How 2018 Republic Day-Turned-Riot Continues to Haunt Uttar Pradesh's Kasganj
The sole death in the riot was of Chandan, a big CM Adityanath admirer. His family says no promise has been met.
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Video Editor: Subroto Adhikari
Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath has claimed that there have been no riots in the state under his rule. But in 2018, UP witnessed a major communal clash in Kasganj, widely termed as a riot at the time. However, unlike the traditional nature of riots, there has been a shift in how communal violence now takes place in UP. While traveling across the state, The Quint found that large scale riots have been replaced by low-key, low-intensity, but frequent and sustained acts of communal flare ups. Minor altercations and petty disputes are now escalated into inter-community clashes in order to keep the pot boiling. Local cadre, or small players are used as the primary vehicle to dispense this violence, often leaving them reduced to mere pawns.
The Quint will bring stories that capture this trend, in a series called ‘Everyday Communalism’. This report is the third in the series.
26th January is celebrated as Republic Day across the country. But for Sangeeta Gupta, the date only serves as a gory reminder of the day her son Chandan was killed. She often finds herself reliving that day, and wondering if things could have gone differently.
On Republic Day 2018, Chandan led a bike rally of 100-odd men, to celebrate the occasion. The group carried with them both the national flag as well as saffron flags, as they rode into the Bir Abdul Hamid lane, a Muslim-majority colony in the city. The Muslims families in the colony were holding their own small flag-hoisting ceremony at the same time.
The 2018 Kasganj bike rally of national flags and saffron flags that escalated to a riot.
Special Arrangement\ The Quint
“We had just gotten done with the flag hoisting, and were about to start the prize-distribution ceremony that we had arranged for the children from the nearby government school. Just then, these men barged into our lane, and insisted that they will take this exact route to take out their bike rally. We told them to wait for a few minutes as our programme was just about to get over, but they said they will not budge, and began sloganeering loudly,” Shakeel Khan, a doctor who lives in that colony recalls.
“One thing led to another, the tension escalated to the point of stone-pelting and eventually led to the entire city getting consumed in violence and fire,” he says.
Shakeel Khan with the children of his colony, four years after the riot.
Fatima Khan\The Quint
Much like Khan, most of Kasganj remembers that time as a “black day” in the history of the city.
The argument over the route of the bike rally, an ostensibly petty matter, got escalated to a city-wide riot. Shops were burnt and several hundreds were injured. In the violence that ensued, Chandan was shot at and killed. While many were injured, his was the only death in the riot. The primary accused in the case was arrested by the Kasganj police a few days later.
But for Chandan’s mother, nothing will bring her son back.
'No Promise Fulfilled by Yogi Government': Chandan's Family
Just three days before his death, Chandan held a big bhandara or free meal service at Kasganj’s Gorakhnath Mandir, affiliated with the Gorakhnath Peeth situated in Gorakhpur, whose chief priest is CM Yogi Adityanath.
“He was a huge Yogi Adityanath admirer. Every Monday, he used to do pooja and aarti (worship) at the temple,” Sangeeta recalls.
Chandan's mother Sangeeta Gupta and brother Vivek Gupta.
Fatima Khan\The Quint
For the family, there is a feeling of resentment, of their son reduced to a mere ‘pawn’ in the larger ecosystem.
The family says that they were promised a government job for Chandan’s younger sister, and a ‘Chandan Chowk’ in their son’s honor, but neither of the promises have been fulfilled.
“We keep going to Lucknow, meeting politicians of all ranks, but none of the promises get fulfilled. It’s really upsetting,” Sangeeta says.
When The Quint visited Kasganj on 26 January 2022, the ‘Chandan Chowk’ was still only getting constructed—4 years after Chandan’s death. Moreover, the family claims they were made to pay for the bust by the local administration.
The government-promised 'Chandan Chowk' is still under construction.
Fatima Khan\ The Quint
Chandan’s brother, Vivek, is a member of the RSS, and continues to hold high hopes from the organisation as well as the BJP. “Chandan was also deeply involved with the RSS. So we really hope they listen to our pleas.”
'A Communal Riot Stoked Out of Nothing'
In the violence that ensued, many Muslim-run shops were targeted in the central markets of the city. 58-year-old Mansoor Ahmed’s shoe store ‘Sherwani Boot House’, has existed since 1947 and has been run by 4-5 generations of his family.
The shop was burnt to the ground during the riots, and Ahmed had to rebuild it in the months after. Speaking to The Quint at his shop, Ahmed says it took him a long time to come to terms with what transpired.
Mansoor Ahmed outside his shop.
Fatima Khan\ The Quint
“Kasganj had never seen any Hindu-Muslim conflict of this nature before. This time, a communal riot was deliberately created, out of nothing. It was a small matter that could easily have been resolved, but was stoked up unnecessarily,” he says.
Even four years after the riot, Kasganj sees high para-military and police presence deputed all over the city.
Security force stationed at Kasganj on Republic Day, 2018.
Fatima Khan\ The Quint
Speaking to The Quint, Kasganj police SP Rohan Botre said that the police is on “high alert” on all important events in Kasganj.
“We have to be careful because of a few notorious elements who created that situation during the riots. Kasganj has been a sensitive spot, so we have to keep a keen eye on the city always,” Botre said.
A Damaged Fabric, and 'Emboldened' Youth
For the local residents of Kasganj, the 2018 riots have damaged the communal fabric of the city “irreparably.”
“The riots created a huge rift between Hindus and Muslims. Whoever would look at us, would view us like an enemy. They would look at us and turn away. The atmosphere hasn’t gotten much better since,” says Dilshad Khan, a shop owner located a few meters away from where Chandan was killed.
Meanwhile the impact of the deadly riots can also be felt in the younger generation. The Quint spotted a group of young boys on a bike rally, carrying the national flag, on Republic day 2022.
Manoj Rajput and his friends take out 'Tiranga Rally' on Republic Day 2022.
Fatima Khan\The Quint
When asked if the riots left them feeling scared, one boy Manoj Rajput, said “no, we didn’t feel scared. In fact, we felt emboldened.”
“The Muslims killed our brother, they killed Chandan. So we feel even more brave now, for our brother’s sake,” said Rajput, who is 16-years-old now. He would have been only 12 at the time of the riots.
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