Hyderabad, April 14: Normalcy has returned to the old city of Hyderabad after two weeks of communal tension. The police completely lifted the curfew under 25 police station limits on Monday.
People are still wondering what had gone wrong with Hyderabad suddenly. For, there have not been any communal riots here for almost one and a half decades; the last time the city witnessed major communal clashes was after the demolition of the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya. Though there have been a few instances of communal strife, the situation was brought under control within a few hours, without any need to impose curfew.
Since this historic city attained a global image of being a hub of information technology and got transformed into a hi- tech city, there has been a major change in the mindset of the people. The youth in the old city have become more career oriented and communal issues do not really evoke their interest. For the last few years, there have been several instances of people displaying communal harmony — of Hindus participating in Muharram processions and Muslim groups making arrangements for the supply of drinking water and food packets during Ganesh Nimajjanam ( idol immersion) celebrations.
So, what could have led to the communal riots in Hyderabad in the last week of March? The ruling Congress government seems to have an answer, but it has not come out in the open about it for fear of trouble within the party.
Hyderabad police commissioner A K Khan made it clear on day one itself that the riots were not spontaneous and had been orchestrated by some groups with vested interests.
The removal of flags by rival groups led to communal clashes, which spread to different parts of the city, including areas in Secunderabad.
During investigations, the police authorities found that most of those who took part in the riots in different parts of the city were outsiders. A section of Congress leaders from Telangana alleged that the riots were the handiwork of their colleagues from Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, aimed at sabotaging the process of Telangana formation in collusion with the MIM. Another section suspected that the riots were engineered by some political groups to destabilise the Rosaiah government, indirectly pointing the accusing finger at Kadapa MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, who desperately wants to occupy the hot seat. Congress MP from Nizamabad Madhu Yashki Goud went on record to say it was a conspiracy similar to the one hatched against the Channa Reddy government in 1990 to remove him from power by inciting communal riots. He was obviously referring to the allegations that former chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy had a hand in inciting the communal riots at that time.
Similar views were expressed by several Congress leaders including MLA P Shankar Rao and Rajya Sabha member V Hanumantha Rao. There were also some reports that the communal riots could be the handiwork of Karnataka’s BJP minister Gali Janardhan Reddy in connivance with the party forces in Andhra Pradesh. They were perhaps trying to pull down Chief Minister Rosaiah, who has been creating hurdles before the Reddy brothers’ mining activity in Anantapur district bordering Bellary.
The truth will never come out, as the Rosaiah government has remained tight- lipped over all these reports. Now that the situation is back to normal, the police, too, are unlikely to come up with any startling revelations.
Courtesy: Mail Today