Is Dadri the New Polarisation Pot for UP Elections?

Three days after the death of Ravi Sisodia, an accused in the infamous Dadri lynching case, residents of Bisada village finally agreed to cremate his body after the government assured to pay compensation. Sisodia’s body had been kept in a deep-freezer casket draped with the Tricolor flag since the night of 5th October. Seeing the body draped in a tricolor, policemen and administration officials however preferred to remain mum as objections might have sparked violence in the area. According to the father, residents wanted to give Ravin the same respect accorded to martyrs. Earlier in the day, the family of Ravi Sisodia refused to cremate him unless the UP government pays Rs 1 Crore as compensation, arrest Jaan Mohammad (Akhlaq’s Brother), orders CBI probe and takes action against the officials of the Greater Noida jail where he was lodged. According to N.P. Singh, District Magistrate, Gautam Budh Nagar, Sisodia’s family will be given a compensation of Rs 25 lakh. The state government will give Rs 10 lakh, another Rs 10 lakh will be given by social institutions while the area’s MP, Mahesh Sharma and MLA Sangeet Som will give Rs 5 lakh. The state government has agreed to recommend a CBI inquiry in the case once a written request from the family is received. Ravi’s wife will get a government job along with free education for Ravi’s child.

His family members maintained that Sisodia was ‘perfectly fine’.  The claim is contradictory to their application submitted in the court on Sisodia’s behalf. It was stated that he was suffering from Chikungunya and that he be transferred to Gautam Buddh Nagar district hospital for treatment. Ravi’s family claimed that while he was initially shifted to the district hospital in Noida, he was taken back to the prison where is condition worsened. Meanwhile, LNJP Hospital authorities said Ravi had died of ‘multi-organ failure of kidney and lungs’. According to the doctor, the patient had chronic kidney disease and diabetes amid respiratory infection and fever. 

Akhlaq was killed on September 28, 2015 by a mob which claimed he and his family had allegedly eaten beef. A report issued by a forensic lab in Mathura 8 months after the incident, had stated that the meat sample recovered belonged to a “cow or its progeny”.  Multiple sources in the police as well as local government bodies have claimed that at least two of those accused for killing Akhlaq have links to hard-line political groups. But the recovery memo prepared by the police however revealed that the meat sample which was declared as beef by the Mathura lab was collected not from Akhlaq’s house but from the place where the mob allegedly gathered to attack Akhlaq.

From the looks of it, the sinister game for Uttar Pradesh elections has already begun over the death of the accused in Dadri lynching case. The village continued to be extremely tense with several Hindutva groups, VHP and BJP leaders addressing the gathering of over a 1,000 people sitting on protest. Sadhvi Prachi, an accused in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, in an address invoked riots while daring the crowds to avenge the “martyrdom” of Sisodia. In full police presence, Kapil Bhati, a local leader from Dadri, asked Hindus to “avenge his death”. Akhlaq’s family has now become the new target in the run up to the elections. While the SP is looking at the incident to reach out to the Muslims in its role as the ‘saviour’ of the minorities, Adityanath spoke for the BJP and its core vote when he said, “I also demand that the state government withdraw all facilities given to his family.” Dadri has set a new record for communal politics in India and after an eight month lapse because of nation and worldwide condemnation at the time, has reemerged as the linchpin for both the BJP and the SP to exploit for their respective religion based vote banks. Watch the Video Here...