HOMELY INFAMOUS SLIGHT

 

 

Homely, for the uninitiated, is a word used quite regularly by the less lettered individuals in the matrimonial columns quite regularly, to describe the characteristic of a utopian prospective bride. Homely, for the very well-initiated, means unpretty in English. And Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh), which saw the communal cauldron boiling on Republic Day – when a group of youth clashed over a dance performance in a wedding ceremony – and spreading to surrounding areas (Rajghat, Tiwaripur and Kotwali), was witness to the most infamous and 'homely' slight of hand when the UP administration unbelievably denied permission to the Union Minister of Home, Shri Prakash Jaisawal, to the visit the area. A belligerent, yet controlled Jaisawal told TSI: “Though the law and order in the State is deplorable, we have no intention to impose President’s Rule.”

What had fanned the Gorakhpur incident was when police had rushed in and arrested one of the youth, R. Agrahari, who was participating in the wedding, but failed to protect him from a mob, which lynched him. Riots consequently spread across the district, in which over 24 people were injured and two killed. Police began preventive arrests. BJP MP, Yogi Aditya Nath, and two MLAs, Radhey Mohan Aggarwal and Dr. Y. D. Singh were also picked up, while curfew was imposed in the respective areas.

Tension had been brewing in Gorakhpur over the past few months, with both BJP and Samajwadi Party leaders courting both communities for vote bank politics; and those in power, behaving like tyrannical mafia lords, engaging in open deal making. From daylight killings to open goondaism, UP has been turned into a state that seems to be for, by, and of criminal politicians. Is anybody complaining? Let's ask our dear slighted Union Home Minister...