Mulayam Singh has had it in Muzaffarnagar

After motoring through some of the Jat dominated villages around Muzaffarnagar from where Muslims have been driven out (or which they have left in fear), I can say with certainty: something very sinister is happening barely two hour’s drive from New Delhi and just a little more from Lucknow. Has the Muslim-boy, Hindu-girl element been inserted into the narrative of August 27 in which a Muslim and two Hindu boys were killed? Various stories are available: that two motorcycles collided, leading to a scuffle and that the girl angle is an afterthought. The second is that a Muslim and some Hindu boys claimed the same girl’s favours, and thirdly, a girl complained to her family that Muslim boys tease her when she passes their village on her way from school. Can there not be an official, police version?

September 14, 2013

Durga Shakti Nagpal walked into a trap laid by sand mafia

Ever since, Nagpal took charge as SDM, she has been sending out special squads, to stop sand dredging and loading onto trucks. She has arrested 15 people and imposed fines of several crores on those caught. Hundred of trolley and dumpers have been confiscated. The sand mafia was obviously rattled. In fact the entire construction industry was in a state of shock. And this construction industry is one of the biggest in the country – Sports City, Greater NOIDA Expressway, 82 colleges, four universities and apartment blocs upon apartment blocs. This requires sand. But license for mining along twenty miles of the river is granted only to one person. This dummy “miner” is the cover for hundreds of crores worth of sand.

August 10, 2013

A hundred million Muslims in search of a party

The more the communal picture changes since the demolition of the Babri Masjid 20 years ago this week, the more it remains the same.

December 10, 2012

Carving communal constituencies: Countdown to 2014

I have, by way of a diversion, looking at the deteriorating communal situation nearer home, in UP. Let me begin with Faizabad, the precursor of Lucknow’s great culture.

November 27, 2012

The Ghaziabad whodunnit

I met nobody who had actually seen the desecrated pages of Quran. Nor had those I spoke to met anyone who had set eyes on the dreadful piece of evidence.

September 22, 2012

Rushdie not a problem for Muslims but for politicians

The Maulana from the Darul Uloom seminary at Deoband who threatened the Jaipur Literary Festival with disruption, in case Salman Rushdie participated, is only the latest in a long list of spoilsports appointed by God.

January 22, 2012