35 years of Bhagalpur riots! Till Bahraich!!

Friends, this is the month of October in which the Bhagalpur riots which started on 24th October 1989 are completing 35 years! And recently a riot was carried out in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh on the occasion of Durga Puja immersion! There has been a difference in 35 years, earlier riots were carried out by a few people in a few streets and localities! Now thousands of people are carrying out riots, attacking minority communities with traditional weapons! Looting and killing! Gujarat riots happened thirteen years after this! And Bahraich 35 years later. Riots have happened even before the Bhagalpur riots! But most of the riots were limited to a few streets and localities! Almost the entire Bhagalpur Commissionerate area was involved in the Bhagalpur riots! Neighbouring Munger, Godda, Banka, Sahebganj, Dumka were also involved! After that, constantly promoting the Babri Masjid-Ramjanmabhoomi dispute! Creating communal polarization in the entire country in a planned manner! The reason why BJP has been successful in reaching the throne of Delhi is only and only communal polarization! And the yatra started in the name of protecting the so-called motherland from Bahraich in Uttar Pradesh and now from Bhagalpur by Union Minister Giriraj Singh is also an attempt for the same communal polarization! Does the top leadership of the current ruling party and Giriraj Singh, who became a minister after taking oath on the Constitution of India, not know how he can take out such a yatra while working on a constitutional post?

Now some are busy in Bharat Jodo and some are busy in Nafrat Chhodo campaign! But in these thirty-thirty-five years, the poison of communalism has spread all over the country! The poison spread in the veins will not be reduced by just launching symbolic campaigns! If only this initiative had been taken thirty years ago, then perhaps this situation would not have arisen today! And despite the party coming to power in the ten-year tenure of UPA! After the Gujarat riots, taking action against Narendra Modi is a far cry! On the contrary, he has been awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Award for the best Chief Minister! And we are no less that Rahul Gandhi’s futile efforts to go around temples wearing Janeu in the race have made the mistake of losing whatever support he had left! After the assassination of Smt. Indira Gandhi in 1984! The crime of riots against Sikhs in the capital Delhi is also registered in the name of Congress!

And before this, BJP made the mistake of giving a communal program in 1985-86 in the context of Shah Bano! The decision given by the Supreme Court, under pressure from the fundamentalist Muslim community! The then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, changed the decision of the Supreme Court in the Lok Sabha! And due to the mistakes of opening the locks of Babri Masjid! After making it a launching pad for the politics of communal polarization of Hindutvaists for more than a hundred years! One of the displaced people from Sindh province after partition! Mr. LK Advani, using the dispute of Babri Masjid Ramjanmabhoomi, during the Rath Yatras! This was the program of the so-called Shila Puja Yatra of Bhagalpur riots on this day 35 years ago!

The riots started on 24 October 1989. It is said that “stones were pelted on this procession in Tatarpur Chowk.” Although the procession was prohibited from going through Tatarpur. But as always, deliberately going through that route. This is also a preparation for the riot. This has been seen in almost all the riots in the seventy-five years since independence. Most of the riots have been played using drums, taking out processions forcefully through Muslim-dominated areas, throwing a pig in the mosque, throwing cow meat in the temple, or disfiguring the idol. Most of the riots have happened only after adopting cheap tactics. And Justice Madan Commission, formed to investigate Jalgaon and Bhiwandi riots in Maharashtra in the seventies, has clearly written in its report that “whether RSS people were directly involved in the riots or not is a different matter. But RSS continuously creates the mindset of people for riots. And for this reason, people in large numbers join the riots and are motivated to attack the minority communities.” And Bhagalpur riots are a living example of that.

I was a resident of Calcutta at that time. The distance between Calcutta and Bhagalpur is 400 km. Bhagalpur was once a part of Bengal Province. After the state reorganization, it is now in Bihar. There is a population of Bengalis here too. Sharadchandra Chatterjee’s maternal home was here. The writing of his novel Srikant is based on the banks of the Ganges river in Bhagalpur-Calcutta and his sea journey. Bengali poet and writer Banphool, one of the famous thinkers Ashish Nandi, film producer Tapan Sinhaji were from here. Who later went out due to work.

Similarly, Bhagalpur is a city from the Mahabharata era! Champanagar next to it is the old Bhagalpur, and Ang Pradesh! That is, the capital of Karna’s Ang Pradesh (Champanagar is a suburb of Bhagalpur) of the great warrior and donor who donated everything! And that is why the local dialect of Bhagalpur is Angika! On the banks of the Ganges river, and the biggest feature is that from here, the Ganges turns towards Bengal at an angle of 90 degrees! It is a very huge basin! And there is an abundance of dolphins! One gets mesmerized watching the dolphins jumping around at night!

According to the 2011 census, the population of Bhagalpur would be around four lakhs. In 1989, it would be two and a half to three lakhs. In which the proportion of Muslims is 29% and the population of Hindus is 71% which is the proportion of our country. Tatarpur, Champanagar etc. are Muslim majority areas. And their main business is weaving the famous silk of Bhagalpur. Which is sold more in foreign countries than in India. Most of the owners of the machinery are Hindu Marwaris. Due to hard work and skill, some Muslims also started having machinery. Which were selectively burnt in the riots. And for this act, the Hindutva owners of the machinery have attacked the Muslims by paying money behind the curtain. And almost all of them are supporters of the Sangh. And today the political unit of the same Sangh is a supporter of BJP.

Situated on the banks of the river Ganga, on land prepared from the soil of the Ganga for thousands of years, farming is also done in the vicinity of this city. Rice, pulses and other essential items, everything is grown here. There are all kinds of vegetables, parwal, cucumber, all kinds of leafy vegetables. Among the fruits, there are mangoes, bananas and to some extent litchis too. In a way, it is a prosperous area. Greenery is visible all year round.

Most of the Muslims are included in the weavers’ business. Other related businesses like yarn, machines and machinery accessories, repairing, buying and selling of woven cloth. However, Marwadis have the most involvement in this. The reason is capital. They have a lot of money to invest. So they have dominance in this business. That is why most of the owners are Marwadis. There are a few Muslims. And almost all the Marwadis are members of the Sangh family from the beginning. Or it is because of them that the Sangh is in Bhagalpur. This trend is more or less the same in the whole of India. All the affluent and upper caste people are spontaneous supporters of the Sangh. Because the objective of the Sangh is to maintain the status quo. All the affluent and upper caste capitalist society is the real supporter of the Sangh. And during riots, the backward, Dalit and tribal people are also easily instigated and used to attack Muslims. This is the scene from Bhagalpur to Gujarat.

And undivided India too had almost the same character. One special thing is that the RSS definitely instigated the riots behind the scenes. But people from the entire Mandal category were involved in Direct Action. And about this, after the riots, when the Janata Dal leader Shri Lalu Prasad Yadav became the Chief Minister, the Bengal State Janata Dal President Professor Dilip Chakraborty himself took the initiative and insisted on taking me to Patna to meet Lalu Prasad Yadav. It was probably the year 1991. So, while introducing me to Lalu Prasad Yadav, he said, “I am a worker of the Rashtriya Seva Dal of Maharashtra.” So Lalu Prasad Yadav immediately said, “I know that Dr. Suresh Khairnaar, along with some of his colleagues from Bengal, is continuously engaged in peace and goodwill work after the Bhagalpur riots!” So I said, “You have just come to power! So I have a humble request to you, that you should start taking action against the people involved in the riots right now!” So Lalu Prasad Yadav immediately said, “I will not take action against the people involved in the riots! Because 99% of them were from Mandal category! Yes, we give you an assurance, that as long as I, Lalu Prasad Yadav, am the Chief Minister of Bihar! During that time, if there are riots anywhere in Bihar, you can hold me responsible! But do not ask me to take action against the people involved in the Bhagalpur riots! All of them are from backward classes!” I felt very bad after that meeting! And I told Dilipa on the return journey that “What Mahatma Gandhi has written about the Parliament in his small book ‘Hindswarajya’ in 1909 is absolutely correct! He has written, taking the names of the politicians of England at that time, that all of them are helpless in the Parliament! They can be ready to compromise on any kind of problem to get elected! Today, after meeting Lalu Prasad Yadav, I feel that he does not want to upset his base of voters!

In a few days, I got a chance to meet the new Police Commissioner Mr. Ajit Dutta, who had come to Bhagalpur after the Bhagalpur riots, at his residence. He said, “Whenever you come to Bhagalpur after the Bhagalpur riots and talk about the riots, you speak a lot against the police administration. I know this. But I am telling you on the basis of my experience that in my entire police career, I have seen five Chief Ministers. And Lalu Prasad Yadav is the sixth. So I saw the first Chief Minister who, after taking oath as Chief Minister, while addressing all the IAS and IPS officers of Bihar cadre, said, “I, Lalu Prasad Yadav, after becoming the Chief Minister of Bihar from today, have instructed all of you officers that during my tenure as Chief Minister, there should not be any communal riots in any part of Bihar. And if it happens anywhere, then I myself will come from Patna and summon the Collector and SP of that district. And I will take off their clothes, make them sit on a donkey, smear their faces with soot and take them in a procession throughout the city! “And later I will deal with Bajrang Dal or SIMI, Sangh or any Muslim organisation!” Ajit Das said that “Sureshji, who is the Chief Minister of Patna, Lucknow, Mumbai or Gandhinagar in any riot in India? And what is his attitude towards communalism? This also matters a lot! Thirteen years later, after the Godhra incident of 27 February 2002 in Gandhinagar, the then Chief Minister Narendra Modi used the Godhra incident to strengthen his political position! This fact is present in front of us! Therefore, what Ajit Dutta told about Lalu Prasad Yadav is really a completely new aspect for me to learn! The beginning of communal polarization was made from the time of the British! But after independence, India was divided on communal basis; we have seen this horrific aspect of communal politics 77 years ago! And instead of learning something from it, the organizations that were started on the basis of communalism in our country from the time of the British have today become the ruling party in India! And day by day, for communal polarization, we are getting more and more opportunities. They are using new tactics! Now, in the month of Saavan, for centuries, a situation of constant tension is created during Kavad Yatra, Ganesh Puja, Durga Puja and Moharram.

The same is the case with the Gujarat riots of thirteen years later. It started on 27 February 2002. It was the first riot in the history of India which was 100% state sponsored. And the current Indian Prime Minister is the most responsible for it. And it is not just me who is saying this. The then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee himself, after seeing the Gujarat riots, said to Modiji in Ahmedabad that “the Chief Minister did not follow Raj Dharma”.

And my assessment after the Bhagalpur riots was that the next fifty years of Indian politics will revolve only around communal polarization. And today that reality is in front of everyone. Now, after so much water has flown from Ganga, Sabarmati and other rivers of the country, campaigns like Bharat Jodo and Nafrat Chhodo are being organized.

According to me, the frustration of the lower castes has been fuelled for the last more than fifty years. Very cleverly, as a vanguard, by appeasing these castes, with a lot of planning, by including people from the so-called backward castes in the Sangh, they are attacking the minorities in the name of riots, mob lynching and cow slaughter. And Narendra Modi is the biggest example of that.

That is why our progressive friends keep cursing the Brahmin association! But from Khairlanji to Bhagalpur, Gujarat, the direct participation is mostly of people from backward castes! And until the people working for caste eradication take cognizance of this, the tradition of rioting will continue!

I am the opposite of the one who wrote a book like ‘Killed Karkare’! My friend S.M. Mushrif wrote in an English magazine called ‘Millie Gazette’ that “Today, there is only one politician in India who will take care of the Brahmin-oriented IB and CBI!” And the amazing thing is that Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat at that time! And today after becoming the Prime Minister! What kind of arrangements are being made by all the agencies, all the constitutional institutions and the media? This is in front of the whole world today! Narendra Modi is just a non-Brahmin! What happened to the people who took the names of Phule, Ambedkar and Shahumaraaj on such a small matter? Because the Bahujan intellectuals seeing hope in a man who goes to the Sangh branch at the age of 77! It is very surprising for a worker like me who has been in public life for fifty years! And it is very surprising to see such a role of our friends!

And similarly, from the mouth of some Satyashodhak friends, Narendra Modi and other Dalit and backward caste leaders! Who went to the side of the Sangh! Respect for them, and went to change the Sangh! Seeing them falling prey to misunderstanding, it felt that in true sense Mahatma Jyotiba is carrying forward the legacy of Phule! And Jyotiba too had a soft corner for the British after seeing the atrocities of the Peshwai! And that is why in the war of 1857, his sympathy was with the British Sultanate! Sir Syed Ahmed has also made the same mistake!

It has been more than eight years now! If we take stock of Narendra Modi’s tenure! Then the wishful thinking of my dear friend Mushrif is actually in front of us! And when Narendra Modi’s chariot is moving towards power! Many people who believe in Jyotiba Phule and Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar! Because Narendra Modi belongs to the backward castes, if anyone can manage the Sangh Parivar today, then it is only Narendra Modi! This is also a clear proof that these friends of ours are not de-caste themselves! These people start considering him progressive just because he is not a Brahmin!

Today, it has been more than two hundred years since Mahatma Jyotiba Phule’s campaign for caste eradication! And even then he had made the same historical mistake about the British! And even today the tradition of making the same historical mistake continues among his followers! It has been more than 35 years! And while discussing with all these friends of ours! I am trying to explain to them that! The power of the village is mostly with the OBC community! And most of the people who do direct action against the atrocities on Dalits, tribals, women, and riots against the minority community are from backward castes! And this was 35 years ago in Bhagalpur, thirteen years after that, and 22 years have passed since the Gujarat riots of 27 February! And look at the people involved in that! Similarly, who are the people who tortured all the Dalits of Bahraich, Khairlanji, Jhajjar, Hathras, Vulgadhi, Kharda, Bhima-Koregaon? Till when will you try to hide the casteism of the middle castes in the name of Brahmin conspiracy? Burying your head in the sand like an ostrich will not work! Till the casteism of the middle castes continues, caste eradication will never happen! I have been writing and speaking this warning for the last 35 years! If a new society can be created only by fighting against caste-secularism and gender discrimination in the true sense! Then why should we depend on such power-drunk people like Narendra Modi! It has been more than two hundred years now, due to this policy of being dependent, today this day has come! Without getting free from this, true caste eradication will not happen!

After independence, there were continuous Congress governments in Bihar till 1967. From 1967, due to Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia’s non-Congress theory, coalition governments started to be formed for the first time in India. The process of forming coalition governments started in different states. The result of which was that the ground was prepared 50 years ago for the formation of the Janata Party government in 1977. Meanwhile, the Navnirman movement of Bihar-Gujarat in 1974 completed the remaining work. In all these movements, the Sangh family has benefited the most due to being the most organized. Due to which it has been successful in forming the government at the center and in many states today. Nitish Kumar would have been the Chief Minister of Bihar sometime. But with the grace of BJP. And now he has changed sides. Seeing the possibility of him being the future Prime Minister. Some so-called secular people have again taken the path of his party. This is also a sign of political bankruptcy!

But all this was not achieved by chance! For this, the Sangh Parivar has worked hard for a hundred years, and has continuously spread negative propaganda against the minority community! They have done a planned work of creating communal polarization in the country! Due to which, today the country is going through a process of tremendous polarization! And this is the reason why the whole country has gone into the hands of such an incompetent government, and the people with a deeply communal mindset who run it! Although the current government has failed at every level, it has come back to power only by creating communal polarization, despite failing on inflation, unemployment, farmers, laborers and almost all other issues! The process of polarization, which started with the Bhagalpur riots, is increasing day by day! Today, even though the issues of everyday life are getting worse! Again in such large numbers! I do not see any other reason for winning the Lok Sabha elections, and the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections! I never liked Karl Marx’s point about religion being opium! But because of my experience after the Bhagalpur riots, the saying about religion being opium started appearing true to me.

After the riots, I and my friends from Shantiniketan, Veena Aalase, Shyamlikhastgir, Bani Sinha and students like Manisha and Mandira, went to a place called Babupur. Manisha and I were left behind because she had lost her slippers. Then a personification of Daridri Narayan from Babupur stopped us and asked, “Who are we? Where have we come from? And why have we come?” He bombarded us with a volley of questions. I said, “I am from Calcutta and this girl is from Shantiniketan. And the people who have come ahead are also from Shantiniketan.” He asked, “Why have you come here?” I said, “We have come to see that the houses of Muslims have been destroyed in the riots.” He immediately said, “It is very good.” I asked, “What kind of good is it?” So he said, “The Miyan people have opposed our Ramji’s temple. That’s why all their houses have been demolished.” By then a big crowd had gathered there. So I pointed towards his half naked body and said, “If building a temple will bring new clothes on your body. And there was a broken down hut next to it. So I asked, is this house yours? So he said, it’s ours. So I said, “If this house is made new! Or if you get food and drink in it after building a temple! Then we will together start building the biggest temple in the world.” So he asked, “How will this happen?” So I said, “If there is no change in the financial condition of you people and those whose houses have been demolished! Then to what extent is it right to give importance to such a fight over temple and mosque?” Then someone from the crowd said, “You are the first people to talk like this! Till now people who talk about temple and mosque have been coming! Will you people not come again?” This poor gentleman from Babupur stopped us! He has made a huge contribution in deciding the direction of our future program of Bhagalpur! Perhaps today, even after 35 years, the reason for my continuous visits to Bhagalpur is the question “Will you people not come again?” has inspired me!

Because on the return journey, all of us from Calcutta, Shantiniketan, could sleep only after taking the overnight train to Bhagalpur and resolving to come there in future too! And today it has been 35 years! And with the help of our Shantiniketan and some local friends, the work of peace and harmony in Bhagalpur is continuing unabated! Now, apart from the friends from Paridhi and Ganga Mukti, slum organizations, some teachers from Rashtra Seva Dal and friends from JP movement are working continuously with the help of Ramsharan, Uday, Lalan, Dr. Yogendra Rampujan, Sarthak Bharat Anirudh, Rizwan, Huda Saheb, Sangeeta, Rahul, his wife Shushma and their disciples from Kala Kendra! And with Manisha Banerjee and her friends from Shantiniketan! Despite 35 years of Bhagalpur riots! The process is continuing!

And in a way, despite these 35 years! There have been many riots in the country in 1992 and other times! But we are proud that “not even a single pebble has been lifted in Bhagalpur! This has been possible only due to the tireless efforts of all our colleagues!

This is what I have been continuously saying and writing about for the last thirty-three years!

In the Shah Bano case of 1985-86, Muslim fundamentalists provided the launching pad for the Sangh family’s Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid dispute! And the question is not of law! It is of faith! The recognition of this slogan starts from the Shah Bano case!

Lal Krishna Advani started his Rath Yatra politics with the demolition of Babri Masjid on 6 December 1992, and three years before that, the riots that started on 24 October 1989 during the Shila Puja procession in Bhagalpur! It was not limited to just Bhagalpur city, it spread to almost all the neighbouring districts, Banka, Munger, Godda, Sahebganj, Dumka, i.e. almost the entire Bhagalpur Commissionerate! The only reason for which was the rumours spread by the Sangh Parivar! The first rumour was the rape of 400 girl students of Bhagalpur Women’s College! And the second rumour was the news of the murder of 400 students of Bhagalpur University who were living in various private hostels (mostly in the houses of Muslims because the university area falls in a Muslim settlement!)! By sending Hero Honda riders on motorcycles to the nearby villages! This was done to spread rumours! (Mobile phones had not come at that time!) Not a single rumour was found to be true! And after seeing the work of the Sangh in spreading these rumours, we have named the Sangh (Rumors Spreading Society RSS)!

This riot spread like fire in more than 300 villages like a war. Because the people whose children were studying in Bhagalpur were not getting any other news. So believing the hearsay, thousands of people took up traditional weapons. And no stone was left unturned in taking action against the Muslims. The houses of Muslims living in more than 300 villages and their silk cloth weaving machinery were burnt to ashes. And more than 3000 people were killed.

In the 75 years since partition, there have been many riots in various cities of India. And they are happening even after that. But seeing the intensity of the riots in Bhagalpur, I feel that “all the riots before this were riots in a few streets and neighborhoods. But the Bhagalpur riots are the first riots in which a very large area and a very large number of people were killed. And that too 13 years before the 2002 riots in Gujarat. Politically, no Modi-Shah was born.”

Seeing the intensity of that riot, I wrote to the entire country that “looking at the nature of the Bhagalpur riots in the days after independence, I feel that communalism will be the central focus of Indian politics for the next 50 years. Our everyday issues, including those of farmers, labourers, health, education, livelihood, housing, corruption, atrocities and all other issues, including those of tribals, women, Dalits and many more, issues of exploitation, inequality, inflation, displacement, environment, water, forest and land, will be sidelined. And only emotional issues will dominate. The entire politics will revolve around temples and mosques. So, now all our comrades need to be alert and open a front against communalism.” I tried to say all this while speaking continuously throughout the country since 1990. When I raised this issue in a forum that coordinates mass movements like NAPM, my views were ridiculed by using phrases like Suresh Bhagalpuri or communalism! And today he is talking about the Hatred Quit Campaign!

And the most important thing is about Rashtra Seva Dal. Because as far as I have been a soldier of Rashtra Seva Dal for more than fifty years, I believe that Rashtra Seva Dal is the only party in India that can fight RSS in the battlefield. And that is why I (1990-91) organized a week-long training camp of 125 boys and girls in Sabour’s Agriculture College with the help of Pramila Thakur, by begging food from people’s houses. And because of that, with the help of a full-time worker named Shankar, a dozen branches were started. And this proved to be very helpful in reducing the panic of the entire riot. And later 115 Mohalla Samitis were formed. In which all kinds of citizens were included. And on 6 December 1992, I myself was camping in Bhagalpur. And the use of our Mohalla Samiti proved to be very effective at that time. And this is why. Riots took place in many places in India! But not even a single pebble was lifted in Bhagalpur! That is why the use of Rashtra Seva Dal and Mohalla Samiti is very important! And it needs to be done everywhere!

Friends, some comrades are definitely involved in this work, but in a country with a population of 140 crores, this has been a very incomplete effort. On the contrary, the Sangh family officially has 2 crore members, more than 1.25 lakh branches. And more than that with Saraswati Shishu Mandir schools, Vanvasi Seva Ashrams. There is hardly any area of ​​life in which they do not have a foothold. Therefore, in comparison to that, the number of people working against them seems very scattered today. And today they have come to power. Therefore, considering the delicacy of the time, I feel that.

This year marks 35 years of the Bhagalpur riots. So I have shared this thought with you all. And last year during Durga Puja, near Comilla in Bangladesh, there was a riot on 13th October at a place called Chandpur. And after the coup of Sheikh Hasina Wajed on 5th August 2024, with the Hindus of Bangladesh and after seeing the riots in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh this year, it seems that the tradition of rioting during festivals continues in our Indian subcontinent. And in a way, the entire political activities of our subcontinent seem to revolve only around communal politics. Happy Diwali to all my friends.

Dr Suresh Khairnar is Ex. President of Rashtra Sewa Dal