Why the pages of the report of 1980 Moradabad riots have not been opened till date?

The UP cabinet has decided to make public the report of the 1980 riots in Moradabad. The Yogi government will present the report of the Justice Saxena commission set up to investigate the riots in the assembly. The violence broke out on 3 August 1980 at Idgah in Moradabad.

On November 20, 1983, the Justice Saxena Commission submitted its report after investigating the Moradabad riots. Many governments came in 43 years, but till now the report has not been made public. For 43 years, the victims of the Moradabad riots wandered from door to door demanding justice and compensation.

The report of the inquiry commission has been kept confidential

The report of the investigation of this riot in 1980 is completely confidential. The government says that it cannot be made public now. The state government will now place this report in the House, after which the full truth of the riots can come to the fore and the innocent can get justice.

The Yogi government has claimed that Justice Saxena’s report has cleared all allegations leveled against the police, and has accused the then Muslim League leader Dr Shamim Ahmed of “carrying out violence to defame the administration”, reports the Indian Express. and also blamed Valmiki Samaj and Punjabi Hindus to gain support for himself”.

Please tell that the then Chief Minister VP Singh had constituted a one-member judicial inquiry commission to investigate the riots. The report of this commission was presented in the cabinet on Friday after 40 years. After getting approval from the cabinet, now the report will be presented in the Legislature.

83 people lost their lives in the riots

On August 13, 1980, there was stone pelting and ruckus during Eid prayers in Moradabad. After this, 83 people were killed and 112 people were injured due to the outbreak of communal violence. The commission constituted to investigate the matter submitted its report to the government on 20 November 1983.

Reason for making the report public

The question is, what is the reason behind making this investigation report of the riots public after 43 years? According to sources, in the report of Justice Saxena Commission, the main role in this riot was considered to be of the then State President of Muslim League, who was a resident of Moradabad.

According to sources, it is also in this report that the conspiracy of this riot was hatched to trap people of other communities and for communal violence.

On the morning of 13 August 1980, more than 50,000 people gathered at the Idgah to offer Eid prayers. The crowd was huge and spread out on the streets. While prayers were being offered, there was commotion outside after a pig allegedly entered the crowd on the streets from Valmiki Basti, about 200 meters away from the Eidgah.

After the decision to make the report public today, after 43 years, the old wound has become fresh again. According to the news published in the Indian Express, there are many people in Moradabad who still remember that day as if it was the day before yesterday.

Similar is the story of 48-year-old Faheem Hussain. Faheem, who runs a herbal medicine shop in Galshahid area of ​​Moradabad, has lost four members of his family in the riots. According to Hussain, “On August 13, 1980, a congregation of worshipers in the Idgah of the city was completely disbanded.

A few hours later, police reportedly broke down the doors of his ancestral home, his grandfather, uncle and servant were taken out and put in a police van, never to be seen again.

Local people say that Hussain’s grandfather, uncle and servant have been killed. Hussain’s 70-year-old mother Sajida Begum is still waiting for her husband.

Sajida Begum told The Indian Express, ‘His body was never handed over to me. The police kept telling me that he was in jail. Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi came to our house and offered me financial help. I refused. I wanted my husband.”

The streets around the Idgah in Moradabad are full of similar stories of alleged vandalism. People call it the “worst communal violence in UP so far”.

Former journalist and ex-BJP MP MJ Akbar, who was then editor of the weekly and reporting from Moradabad, wrote about the incident in his book ‘Riot After Riot’, calling it a “massacre” by a “communal” police force. Said. Reports have also been claiming that the Moradabad incident was not a Hindu-Muslim riot. Many reports have also been making the same claim.

Eid, a crowded Eidgah and a stray pig

According to a report published in the Indian Express, eyewitnesses say that on the morning of 13 August 1980, more than 50,000 people gathered at the Idgah to offer Eid prayers. The crowd was so big that it spread on the streets. A commotion broke out outside Valmiki Basti, about 200 meters away from the Eidgah, after a pig allegedly came on the streets during the prayers.

When people asked the police present at the spot why they had allowed the pigs inside, the policemen allegedly scolded them saying that it was not their job to protect them from the pigs. After this people started pelting stones at the police. A stone hit the head of an SSP rank officer.

Eyewitnesses told The Indian Express that as soon as the officer fell unconscious, the police allegedly started firing from the main gate of the Idgah. Due to this, people started running to safe places from the second door of Idgah. A stampede broke out.

Mohammad Nabi, who lived in the locality adjacent to Idgah, was then 32 years old. He says “All of us were trying to escape. Some people were running carrying their children on their shoulders. Many people were crushed to death. Some people got electrocuted by electric wires. At least 150 people died here. Death has happened. I have raised the dead bodies with my own hands.

Intezar Hussain (65), a tailor in the mohalla, told The Indian Express that he woke up to the sound of gunshots and saw blood-soaked people running here and there. As he took refuge in a nearby mosque for one night, a bullet passed through his head. “I am lucky to have survived. Forget justice, there was not even a trial at the police station.”

‘It was a police-Muslim riot’

Angered by the police firing, the mob allegedly ransacked and set on fire the nearest police post at Galshahid, a few hundred meters from the Eidgah. Two constables died there. Witnesses told The Indian Express that this was followed by police allegedly torching local mosques and businesses, driving people out of their homes and shooting them.

The house of Faheem Hussain, who lost his family members in the accident, is just behind the post. He told The Express, “For the police, everyone living around the outpost was guilty. The officials did not understand the need for investigation. He says, “After fighting till the Supreme Court, I have lost all hope for justice.

His neighbor Mohammad Alam’s mother was allegedly shot dead and all his belongings were set on fire. The imam of the local mosque, Putnam Ali, was allegedly dragged out and shot before the mosque was torched. In his memory, the name of the mosque has now been changed to Puttam Shaheed Masjid.

Dr Nisar Ahmed, a resident of Galshahid and 15 years old at the time, alleged that the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) was involved in violence during and after the incident. He said, ‘It was not a Hindu-Muslim riot. It was a police-Muslim riot.

Mohammad Nabi says, “We are surrounded by Hindus here. When we fled, Hindus gave us shelter in their homes. Many stayed in Hindu homes for days fearing police retaliation. Then suddenly within a week This riot turned into a Hindu-Muslim riot and the police was behind all this.

Ahmad, who lives near the Eidgah, was just 10 years old when he said, “Some order was restored only after the BSF and the Army came to the city, which remained under curfew for months.

According to media reports of the time, violence in Moradabad continued until August, but sporadic incidents of Hindu-Muslim riots continued to be reported from neighboring towns and villages until November that year.

old memories still sting like raw wounds

Valmiki Basti used to be a busy area. Now there are only 10 houses there. Wilson Valmiki, who ran a paan shop in the basti, then a teenager, told The Indian Express that the two communities had lived together for a long time, but the Idgah incident created a rift.

He says “I can’t confirm the pig story, but things got worse here for some time after the Idgah firing. Since then a lot of people have left the area. Many Punjabi Hindus have also moved out.

Most people are of the view that there is no point in discussing the matter now as too much time has passed and those allegedly responsible are either dead or missing.