Organiser-23 October2005

The unexpected outbreak of organized communal rioting in the Mau district of Uttar Pradesh, leaving 12 dead and several dozen injured in over four days of uncontrolled violence, despite the organizers of the Bharat Milap procession cancelling the 13 October show in the interest of social harmony, indicates a cultural intolerance that does not bode well for India. Political parties would do well to consider if this is part of a concerted strategy to enhance the growth of minority conclaves in India by driving out native populations through the systematic use of terror, a weapon used in Assam and other states.