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2021 Tripura riots

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2021 Tripura Riots
Date20 – 29 October 2021
Location
Tripura, India
Caused byVandalisations of mosques
Parties
Local authorities
Number
10,000+
Casualties
Injuries15
Arrested102
Buildings destroyed110+

The 2021 Tripura riots happened in the eponymous state of north-eastern India.

The riots started on 20 October 2021, mainly triggered by the vandalisations of "mosques" in the state. The situation deteriorated after several rallies were taken out by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on 21 and 26 October. Some miscreants attacked a small mosque, some shops and houses belonging to families from the minority community during the rally. Section 144[further explanation needed] was imposed soon after.[1][2][3]

Background

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See also: Violence against Muslims in India

83.40% of Tripura's population is Hindu,[4] with a significant number of Hindus migrating from Bangladesh.[5] Locals see the recent violence in Tripura as a response to recent violence against Hindus in neighboring Bangladesh's Comilla District. The opposition parties like TMC and CPI(M) also alleged that BJP and its allies were trying to use the recent violence in Bangladesh and Tripura to polarise the voters ahead of the municipal elections in the state in November.[6][7]

Timeline

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In protest against the violence in Bangladesh, rallies were held by Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Hindu Jagran Manch (HJM), among others. Participants in a rally held by VHP and HJM at Udaipur in Gomati district on October 21 clashed with police as the latter denied them permission to enter localities with mixed populations. Fifteen people including three policemen were injured in the incident. At Dharmanagar in north Tripura, a 10,000-strong rally was carried out on October 21 by different organisation's including VHP and the HJM.[3]

After these incidents, rumours began circulating both offline and online. On October 23, images of a broken Shiva idol went viral on social media. Police later said that the Shiva idol was found in an abandoned place atop a local hilltop, surrounded by thick vegetation. They said there was no way to tell if it was broken due to natural causes or if someone broke it.[3]

On October 26, a protest rally was taken out by VHP at Panisagar in north Tripura. A section of the protesters allegedly vandalised a few houses and burnt some shops at Rowa Bazar. On the same day, some activists who had joined the rally allegedly vandalised a local mosque at Chamtilla village, around 800 yards from Rowa Bazar.

Later in the night, a large gathering of people showed up from minority dominated localities in Churaibari. The administration then dispersed the gathering through discussions. Section 144 was imposed at Panisagar and Darmanagar.

On October 29 unidentified miscreants vandalised a local thatched-walled Kali Temple at Kailashahar of Unakoti district. Local Hindus and Muslims came together and rebuilt the thatched walls of the temple.[8]

Aftermath

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Upon a complaint by AITC spokesperson Saket Gokhale, the National Human Rights Commission on November 3 sought a report on the riot from Chief Secretary of the state and Director General of Police.[9][10]

Suppression of press freedom

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A four-member fact-finding team of Supreme Court lawyers visited the area on 29–30 October and released a report highlighting the anti-Muslim nature of violence.[11] Days later, Tripura Police invoked stringent anti-terror laws against two of them for “promoting enmity between religious groups as well as provoking people of different religious communities to commit breach of peace”.[11][12] The police also filed charges under the same provisions against 102 people including journalists[13] for protesting, or even merely mentioning, the communal violence on social media platforms and asked social media platforms to freeze their accounts.[14][15][16] The 5 journalists include in the lists are Maktoob Media journalist Meer Faisal, NewsClick senior news editor Shyam Meera Singh, freelance journalist with BBC and The Guardian Sartaj Alam, Arif Shah and C.J. Werleman, global correspondent of London-based monthly newspaper Byline Times.[17]

People's Union for Civil Liberties as well as Editors Guild of India condemned the coercive actions as malicious and requested the state government for committing to a proper investigation instead of penalizing activists.[18] Several people filed a petition with the Supreme Court seeking to quash the UAPA charges registered against them.[19][20][15] On 17 November, the Supreme Court of India granted immunity to all coercive action.[21]

On 15 November, two female journalists were arrested from Assam for fomenting a "sense of hatred between communities" by circulating "doctored videos", after members of Vishva Hindu Parishad had filed a complaint against them (in Tripura) for reporting on an incident of mosque burning and thereby, "maligning the image of Tripura government".[22][23] The Editors Guild of India asked for a swift withdrawal of all charges, and characterized the police actions as a foil to deflect public attention from its own failings in dealing with majoritarian violence.[24] On 15 November, the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Gomati district granted them bail against sureties of INR 7500.[23]

References

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  1. ^ "Tripura: Mosque Vandalised, Shops and Houses Attacked During VHP Rally".
  2. ^ "Tripura violence: With no Hindu-Muslim riots in decades, what led to the recent attacks in the state?". 28 October 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "Tripura: Mosque vandalised, two shops set on fire during VHP rally". The Indian Express. 27 October 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  4. ^ "Tripura Population 2021". India Census. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
  5. ^ Shahid, Rudabeh (28 October 2021). "Explained: Why religious fault lines are emerging in Tripura". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 11 November 2021. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  6. ^ "Tripura: Anti-Muslim violence flares up in Indian state". BBC News. 28 October 2021.
  7. ^ "Tripura: Tit-for-tat communal violence grips northeastern Indian state". The Independent. 28 October 2021. Archived from the original on 28 October 2021.
  8. ^ "Vandalism, communal unrest: What's happening in Tripura and why?". The Indian Express. 2 November 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  9. ^ "Tripura Violence : NHRC Seeks Report From State Govt On TMC Spokesperson Saket Gokhale's Complaint". LiveLaw.in. 3 November 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  10. ^ "NHRC seeks report from Tripura after TMC files complaint of violence against minorities". The Indian Express. 4 November 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  11. ^ a b "Tripura Violence: UAPA Charges Levied Against Lawyers From Fact-Finding Team". The Wire. 4 November 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  12. ^ "Tripura violence: Delhi lawyer booked under UAPA for promoting enmity". Hindustan Times. 4 November 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  13. ^ "Editors Guild condemns police action against journalists in Tripura under UAPA". Hindustan Times. 7 November 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  14. ^ "Tripura Police Books 102 People Under UAPA for Social Media Posts Against Communal Violence". The Wire. 6 November 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  15. ^ a b "'Deeply Shocked': Editor's Guild, IWPC React to Tripura Police Booking 102 Under UAPA". The Wire. 7 November 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  16. ^ "'Sheer Misuse of UAPA': Journalists, Lawyers Slam Tripura Police's Cases on Them". The Quint. 8 November 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  17. ^ "Indian police open terror investigation into 5 journalists". 12 November 2021.
  18. ^ "PUCL condemns Tripura Police's case on lawyers for fact-finding report on communal violence". The Caravan. 7 November 2021. Archived from the original on 11 November 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  19. ^ "UAPA: Supreme Court agrees to fix date to hear plea to quash FIRs by Tripura police". The Hindu. 11 November 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  20. ^ "Supreme Court To Hear Plea Of Journalist To Nix Tripura Anti-Terror Case". NDTV. 11 November 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  21. ^ Ojha, Srishti (17 November 2021). "Supreme Court Restrains Tripura Police From Coercive Steps Against 2 Lawyers & 1 Journalist Booked Under UAPA". www.livelaw.in. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  22. ^ "Two women journalists booked in Tripura, detained in Assam". The Hindu. 15 November 2021.
  23. ^ a b PTI (15 November 2021). "2 women journalists, arrested by Tripura Police for covering communal violence, get bail". ThePrint. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  24. ^ "Editors Guild shocked by Tripura Police's move". The Hindu. 7 November 2021. Retrieved 8 November 2021.

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