In Muzaffarnagar district, in nearly 25 villages, Muslims have not returned after fleeing their homes following riots last year because their land is now occupied by others, many of whom are Hindus, according to those who left and other independent reports.
In Aligarh, three members of a Dalit family were killed a week ago, allegedly by a group of upper caste men, following a controversy over land.
In Saharanpur, three people died on July 26 in communal clashes sparked off by a land dispute.
The opportunity that such clashes offer dominant sections to grab land often feeds into the political and electoral calculations that set off the violence. This appears to be the case in these three instances in western Uttar Pradesh, which of late has become a tinderbox of communal and caste violence.
Muzaffarnagar
Muzaffanagar and neighbouring districts of western Uttar Pradesh experienced widespread communal violence in September last year. The riots, primarily between Jats and Muslims, claimed nearly one hundred lives, and more than 50,000 Muslims were forced to leave their villages.
Today, ten months after the incident, in at least 25 villages in Muzaffarnagar district, several fields, houses and shops belonging to Muslims have been occupied by Hindus. In at least six of these villages – Kutwa, Kakra, Bahavari, Kutvi, Mundavar and Fugana – not a single Muslim has returned.
"Before the riots, Kutwa village had a population of seven thousand or so,” said Afzal Ansari, who lived in the village until the riots broke out in September, after which he fled along with his family and other Muslims, and now runs a bicycle repair shop in Muzaffarnagar town."Nearly one thousand of them were Muslims, almost half of whom owned agricultural land in the village. Today, the village does not have a single Muslim. Hindus have distributed the land and property among themselves."
Said Shahnawaz, a Lucknow-based activist of Rehai Manch, an organisation fighting for the release of youths picked up by the police under false terror charges. "Land is a big issue in western Uttar Pradesh, and so far justice has been denied to all those who had to leave their villages in order to save their lives."
Aligarh
Three members of a Dalit family at Veerampur village in Aligarh district were murdered on July 23. Veerampur is an upper caste-dominated village with just one Dalit family. The murders, allegedly by a group of upper caste men, seemed to be connected to a decade-old dispute between the Dalit family and an upper caste family over four bighas of land. Depending on the locality, a bigha can be anywhere between one acre and three acres.
The government donated the land to the Dalit family in 2002, but the upper caste family claimed it belonged to them, according to reports. Early this month the two sides had quarrelled and the local administration had to order a probe into the land dispute. But even before the probe could be completed, the Dalit family was attacked in broad daylight, leaving three of them dead and one injured.
The injured man, the 25-year-old Kaalu, lies recuperating at Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College in Aligarh. "I want another [plot of] land somewhere else, where I feel safe, in exchange for this one," a report published in The Times of India quoted him as saying. "Even if it means a loss of land and money, I am ready to pay that price for the safety of the remaining family."
A Communist Party of India leader, Girish, who led the party’s fact-finding team to Veerampur village immediately after the incident, confirmed some of these facts. "The crime was committed by a group of eight to ten people, but only two of them have been arrested so far," he said. "The remaining members of the Dalit family apprehend that once the police force [which was deployed after the incident] is removed from the village they may face another attack from those who want to grab their land."
Saharanpur
In this case, a land dispute has been in the foreground right from the start. A dispute between Muslims and Sikhs over construction on land near a gurudwara boiled over on July 26 into violence, leaving three people dead and dozens of others injured. More than a 100 shops were burnt down. By afternoon, a curfew had been imposed on the town.
"The dispute over this piece of land is more than six decades old," said Janeshwar Upadhyay, a local. "The question is: why did it flare up just before the assembly by-election in this town? What about the role of those who want to polarise voters?"
Indeed, in this case, a dormant land dispute needed a political trigger to turn violent.
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In Aligarh, three members of a Dalit family were killed a week ago, allegedly by a group of upper caste men, following a controversy over land.
In Saharanpur, three people died on July 26 in communal clashes sparked off by a land dispute.
The opportunity that such clashes offer dominant sections to grab land often feeds into the political and electoral calculations that set off the violence. This appears to be the case in these three instances in western Uttar Pradesh, which of late has become a tinderbox of communal and caste violence.
Muzaffarnagar
Muzaffanagar and neighbouring districts of western Uttar Pradesh experienced widespread communal violence in September last year. The riots, primarily between Jats and Muslims, claimed nearly one hundred lives, and more than 50,000 Muslims were forced to leave their villages.
Today, ten months after the incident, in at least 25 villages in Muzaffarnagar district, several fields, houses and shops belonging to Muslims have been occupied by Hindus. In at least six of these villages – Kutwa, Kakra, Bahavari, Kutvi, Mundavar and Fugana – not a single Muslim has returned.
"Before the riots, Kutwa village had a population of seven thousand or so,” said Afzal Ansari, who lived in the village until the riots broke out in September, after which he fled along with his family and other Muslims, and now runs a bicycle repair shop in Muzaffarnagar town."Nearly one thousand of them were Muslims, almost half of whom owned agricultural land in the village. Today, the village does not have a single Muslim. Hindus have distributed the land and property among themselves."
Said Shahnawaz, a Lucknow-based activist of Rehai Manch, an organisation fighting for the release of youths picked up by the police under false terror charges. "Land is a big issue in western Uttar Pradesh, and so far justice has been denied to all those who had to leave their villages in order to save their lives."
Aligarh
Three members of a Dalit family at Veerampur village in Aligarh district were murdered on July 23. Veerampur is an upper caste-dominated village with just one Dalit family. The murders, allegedly by a group of upper caste men, seemed to be connected to a decade-old dispute between the Dalit family and an upper caste family over four bighas of land. Depending on the locality, a bigha can be anywhere between one acre and three acres.
The government donated the land to the Dalit family in 2002, but the upper caste family claimed it belonged to them, according to reports. Early this month the two sides had quarrelled and the local administration had to order a probe into the land dispute. But even before the probe could be completed, the Dalit family was attacked in broad daylight, leaving three of them dead and one injured.
The injured man, the 25-year-old Kaalu, lies recuperating at Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College in Aligarh. "I want another [plot of] land somewhere else, where I feel safe, in exchange for this one," a report published in The Times of India quoted him as saying. "Even if it means a loss of land and money, I am ready to pay that price for the safety of the remaining family."
A Communist Party of India leader, Girish, who led the party’s fact-finding team to Veerampur village immediately after the incident, confirmed some of these facts. "The crime was committed by a group of eight to ten people, but only two of them have been arrested so far," he said. "The remaining members of the Dalit family apprehend that once the police force [which was deployed after the incident] is removed from the village they may face another attack from those who want to grab their land."
Saharanpur
In this case, a land dispute has been in the foreground right from the start. A dispute between Muslims and Sikhs over construction on land near a gurudwara boiled over on July 26 into violence, leaving three people dead and dozens of others injured. More than a 100 shops were burnt down. By afternoon, a curfew had been imposed on the town.
"The dispute over this piece of land is more than six decades old," said Janeshwar Upadhyay, a local. "The question is: why did it flare up just before the assembly by-election in this town? What about the role of those who want to polarise voters?"
Indeed, in this case, a dormant land dispute needed a political trigger to turn violent.