1980 Moradabad riots

1980 Moradabad riots
Part of Religious violence in India
Location of the Moradabad district in Uttar Pradesh
DateAugust–November 1980
Location
Moradabad district, Uttar Pradesh India
MethodsKilling, Arson and Looting
Parties
Police, Hindus
Part of a series on
Violence against Muslims
in independent India
Major incidents
Part of a series on
Violence against Hindus
in independent India
Issues
Incidents

The 1980 Moradabad riots, also known as the refers to violence that happened in the Indian city of Moradabad during August–November 1980. When a pig entered the local Idgah during the Eid festival prayer on 13 August, local Muslims asked the police to remove the pig, but the police refused to do so. This led to a confrontation between the police and the Muslims.[1][2] The police responded with indiscriminate firing, which led to many deaths. This was followed by a series of violent incidents which became religious in nature, and led to arson, looting and murders.[3][4]

The violent incidents continued until November 1980. The total death tally is uncertain: Justice MP Saxena Committee's Report found 83 deaths in communal rioting. [5] However unofficial reports claim the death toll to be in several hundreds. The riots greatly affected the city's noted brassware industry, which saw a sharp decline in the production and export figures.[6] Journalist and BJP MP MJ Akbar wrote in his book Riot after Riot that the incident "was not a Hindu-Muslim riot but a calculated cold-blooded massacre of Muslims by a rabidly communal police force which tried to cover up its genocide by making it out to be a Hindu-Muslim riot.”[7] EPW correspondent Krishna Gandhi claimed that the "group of criminals supported by ML leaders" were responsible for the massacres. According to him, the firing occurred after Muslims beat up policemen, and the excesses committed by the police were, according to him, a reaction to Muslim attacks.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference SteveWilkinson2006 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Shashi1997 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Satish Saberwal, Mushirul Hasan (1991). "14. Moradabad Riots, 1980: Causes and Meanings". In Asgharali Engineer (ed.). Communal riots in post-independence India. Universities Press. pp. 209–227. ISBN 978-81-7370-102-3.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Krishna_1980 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Staff, Scroll (9 August 2023). "1980 Moradabad riots: Judicial inquiry report clearing RSS, BJP tabled in Uttar Pradesh Assembly". Scroll.in. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  6. ^ Sami Uddin (1989). Entrepreneurship Development in India. Mittal Publications. p. 254. ISBN 978-81-7099-115-1.
  7. ^ Akbar, M. J. (1988). Riot After Riot: Reports on Cast and Communal Violence in India. Penguin Books. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-14-011026-5.