The 1980 Moradabad riots report was tabled by the Yogi government after 43 long years which indicted Muslim League leaders and Congress CM VP Singh for the violence.

A retired judge named Justice MP Saxena of the Prayagraj (Allahabad) high court was tasked with inquiring into and creating a report on the riots. This report was commissioned by the then-Congress government led by Chief Minister VP Singh. The one-man commission report authored by Justice Saxena was submitted in May 1983.

However, none of the governments before, whether they were from the Congress, Samajwadi Party, Janata Dal, or Bharatiya Janata Party, shared this report with the public. The current Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath, was the one who decided to make the report public. The riots occurred in 1980 in the Moradabad district of Uttar Pradesh (UP) and resulted in the deaths of at least 100 people.

Justice Saxena’s report on the 1980 Moradabad riots

Preceding the submission of the report, Yogendra Makwana, the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, had levelled accusations against the BJP which was founded only in April 1980 and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), asserting their involvement in orchestrating the riots.

However, the recently published 500-page report exonerates the RSS and the BJP from any wrongdoing. Instead, it attributes the violence entirely to the communal politics pursued by certain Muslim political leaders.

Here is the retelling of the events as outlined in the Justice Saxena report:

Moradabad, a district known for its brassware industry, had experienced instances of communal violence before the Idgah incident. The years 1971, 1975, and 1978 witnessed communal unrest in various cities and towns within the Moradabad district.

In 1980, the political landscape of Moradabad was marked by Dr Shamim Ahmed Khan’s revival of the Muslim League, with his attempt to challenge Hafiz Mohammed Siddiqui of the Congress Party. Siddiqui enjoyed the support of both Muslim and Hindu communities, including the Punjabi and Valmiki castes.

Several months before the violence erupted, a minor disturbance occurred ahead of the May elections. An injured cow was intentionally set loose in the market, seemingly aimed at provoking Hindus and dissuading their support for Siddiqui due to his Muslim identity.

Nevertheless, this incident failed to incite unrest among the Hindu population, and they continued to support Siddiqui, leading to the defeat of both Khan and a Punjabi Hindu candidate named Hansraj Chopra.

Around the same time, in May, a young girl from the SC (‘Dalit’) Valmiki community, aged around 17 or 18, was kidnapped and subjected to a gangrape by local Muslim youths led by a certain Mohammed Riyaz. The incident occurred while she was cleaning a building. In a bid to enhance his standing among Muslims, Khan aligned himself with the accused individuals.

Concerned about the political backing enjoyed by the accused, the girl’s family quickly arranged her marriage to ensure her safety. On July 27, during her wedding procession, the procession was targeted with stones near a mosque. Muslims alleged that the procession’s music during the time of Iftar (the breaking of the fast) was the reason for the attack.

This claim was fabricated, as the procession had passed the mosque well before Iftar. The attackers also pelted stones at Valmiki homes and set them ablaze. Khan played a role in inciting the crowd.

Another incident that Khan sought to exploit for political gain was the assault on Bhure Ali and others. Javed and his associates were held accountable for the attack by the police. Tragically, Javed died while in police custody. Khan launched a campaign asserting that Javed had been killed by the police. Despite administrative orders, a funeral procession (juloos) was organized with Javed’s body.

Simultaneously, following the assault on Valmikis, the community ceased cleaning the toilets of the Muslim colony starting on July 24. In retaliation, Muslims poisoned pigs owned by the Valmikis. Khan’s popularity among Muslims was on the rise.

The events on August 13 were premeditated, evident from two communal police complaints filed by the Muslim community on the evening of August 12. This was seemingly done to shift blame onto the Valmikis and Punjabi Hindus for subsequent incidents (specifics of the case are not detailed in the commission’s report).

The account of a pig entering the Namaz area was a fabrication. No evidence was found to support the claim that a pig had strayed or been deliberately released into the Idgah area. Muslims consider pigs unclean and believe their prayers are disrupted upon seeing a pig.

The pig rumour was followed by additional rumours that police had killed numerous Muslims during prayer. These rumours incited widespread attacks by Muslims, who engaged in rioting while chanting slogans calling for the killing of policemen and Hindus, and the burning of their homes.

Police chowkis (stations) and thanas (police posts) were targeted, followed by attacks on Hindu neighbourhoods. Hindus eventually retaliated, leading to full-fledged communal violence. The police attempted to control the situation, but it swiftly spread to other parts of the town.

The town ground to a halt and government offices ceased operations. A total of 84 deaths were recorded in the subsequent days, affecting both Muslims and Hindus. A total of 20 locations in Moradabad were impacted by the violence. In areas like Idgah, Barafkhana, and Bhoora ka Chauraha, most deaths occurred due to stampedes.

The report, after recounting this sequence of events, concluded that the administration could not be held accountable for the violence, nor could the local Hindus. The RSS and the BJP were found to have no role in the events.

District Magistrate SP Arya and Police Chief VN Singh had taken appropriate precautions. Even the ordinary Muslim populace could not be held responsible. The orchestration of the violence was solely attributed to Dr Shamim Ahmed Khan and another leader of the Muslim League, Hamid Hussain, also known as Ajji.

Lutyens media remains in denial

Despite Justice Saxena’s report clearly pinning the blame for the Moradabad riots on two Muslim league leaders, Lutyens media is attempting new ways to blame Hindus. After The Print journalist Praveen Swami couldn’t find a way to pin the blame on Hindus in the Moradabad riots, he came up with the trope of ‘conditions’.

If they were not finding red herrings, the media thought it best to raise the question of ‘timing’ by firing from the shoulder of the opposition.

The Economic Times report held that the report on the Moradabad riots ‘justified’ police action.

The Moradabad riots, a bloody chapter in UP’s history, are the centre of the state’s politics once again.