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Dhule Violence:Changing Anatomy of Communal ViolenceRam Puniyani part of the ‘social common sense’, instigated, the so called secular forceshatred for ‘other’ community became looked on or subtly helped and theThe violence in Dhule Maharashtra the foundation on which the communal police took sides with majorityseems to be the new face of communal v i o l e n c e t o o k p l a c e o r w a s community. At the same time theviolence in India. As per the report of a orchestrated. This in turn strengthened political leadership, bureaucracy, andmajor national daily (Jan 26, 2013), the the communal forces in different areas, police who are supposed to protect theevidence with the newspaper shows the a n d i n c r e a s e d t h e l e v e l s o f innocent citizens, failed to do theirevidence of police looting and m i s c o n c e p t i o n f o r t h e ‘ o t h e r assigned job and still got away withoutdestroying the property. The video clips community’. This parallel and opposite getting any punishment. This impunityin possession of the civil society groups process went on till the tragedy of gave a signal to them all that they canPartition, which c a r r y o n w i t h t h i s g a m e o fwas the biggest marginalizing the minority communityact of communal and reap the harvest of communalp o l i t i c s , t h e politics on the electoral arena.o u t c o m e o f This ghastly situation is taking a furtherBritish policy of turn for the worst. And now it seems the‘divide and rule’. communal forces and the communalDuring British rule foot soldiers are having an easy time ast h e c o m m u n a l sections of police force are blatantlyviolence was a communalized. Police not only hascommunal riot. In become the active player in the game,this both Hindus police is shamelessly providing a coverand Muslims were to those indulging in violence. Thispitched against painful fact comes to surface in theeach other in an recent violence in Dhule, 6 Januaryi n h u m a n w a y, 2013, where over 40 people from ther e g a r d i n g ; minority were shot above knee, inperceiving as if abdomen chest, neck face and back,also show one police official exhortingthey are doing something for their out of which six died, three had tothe rioting mob to move on. So far evenreligion. The political agenda of undergo amputation and remainingif it was there it was not so blatantlyretrograde forces wore the cloak of one’s are recuperating with seriousclear. One sensed the partisan nature ofreligion. While communal forces made injuries. The citizen’s inquiry committeepolice as discerned through differentmerry, the innocents suffered and the which went to Dhule for fact findinginquiry commission reports, but thispolice took a neutral stance. They were was shocked out of its wits to find as totype of role of police is a new andtrying to balance out without taking how the event which required a simpledownhill chapter in the history ofany sides while controlling these acts of intervention from the police grew intocommunal violence in India.violence. This neutrality of police the tragic incident. The mater was tooCommunal violence has been a majorstarted changing after Independence, trivial; the victim came to policemenace to our nation, from last morewhen gradually the communalization chowkie to complain and with a requestthan a century, and more particularlyof section of police force started taking to intervene. Police constables on duty,from last three decades. Rise inplace and its overall neutrality started apparently told the victim to go andcommunal violence can be correlatedgetting eroded by the day, to the extent settle the issue himself. The victim awith the British policy of ‘divide andthat later a section of police started Muslim auto rickshaw driver came withrule’. This policy was achieved by themhelping violence in a pro active way. few more youth, the youth from otherby introducing the communal view ofAnd over a period of time, those who side also collected and stone throwinghistory through different books byare supposed and are duty bound to began. The clips, taken on video; showBritish authorities. The communalprotect the innocent citizens, became that the police acted as a cover for theversion of history was taken up by thepartisan. Shooting the minority Hindu mob which charged towards theMuslim and Hindu communalists to suitcommunity members and throwing Muslims. The police force also seemedtheir political agenda of opposing thethem in canals (Meerut Malyana 1987), to have begun to violate the policepolitical, social and economic changesor burying them in the field and growing manual in letter and spirit. Thewhich aimed at Liberty Equality andcabbage over them (Bhagalpur 1989) m a n d a t o r y l o u d s p e a k e rFraternity. The communal forceswas painfully observed.announcement, use of tear gas, lathispread hatred against the ‘other’A whole ‘Riot mechanism’ gradually charge to be resorted before firing wascommunity, the result being that thecame up in which the communal forces done away with and a straight firing wascommunal perceptions started beingBakhabar11