Kasganj Violence: Investigation Compromised, Attempt to Protect Hindus and Frame Muslims

A fact-finding team comprising senior journalist Ajit Shahi, along with former IPS officer S R Darapuri, civil rights activist Teesta Setalvad, Magsaysay awardee Sandeep Pandey, lawyer Shoaib Mohammad and Delhi University professor Apoorvanand, on Wednesday released a report: ‘Truth of Kasganj’. In the report, the team has found that Muslims were selectively targeted on January 26 in Uttar Pradesh's Kasganj communal clashes, and that the police probe into the violence has been grossly compromised. The report was prepared based on a study of the police reports, first-person accounts of affected people, and on the ground visits.

They also alleged that there were inconsistencies in the police's version of the violence, as documented in the two FIRs, and there were attempts to protect certain people. The activists also demanded a high-level inquiry into the communal clashes.

The incident

Kasganj violence took place on January 26, 2018, when 22-year-old Chandan Gupta died in communal clashes that broke out in a Muslim-majority locality of Baddu Nagar during an unauthorised ‘Tiranga Rally’ – marking the 69th Republic Day – organised by youth affiliated to the right wing groups. 

On the morning of the fateful day, the residents of Baddu Nagar had put up chairs at Veer Abdul Hameed trisection in the colony in preparation for a flag hoisting ceremony in the morning. At around 10 am, a group of around 100 bike-borne men – allegedly associated with a local students’ group called Sankalp Foundation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) that comprises of members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) – “forcibly” tried to pass through the trisection with saffron flags and tricolours. They allegedly chanted slogans such as ‘Hindustan Mein Rahna Hoga, Vande Mataram Kahna Hoga (If you have to stay in India, you have to chant Vande Mataram)’.  

Lapses in investigation    

1. The Uttar Pradesh police filed two FIRs instead of one FIR for one incident, one for violence against Hindus, and the other for homicide against Muslims. While the former got bail, the latter remained behind bars for several months.

2. Two of the rallyists, both Hindus, admitted that it was the Hindus who gatecrashed the flag-hoisting function. They said that the bikers' rally was led by Anukalp Chauhan. CCTV footage of the incident, which buttresses this claim, was ignored by the police. Chandan Gupta's brother too admitted that Chauhan was at the rally. Chandan was killed during the clashes in Kasganj on Republic Day.

3. The police said that Anukalp Chauhan was absconding. But surprisingly, he was pallbearer at Chandan Gupta's funeral the next day.

4. On January 25, Chauhan had in a YouTube video, called for violence against Muslims in Kasganj, and had reportedly said, from now onwards, Kasganj would be for Hindus only.

5. Shockingly, a general diary (GD) entry number 29 clearly says that the Hindus at the rally belonged to the Hindu Vishwa Vahini – Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's outfit. The police made a second GD entry (number 43) where this crucial fact was ignored.

6. Anukalp Chauhan and two others, who, according to the police, were absconding, surrendered in April and got bail within minutes. By contrast, Salim, the alleged shooter, who was granted bail months later by the Allahabad High court, remains incarcerated. This is because the non-bailable National Security Act was slapped against him.

7. The police have ignored alibis of at least three of the 28 accused. For example, Waseem, brother of accused shooter Salim, was in Hathras. CCTV footage and affidavits by the eyewitnesses have been ignored. Jagga, another accused, was at a Lucknow police station with a friend trying to get an impounded car released. Footage from the police station was ignored. Both Jagga and Waseem are in jail under NSA. Another accused, Asim Quereshi, was in Aligarh, and has CCTV footage to prove this. His testimony too was ignored.

8. The main eyewitness in the second FIR is Chandan Gupta's father, Sushil, who was not even at the spot at the time of the incident. Other eye witnesses admit they did not see what happened, only heard of it from others.

The report has been endorsed by a number of civil society groups from India and abroad — Alliance for Justice and Accountability, New York; Citizens for Justice and Peace, Mumbai; Indian American Muslim Council, Washington DC; Peoples' Union for Civil Liberties, New Delhi; Rihaee Manch, Lucknow; South Asia Solidarity Group, London, and United Against Hate, New Delhi, said Ajit Sahi, who worked on the report. The police investigation into the violence has been "grossly compromised in a blatant attempt to protect the Hindus and frame the Muslims", the 21-page report alleged, adding, the administration and police "failed" in preventing the violence.