
Procedure Code placed certain
restrictions on the power of the
police to arrest without a warrant.
Due to protests by lawyers, that
amendment did not come into
force. The government now
proposes a peculiar amendment
to the amendment that will require
the police to record the reasons
why they do not make an arrest.
S R Sankaran (srsankaran@yahoo.coni) retired
from the IAS and is a prominent civil rights
activist based in Hyderabad.
Economic & Political weekly DB59 april 24, 2010 vol xlv no 17 17
139.167.236.22 on Wed, 13 Sep 2023 09:35:04 +00:00
there was this contemptuous suggestion that often it is unsocial elements who run
the entire Old City should be razed to the shops and put up carts on the encroached
ground and a new one built in its stead. road space creating problems for free flow
As a corollary of this shift in political lo of traffic as well as for law and order. With
regular income assured, they come in
all open spaces stand occupied by Majlis' as well as riots. They grow up, often, to
cadre, while a search for relocating dilapi become municipal corporators, mlas and
law. Much like in the newer parts of riorate, completing the process of ghettoi
the city, where Congress and bjp have sation - a fertile ground for any trouble,
spark, or a flag as recent events show.
or promise to any person ac
quainted with the facts of the
case so as to dissuade him from
disclosing such facts to the Court
or to the police officer; or
(e) as unless such person is arrested,
his presence in the court when
ever required cannot be ensured.
It was also laid down that the police
The Criminal Procedure Code officer shall record, while making such
(Amendment) Act 2008 introduced
arrest, his reasons in writing.
certain provisions for placing limi This amendment was based on the recom
mendations made by the Law Commission
tations on the powers of arrest by the police
of India (headed by Justice B P Jeevan
in regard to offences punishable with im
Reddy) in its 177th Report (December
prisonment up to seven years. For this pur
pose, a specific amendment to Section 41 2001),
of which exhaustively dealt with this
issue. The commission also took note of
the Criminal Procedure Code restricted the
the important decisions of the Supreme
power of police to arrest without a warrant
from a magistrate only of a person Court including the rulings in Joginder
Kumar vs State of up (1994) and D K Basu
(a) who commits, in the presence of a police
officer, a cognisable offence; (1997). It was explained clearly by the
(b) against whom a reasonable complaint has
Court in these cases that the existence of
been made or credible information has
been received that he has committed power
a to arrest is one thing but the justifi
cation for the exercise of it is quite another,
cognisable offence punishable with impris
and that no arrest should be made without
onment for a term which may be less than
a reasonable
seven years or which may extend to seven satisfaction being reached
years whether with or without fine, if the
after some investigation as to the genuine
following conditions are satisfied, namely:
ness and bona fides of a complaint and a
(i) the police officer has reason to be
reasonable belief both as to the person's
lieve on the basis of such complaint,
information or suspicion that such complicity and the need to effect arrest.
The amendment was also in recognition of
person has committed the said offence;
(ii) the police officer is satisfied that
the fact that as the denial of the liberty of a
such arrest is necessary
person guaranteed under Article 21 of the
(a) to prevent such person from com
mitting any further offence; or
Constitution is a very serious matter and as
arrest and detention of a person can cause
(b) for proper investigation of the
offence; or incalculable harm to the reputation and
(c) to prevent such person from caus self-esteem of a person, no arrest should be
ing the evidence of the offence
made without adequate justification.
to disappear or tampering with
such evidence in any manner; or This amendment, however, was not
brought into force due to objections raised
(d) to prevent such person from
making any inducement, threat mainly by a section of lawyers. A further
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