Jamshedpur, the largest city and the economic nerve-centre of Jharkhand, has been under siege since Tuesday. A curfew has been imposed following communal clashes over successive days on Monday and Tuesday.
Skirmishes between Hindu and Muslim communities living in Mango, a suburb of Jamshedpur, began late on Monday night. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological mentor of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, called for a bandh, or a blockade in the city on Tuesday. Thousands of youth attacked vendors on the streets and shops that had continued doing business. Several vehicles were set on fire. The entire week, shops, schools, colleges have remained closed, with residents being allowed to access essential services for only a few hours on Thursday.
It has been reported that the skirmishes were triggered after a few Muslim youth harassed a woman from a Hindu family late Monday evening. But senior district officials in East Singhbhum told Scroll over the phone that no complaints regarding the alleged harassment had been recorded with either the police or the district administration. “No one has come forward to make a complaint. No one has identified who the said person who was harassed was, or even the household she belonged to,” said Amitabh Kaushal, the district collector.
Eight FIRs have been registered in police stations across the city. 125 people have been detained so far, said police officials. There were no casualties, but several people had suffered injuries.
Senior police officials said that during the investigation that they had found that a group of Muslim youth had clashed with another mixed group of two Hindu and two Muslim youth in the same area three days ago. “A second clash occurred on Monday night. The incident had inadvertently taken a communal colour as it occurred next to a temple. We will make a public statement with full details of this soon,” said a senior police officer supervising the investigation.
Founded by Jamshedji Tata in 1919, Jamshedpur is often described as India's first industrial city. In recent years, it has witnessed communal tensions around Ram Navami and Durga Puja celebrations. But residents say, clashes on this scale continuing for several days have not occurred since the large-scale communal riots that took place in 1964 and 1979 in which thousands were reportedly killed.
In the mid-1960s, the city became one of several cities in eastern India that witnessed communal riots in the wake of violence against Bengalis living in then East Pakistan. The 1964 riots led Muslims to relocate to Azadnagar near Mango. Azadpur, the site of the most recent clashes, now has over two lakh residents. In 1974, communal clashes were triggered over the route of religious processions inside the city.
All photos: Manob Chowdhury
Skirmishes between Hindu and Muslim communities living in Mango, a suburb of Jamshedpur, began late on Monday night. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the ideological mentor of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, called for a bandh, or a blockade in the city on Tuesday. Thousands of youth attacked vendors on the streets and shops that had continued doing business. Several vehicles were set on fire. The entire week, shops, schools, colleges have remained closed, with residents being allowed to access essential services for only a few hours on Thursday.
It has been reported that the skirmishes were triggered after a few Muslim youth harassed a woman from a Hindu family late Monday evening. But senior district officials in East Singhbhum told Scroll over the phone that no complaints regarding the alleged harassment had been recorded with either the police or the district administration. “No one has come forward to make a complaint. No one has identified who the said person who was harassed was, or even the household she belonged to,” said Amitabh Kaushal, the district collector.
Eight FIRs have been registered in police stations across the city. 125 people have been detained so far, said police officials. There were no casualties, but several people had suffered injuries.
Senior police officials said that during the investigation that they had found that a group of Muslim youth had clashed with another mixed group of two Hindu and two Muslim youth in the same area three days ago. “A second clash occurred on Monday night. The incident had inadvertently taken a communal colour as it occurred next to a temple. We will make a public statement with full details of this soon,” said a senior police officer supervising the investigation.
Founded by Jamshedji Tata in 1919, Jamshedpur is often described as India's first industrial city. In recent years, it has witnessed communal tensions around Ram Navami and Durga Puja celebrations. But residents say, clashes on this scale continuing for several days have not occurred since the large-scale communal riots that took place in 1964 and 1979 in which thousands were reportedly killed.
In the mid-1960s, the city became one of several cities in eastern India that witnessed communal riots in the wake of violence against Bengalis living in then East Pakistan. The 1964 riots led Muslims to relocate to Azadnagar near Mango. Azadpur, the site of the most recent clashes, now has over two lakh residents. In 1974, communal clashes were triggered over the route of religious processions inside the city.
All photos: Manob Chowdhury
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