Those were the dark days in Hyderabad

The occasions on which police had to open fire after communal violence in areas in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, which are now part of Telangana, were many.

Hyderabad: Do you know that once upon a time in Hyderabad, a seemingly innocuous quarrel over the payment of a tea bill had led to major communal violence in which one person died while the police opened fire at three places to control the situation?

That was not too long ago but in June 2003.

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On December 1, 2004, exactly 16 years ago, a clash over the tying of a BJP flag to a high-mast lamp pole snowballed into a communal clash, injuring 14 persons and police opening fire in the air to disperse the mob.

The occasions on which police had to open fire after communal violence in areas in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, which are now part of Telangana, were many. The situation was so volatile, with the triggers sometimes being as trivial as the quarrel over the tea bill.

Major communal disturbances were frequent in the twin cities and adjoining districts, right from 1978 through to 1990, and even later, prompting the then Central governments to classify Hyderabad City, Nizamabad, Medak, Nalgonda, Ranga Reddy and Adilabad as ‘communally hyper sensitive’ and Karimnagar and Mahabubnagar as ‘communally sensitive’ districts.

Over the years, the triggering causes have multiplied, from animal transportation, cattle theft, cow slaughter to drunken brawls, eve-teasing, even forgery of records, thefts and of late, social media posts too. But the single largest cause of communal strife in Hyderabad has been provocative speeches and writings, many of them after incidents like the tea bill argument. Even after the formation of Telangana, rabid speeches and posts by some political leaders which are then made to go viral by their own social media engineers have been the most worrying factor and one that has kept the cybercrime wing of the State Police busy. So far, the police have been successful in controlling these from escalating into violence, courtesy the increased priority given to maintenance of law and order by the K Chandrashekhar Rao-led government.

One telling outcome has been that there have been no curfews in the State of Telangana ever since its formation in June 2014, while from 1990 to 2012, curfew was imposed on 11 occasions in the erstwhile AP, 10 of them in Hyderabad, for a total period of 113 days.

The number of incidents categorised as communal by the police too was galore in the Hyderabad of yore. 1990 stands out as a sore year for the entire State of AP in fact, with 450 incidents, a shocking 208 persons killed and 470 injured in communal incidents, all in just one year.

These were in Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Karimnagar, Anantapur, Nizamabad and Kadapa, to mention a few, from October 10, 1990, through November and December to January 20, 1991. The triggers included the death of Mohd Sardar, a notorious rowdy sheeter in Hyderabad in an exchange of fire with the police, the arrest of LK Advani, the then BJP national president during his Rath Yatra, and an attack on an MIM worker in Hyderabad.

The Sardar incident saw 17 killed, while the arrest of Advani led to the death of 41 deaths (including three in police firing), while the death of the MIM worker left another 151 dead (seven in police firing) and 405 injured.

The demolition of the Babri Masjid and its anniversaries, the Ganesh immersion procession on several occasions etc., were when communal violence used to erupt in Hyderabad. But not after 2014.

Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s stress on improving the efficacy of the police force through a number of initiatives, effective use of technology in maintenance of law and order, installation of CCTV cameras in all communally sensitive places etc., were among measures that have ensured peace in Hyderabad.

The effective maintenance of law and order has also brought down terror incidents, while earlier Hyderabad was repeatedly targeted or made a safe haven by terror organisations, including Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Indian Mujahideen and Abhinav Bharat. The control on communal incidents, which were earlier used by communal forces and terror outfits to feed the narrative of ‘atrocities and persecution of minorities’ or instigate the other side into taking up violence, has brought about peace in Hyderabad, which is now once again being threatened by vitriolic speeches and threats of surgical strikes on communities.

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