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<ul><li>In 2013, Jat-Muslim <keyword id="6356227" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="riots">riots</keyword> in <keyword id="6360544" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="muzaffarnagar">Muzaffarnagar</keyword> resulted in at least 60 deaths and the forced exodus of tens of thousands of Muslims. </li><li>And now, six years later, the 500,000 Muslim voters in the district are mulling whether or not to vote for a 80-year old Jat candidate fielded by the Opposition. </li><li>To make matters worse, <keyword id="2258018" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sanjeev-Balyan">Sanjeev Balyan</keyword>, a BJP candidate, stoked the fire this morning by alleging that the identities of “burqa-clad” voters were not being verified by Election Commission officials.</li></ul> As the electorate of <keyword id="6357713" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Uttar-Pradesh">Uttar Pradesh</keyword> head to the polling booths, voters in one district have a tougher choice to make than most. Six years after Jat-Muslim riots in Muzaffarnagar resulted in at least 60 deaths and the forced exodus of tens of thousands of Muslims, <a href="https://www.firstpost.com/politics/lok-sabha-election-2019-muzaffarnagar-set-for-high-pitched-battle-between-two-popular-jat-leaders-6424231.html">the 500,000 Muslim voters</a> in the district are mulling whether or not to vote for a 80-year old Jat candidate, Ajit Singh, who is representing the Opposition alliance of the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal. To make matters worse, Sanjeev Balyan, a BJP candidate, stoked the fire this morning by alleging that the identities of “burqa-clad” voters were not being verified by Election Commission officials. The riots in August and September 2013 were a result of the polarisation caused in the build-up to the 2014 general elections, which led to a rupture between the Jat and Muslim communities in the region. While a vote for a member of the community that was responsible for the violence against them might be cause for some cognitive dissonance for Muslim voters, it might seem a better option than voting for a BJP candidate. Under the administration of <keyword id="43254" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Yogi-Adityanath">Yogi Adityanath</keyword>, who was elected CM in 2017 after the BJP won the state elections, communal violence has been on the rise in UP. In fact, in <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/uttar-pradesh-tops-the-list-of-communal-violence-hit-states-in-2017-govt/articleshow/63300833.cms?from=mdr"> 2017</a>, UP once again topped the list of the Indian states with the highest instances of communal violence - with 195 instances compared to second-placed Karnataka, with a 100. Adityanath has consistently baited communal tensions not only with <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/meerut/up-cm-rakes-up-muzaffarnagar-riots-says-innocents-framed-then-will-soon-be-set-free/articleshow/68784933.cms">his anti-Muslim rhetoric</a> but also his<a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/only-bjp-will-build-ram-mandir-says-yogi-adityanath-1415704-2018-12-23"> repeated pledges </a>to build the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. To make matters worse, justice for the kin of victims in the 2013 riots has been elusive. The UP government has been slow to take action against the aggressors of the riots - which is unsurprising since around 125 cases<a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/muzaffarnagar-riots-up-govt-yet-to-give-permission-to-withdraw-cases/articleshow/68778241.cms"> have been filed against members of the BJP </a>for inciting the riots. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/uttar-pradesh-lok-sabha-elections-2019-first-phase-polling-will-see-farmers-anger/articleshow/68820034.cms">Uttar Pradesh’s unpaid farmers who are owed ₹128 billion will express their anger with ballot ink</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/lok-sabha-elections-2019-pew-research-report-on-key-election-issues/articleshow/68572903.cms">5 charts that tell you what India cares about ahead of 2019 elections</a>

A fresh controversy over ‘fake votes’ in Muzaffarnagar is scuffing the scars of the 2013 riots on the first day of polling

The Uttar Pradesh police has filed a chargesheet against <keyword id="6374198" type="POSITION" weightage="100" keywordseo="BJP-President">BJP President</keyword> <keyword id="6355521" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Amit-Shah">Amit Shah</keyword> for allegedly giving a ‘<keyword id="6406418" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Hate-speech">hate speech</keyword>’ in violation of the model code of conduct while campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections in Muzaffarnagar. The chargesheet was filed in a Muzaffarnagar court for allegedly seeking votes on the basis of religion, race, caste and community. 
 
The chargesheet has been filed under various sections of IPC, including 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, etc.), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class) and 505 (false statement, rumour, etc. circulated with intent to cause mutiny or offence against the public peace), and Section 123-3 of Representation of People Act (making an appeal to vote on the grounds of religion amounting to corrupt practice). 
 Shah had allegedly said that the 2014 <keyword id="43815" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Lok-Sabha-election">Lok Sabha election</keyword> was an opportunity to seek "revenge for the insult" meted out during the riots in Muzaffarnagar in 2013. Shah's political opponents accuse him of using communal tension to electoral advantage, which he has denied. The ruling <keyword id="6354265" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="samajwadi-party">Samajwadi Party</keyword> leader <keyword id="6355085" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Azam-Khan">Azam Khan</keyword> was also under fire for similar charges.

Chargesheet Filed Against Amit Shah For Alleged Hate Speech In Muzaffarnagar

On April 16th, a special anti-terrorism court in Hyderabad acquitted all five people that were accused of orchestrating a bomb blast at the city’s <keyword id="147259" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mecca-Masjid">Mecca Masjid</keyword> in May 2007 owing to a lack of evidence. All of the accused had ties to Hindu right-wing organisations, including alleged mastermind Swami Aseemanand (pictured), a former <keyword id="42498" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="RSS">RSS</keyword> member and godman who has been linked to three other terror attacks. Another one, Devendra Gupta, had been sentenced to life last year for his role in the Ajmer Sharif <keyword id="6449" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bomb-Blasts">bomb blasts</keyword> in October 2007. Nine people were killed and 58 were seriously injured in the Mecca Masjid blast, in which a improvised explosive device (IED) was triggered by a cellphone. In the ensuing frenzy after the blast, another five people were killed as a result of police firing. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had originally charged 10 people in the case. One, Sunil Joshi, a former RSS leader, was murdered, another two- Sandeep V. Dange and Ramchandra Kalsangra, also RSS activists, - are absconding while the investigation against two others, Tejram Parmar and Amith Chowhan, is ongoing. Over the course of the trial, 226 witnesses were interviewed and over 400 documents were examined, but the NIA and the prosecuting authorities were unable to prove the charges against the accused. In a questionable turn of events, the judge who pronounced the verdict, Ravinder Reddy, submitted his resignation soon after, citing personal reasons. The verdict, while unfortunate, is not surprising. The case has been plagued by misdirection, questionable decision-making and interference from the outset. Here are the reasons why it fell apart:- The police initially went after the wrong people In the aftermath of the blast, the Hyderabad police suspected that a Pakistan-based terror outfit, Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami (HuJI), was behind the attack. Why a Muslim group would target a mosque was apparently beyond them. Given that terrorists were generally assumed to be Muslims up until that point, the narrative gained traction in the media. The police rounded up and interrogated as many as 200 people with supposed links to the HuJI, and eventually charged 21 of them. They were acquitted by a criminal court in Nampally, Hyderabad at the beginning of 2009 due to the lack of any credible evidence against them. The responsibility for investigating the case was transferred not once, but twice After the Muslim men were acquitted in January 2009, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the case. The agency spent two years investigating the bombings, pointing out the possible participation of right-wing Hindu extremist groups like Abhinav Bharat, which were said to also be responsible for three other attacks on Muslims between 2006 and 2008 - a spate of blasts in Malegaon in September 2006 that led to 37 deaths, the bombing of the Samjhauta Express in February 2007, which killed 68 Pakistanis and the Ajmer Sharif blast that killed three people. The CBI filed charges against three people in the case - Devender Gupta, a RSS worker, Lokesh Sharma, a property dealer and right-wing activist, and Sunil Joshi, a RSS leader, who was deceased by then. In 2011, the case was transferred to the NIA, which was tasked with investigating all the attacks that were allegedly executed by Hindutva organisations. While the NIA extended the probe to include Swami Aseemanand and six others, one can’t help thinking about all the pieces of evidence that were overlooked, or communication lapses that took place as a result of the handing over of the cases. For example, a crucial piece of evidence never even reached the NIA. A <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/mecca-masjid-blast-case-mystery-red-shirt-found-with-unexploded-ied-at-site-never-reached-nia-aseemanand-5140195/">red shirt</a>, which was found at the blast site and suspected to belong to one of the coordinators of the attack, reportedly disappeared amid the handover. The repeated handover of the case brings to the mind the 2008 case on the murder of Arushi Talwar. The Noida police initiated the investigation, after which the Delhi police got involved. Following a lack of confidence in the police’s investigation, the government handed over the case to the CBI. After the CBI team was accused of extracting a confession under duress, the investigation was handed to a new unit in 2009, which suggested that the case be closed due to lack of evidence. An exhaustive confession from the main accused was rescinded After being arrested by the CBI in November 2010, Swami Aseemanand lodged<a href="http://archive.tehelka.com/story_main48.asp?filename=Ne150111Coverstory.asp"> a 42-page confession </a>in Tis Hazari Court in Delhi the following December. He confirmed the fact that he and some other Hindutva leaders like Indresh Kumar, a national executive member of the RSS, planned the aforementioned bombings as a part of a “bomb for bomb” response to attacks coordinated by Muslim terrorists. Aseemanand’s testimony, which included details of the plannings and incriminated Sunil Joshi, Sandeep Dange and Ramchandra Kalsangra, was legally admissible and threatened to have serious implications for Hindutva groups, as it was the first direct piece of evidence pointing to their involvement. However, in March 2011, Swami Aseemanand <a href="http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDExLzAzLzMxI0FyMDEzMDI=">retracted his statements</a>, explaining that they were made to investigators under duress. His counsel would also argue later that the statement was coerced by CBI officials as part of ploy to legitimise the concept of “saffron terror” and implicate the RSS. Another of key accused, Sunil Joshi, who was named as a suspect in 2010, was murdered in December 2007 in Madhya Pradesh, allegedly by his own people for <a href="http://www.rediff.com/news/report/sunil-joshi-the-rss-leader-who-knew-too-much/20131209.htm">“knowing too much</a>”. Joshi had reportedly been planning to make a confession. A lot of witnesses turned hostile Like Swami Aseemanand, a number of witnesses turned hostile and/or retracted their statements against the accused. In fact, out of the 226 witnesses in the trial, <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/hostile-witnesses-hurt-prosecution-in-mecca-masjid-blast-case/story-PDCmLR1M4OXTJvixfEYNlK.html">66 turned hostile.</a> As is expected in a trial that takes forever to conclude, a number of witnesses feared for their lives. In November 2016, for example, four key witnesses backtracked on earlier statements, which said that the accused had contacted each other <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/Four-witnesses-turn-hostile-in-Mecca-Masjid-blast-case/articleshow/55447999.cms">using their mobile phones</a>. A number of important cases in India have been derailed due to witnesses turning hostile. The ongoing trial for the alleged encounter killings of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, his wife Kausar Bi and his aide, Tulsiram Prajapati, at the hands of the Gujarat Police’s Anti-Terrorist Squad has seen 45 out of 66 witnesses change their statements or profess their inability to recollect events accurately. Possible interference in the NIA’s investigation The NIA has routinely been criticised for its protracted and shoddy investigation of cases involving Hindu extremist outfits, which was perceived to be a sign of compliance with orders from the BJP-led government. In June 2015, Rohini Salian, a prosecutor for another bomb blast case in Malegaon in September 2008, said that she had been told by the NIA to <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/since-this-new-govt-came-i-have-been-told-to-go-soft-on-accused-hindu-extremists-special-public-prosecutor/">“go soft”</a> on the accused. The case, which is still pending, was subsequently transferred to another special court. In August 2015, the NIA chose <a href="https://thewire.in/politics/nia-not-to-challenge-bail-for-aseemanand-in-supreme-court-govt">not to challenge the bail order </a>granted to Swami Aseemanand in the Samjhauta Express blast case as well as two others who were accused in the Mecca Masjid blast case- Devender Gupta and Lokesh Sharma. In April 2016, the NIA also shifted gears by deciding to probe the possible participation of <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/Samjhauta-blasts-NIA-seeks-details-of-LeT-financier-Qasmani%E2%80%99s-role-from-US/article14240593.ece">a Pakistani terror outfit</a>, Lashkar-e-Taiba, in the Samjhauta case - an attack in which 68 Pakistanis were killed on Indian soil. Criminal investigations in India are regularly influenced by politics. In December 2017, a local court dismissed non-bailable warrants against a number of BJP leaders in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots case, likely at the behest of the Yogi Adityanath government. Last month, the Uttar Pradesh government moved to withdraw all 131 pending cases in the riots. What now? Following the not-guilty verdict for the accused in the Mecca Masjid case, the NIA said that it would assess the court’s decision before pursuing any further action. The verdict marks another reason to lose faith in the agency after it refused to appeal against the acquittals of seven people, including Swami Aseemanand, in the Ajmer Sharif case in March last year. However, Swami Aseemanand isn’t completely in the clear. He is still being tried in the Samjhauta Express blast case. However, the trial has much the same makings of the Mecca Masjid one. As many as 42 witnesses, out of 209 deposed, have turned hostile. The NIA is currently seeking the statements of 13 Pakistani witnesses. A guilty verdict, while welcome, is unlikely. Asaduddin Owaisi, the president of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, an Islamic party in Telangana, summed up the nation’s reaction to the acquittals in the Mecca Masjid blast. "Our fight against <keyword id="6358165" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="terrorism">terrorism</keyword> is weakened after today's acquittals," he said in a statement to media outlets.

Here’s why no one was convicted for planning a blast that killed 9 and injured 58 people

NEW DELHI: BJP faces a tough test in Bihar, <keyword id="1575" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Congress">Congress</keyword> stares at a saffron challenge in Maharashtra and regional outfits contend with turning pitches on 117 <keyword id="6355187" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="Lok-Sabha">Lok Sabha</keyword> seats across 11 states and one union territory where polling is due on Thursday. 
 
The 2014 Lok Sabha polls will be more than half over after elections to 347 seats are complete after the sixth phase of voting, with the 84, 91 and 41 seats left in the remaining phases. 
 
BJP and Congress are squaring off in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan and state bosses like Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee, AIADMK's J Jayalalitha and NCP leader Sharad Pawar are also slugging it out with their rivals. 
 
This phase will settle the fate of political biggies like SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and BJP leader Sushma Swaraj besides others like PDP’s Mehbooba Mufti, DMK's A Raja and Congress’s Mohammad Azharuddin. 
 
The political topography is a challenge to BJP and Congress which need to defend turfs while seeking fresh gains even as regional forces like SP, BSP, AIADMK and DMK look to do much the same, with the difference that some now see BJP as an unanticipated threat. 
 
All of 39 seats in Tamil Nadu and one seat of Puducherry will go to polls while elections will be over in major states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. In Maharashtra the populous bell weather Mumbai-Thane-Kalyan belt will vote along with northern areas and Raigad. 
 The contests in Mumbai are keen, with Shiv Sena-BJP hoping to snatch seats from Congress-NCP riding on an anti-UPA wave and the diminished presence of <keyword id="6355257" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Raj-Thackeray">Raj Thackeray</keyword>'s MNS. 
 
 
 
 
Tamil Nadu is a fascinating mosaic, with front runner AIADMK losing some steam while DMK reportedly making a comeback of sorts and BJP’s unlikely alliance with DMDK, MDMK and PMK emerging as a force on its own. 
 In Bihar, a virtual eclipse of <keyword id="123462" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="Janata-Dal">Janata Dal</keyword> (U) poses problems for BJP with the fight appearing bi-polar in the five seats in Seemanchal and two that fall outside the region. There is a sizeable Muslim population in all seats and though BJP has been winning Araria, Purnea, Katihar and Bhagalpur, it now faces elections on its own. RJD boss Lalu Prasad and Congress seem to be back in the reckoning in the state. 
 
Mulayam Singh Yadav defends his base of Etah-Mainpuri-Etawah, areas where he must score to check a resurgent BJP with reports from 21 seats in western UP and Rohilkhand indicating gains for the saffronites. 
 
Though support for BSP is harder to gauge, SP’s main regional rival seems to be feeling the heat with religious polarisation post Muzaffarnagar riots making several contests primarily BJP versus SP affairs. 
 For BJP, the stakes continue to be high with its prime ministerial candidate <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> campaigning hard, addressing rallies in Hardoi, Etah, Firozabad and Mathura on Monday hoping for significant gains. 
 
The Jat vote is a factor in just as Yadavs are expected to rally behind SP while Akbarpur has sent BSP chief Mayawati to Lok Saba twice, most recently in 2004. 
 
In Rajasthan, prestigious Jat-influenced seats like Alwar and Bharatpur are due to poll along with constituencies like Tonk, Dausa and Sawai-Madhopur. 
 
In Chhattisgarh, urbanising seats like Durg, Raipur and Bilaspur will be voting with Congress hoping to loosen BJP's seeming stranglehold. 
 In West Bengal, Abhijeet Mukherjee, son of President <keyword id="6359124" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Pranab-Mukherjee">Pranab Mukherjee</keyword>, is facing an uphill battle, with Murshidabad presenting the only bright spot for the party. 
 In Assam constituencies like Kokrajhar, that witnessed fierce rioting, and capital Guwahati are going to polls. In Madhya Pradesh, BJP veterans like Sumitra Mahajan (Indore) and Sushma Swaraj (Vidisha) will seek re-election besides Congress's Meenakshi Natarajan, seen to be close to <keyword id="5268" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Rahul-Gandhi">Rahul Gandhi</keyword>, from Mandsaur.

You Searched For "Muzaffarnagar riots" and got 4 results

A fresh controversy over ‘fake votes’ in Muzaffarnagar is scuffing the scars of the 2013 riots on the first day of polling

Dilsher Dhillon

Chargesheet Filed Against Amit Shah For Alleged Hate Speech In Muzaffarnagar

Manish Kumar

Here’s why no one was convicted for planning a blast that killed 9 and injured 58 people

Dilsher Dhillon

Lok Sabha Polls: Voting In 117 Seats Today; Congress Faces Saffron Challenge

Times Of India

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