"It is seven years since the worst carnage against the Christian community took place in Kandhamal in Odisha. I, along with some others, was there to attend the annual observance, this time in Raikia, of the anniversary organized by the Kandhamal Committee for Peace and Justice in the memory of those killed, injured in 2008 and for those whose lives have been forever marked by the trauma and terror of the communal conflagration that lasted for several months.
'Leave alone justice for the riot victims of Muzaffarnagar, even the two documentary films that were made on the violence that broke out in August 2013 have been embroiled in bans and court cases. En dino Muzaffarnagar has suffered protests and disruptions of screenings by right-wing activists and the schedule screening of Muzaffarnagar Baaqi Hai in Mumbai has been postponed. More than 60 persons died and over 50,000 persons were displaced in the riots that broke out in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli districts of Uttar Prdesh in 2013.
"Incensed by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad's stopping the screening of Muzaffarnagar Abhi Baki Hai at Kirori Mal College on Saturday, August 1, Democratic Students' Federation of Jawaharlal Nehru University had planned to screen at the dhaba at Godavari Hostel on Tuesday night. Already in Delhi to protest, members of the Film and Television Institute of India's students' union had also been invited to attend.
"The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students’ wing of the BJP, on Saturday disrupted the screening of a documentary on the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots at Delhi University’s Kirori Mal College (KMC), allegedly for being “anti-Hindu”. Police were called in to control the situation... The incident occurred at the screening of Muzaffarnagar Baaqi Hai, a film directed by Nakul Singh Sawhney, an FTII graduate.
"Incidents of communal violence in the country have gone up in the first six months of 2015 compared to the corresponding period last year, with 330 riots reported till June this year in which 51 people lost their lives. According to Home Ministry data, there were 330 incidents of communal violence between January and June, 2015 in comparison to 252 in the first six months of 2014. Altogether 51 people have lost their lives and 1,092 others injured in communal violence so far this year. As many as 33 people had lost their lives in first six months of last year.
"A group of Muslims from Bhumma village in Muzaffarnagar remained besieged in a mosque for half a day after it was surrounded by angry villagers protesting the killing of a Hindu youth nearby. The Muslims were rescued on Tuesday afternoon after police dispersed the mob with a lathicharge and by firing shots in the air. Trouble began Monday night after four motorcycle-borne assailants allegedly shot Satveer (25) outside his house in Bhumma. Soon, dozens of Hindus gathered outside the victim’s house to protest police inaction.
"About 400 Muslims of Atali village, who were attacked by a Hindu mob four days ago, continue to be stranded Friday in the compound of the Ballabgarh police station. Despite the sweltering heat and inadequate food and water, the displaced persons have refused to return to their homes, seeking the arrest of the attackers and compensation for their burnt houses. On the evening of May 25, a violent mob attacked the community with bricks, swords, and petrol bombs. The assailants broke into their homes and set about 20 houses on fire.
'A mob of 300 Jat men rampaged through a village in Ballabhgarh this week, attacking Muslims. The reason: they don't want a mosque in the village. Local elections are due in August... The normality of the evening was deceptive. A little before 6 pm on May 25, most residents of Atali village in Ballabhgarh, in Haryana's Faridabad district, were out tending to their cattle. A few were in their homes cooking dinner. Zahida Parveen had just settled down on the second storey of her home in preparation for the asar ki namaz. Suddenly, there was a loud noise.
"Justice eluded the survivors and family members of the Hashimpura massacre with the trial court acquitting all the accused Provincial Armed Constabulary personnel last week. It seems a similar fate awaits Maliana village, where 72 Muslims were killed and burnt allegedly by the PAC and a mob on May 23, 1987. Killings in Maliana, a small Muslim village on the outskirts of Meerut, happened just a day after the Hashimpura massacre.
"A night before May 22, 1987, when 42 young Muslim men from Hashimpura, a mohalla less than two kilometres away from Meerut city, were murdered in cold blood by men in uniform, another death was registered in the nearby Civil Lines police station. The death was due to a bullet injury, the shots allegedly fired by someone from Hashimpura. Prabhat Kaushik, 23, an RSS worker, died around 9.30 pm standing on the roof of the house of his aunt Shakuntala Kaushik, a feisty BJP leader of her time.
