Kanpur: Amid deepening communal polarisation in Kanpur, two religious leaders of the Muslim community met the district magistrate Sunday and promised not to take out any rally for the next three days, even as they sought a probe into “excessive and unlawful” use of force against protesters, ThePrint has learnt.
The move came in a bid to check the polarisation in the Uttar Pradesh city hit by severe protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act over the last week.
During their meeting with DM Vijay Vishwas Pant Sunday, Abdul Hadi of the Deoband group and Alam Raza Khan Noori of the Sunni Jamaat said they won’t organise rallies until Wednesday, a senior official in the district administration told ThePrint.
They also sought a probe into alleged “excessive and unlawful” police action against protestors over from Thursday to Sunday, said the official, who did not wish to be named.
Pant promised to find a way to redress their concerns, added the official.
Speaking to ThePrint, Deputy Superintendent of Police Devendra Mishra said 16 cases have been filed across different police stations in the district over the last few days, with more than 16,500 individuals booked for serious offences pertaining to disruption of public order and violence.
The police action came amid unrest in Kanpur over violent protests. As of now, three persons have lost their lives — while Mohammed Sharif, who was hospitalised following a bullet injury, passed away Sunday, Taki Saif and Mohammad Ibrahim died Friday. Seven more injured remain hospitalised.
The total death toll in Uttar Pradesh mounted to 18 even as protests rage on across the country against the contentious law.
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Rumours of ‘midnight raids’
The meeting between the leaders and the administration took place even as rumours surfaced late Sunday of “midnight raids” by Kanpur police at the homes of “suspected” Muslim protesters in the areas of Parade and Bekangunj, adding to communal polarisation in the district.
Abu Zaid, a student leader affiliated to the Samajwadi Party, told ThePrint, “Things were getting back to normal. What was the need to conduct such raids at 11 in the night?”
He participated in a small midnight procession in the two areas following the rumours. Though the processions saw charged sloganeering, there were no reports of violence.
However, Kanpur SP Devendra Mishra denied claims of such raids. “No midnight raids have been conducted. We are just putting up pictures of the suspected people on various crossroads — so that they can be caught and booked… This should ensure that they don’t escape and cause more trouble.”
Social media was abuzz through the weekend with “accounts” of Bajrang Dal and RSS members allegedly teaming up with the local police to raid Muslim households.
A second senior official from the district administration denied these claims as “sheer rumours”.
“When there are such widespread clashes, there is a tendency to hype one-off incidents as a mass phenomenon. But in this case, I’m not even aware of even a single incident of this kind,” he said.
Kanpur saw three days of violence Thursday through Saturday as Muslim protesters remained at loggerheads with the city’s police, Pradeshik Armed Constabulary and the Rapid Action Force.
The clashes saw heavy stone pelting and exchange of fire and resulted in severe injuries to both the protesters and the men in uniform.
Over the weekend, a video from Kanpur went viral showing a cop allegedly shooting at the protesters, as the police grappled with accusations of excessive use of force.
“The police response was very controlled. It was so controlled that one of our constables got injured,” the second district official told ThePrint.
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Return to normal
On Monday, most markets in the Muslim-majority areas of the city are expected to gradually open again, three days after they shut down. In areas that have been hit by severe violence, some food stores opened late Sunday.
“Markets opening up, even though gradually, is always a good sign,” the first district official quoted above told ThePrint.
Schools, colleges, mobile internet and SMS services will, however, continue to remain shut.
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