The communal clashes in the Old City over the weekend were apparently not just a vehement battle of religious identity
A city that always boasted of rock-solid secular values has finally unceremoniously given way to the tension that thickens around it every time these values are up for challenge. But unfortunately, the communal clashes in the Old City over the weekend were apparently not just a vehement battle of religious identity.
Indeed, the Old City, despite being an area that reeks of volatility (and radiates fear throughout the rest of the city) every time Hyderabad makes headlines for the wrong reasons (2007's twin bomb blasts being one of them), has seen very little by way of actual large-scale communal violence for over a decade.
And Commissioner A K Khan isn't the only one who believes that the rampage that took place over the last weekend was premeditated.
The Milad-Un-Nabi celebrations organized by the MIM were unusually high-pitched this year, what with processions, and green fliers, flags and posters all over the place, and some feel that this is what sowed a few seeds of religious frenzy in the older part of the city, the MIM's bastion. The party's show of power did not go unnoticed.
However, the question of which community actually sparked off Saturday's violence is up for debate. That Muslim leaders never had permission for such a large-scale Milad-Un-Nabi procession in the first place and that Hindu right-wing activists merely wanted to replace those green flags with orange ones for the Ram Navami festival and the upcoming Hanuman Jayanti festival; is one school of thought.
Another theory, that seeks to justify why the savagery that followed on Monday saw innocent Hindus being targeted, says that it had everything to do with a verbal duel during the demolition of places of worship of both faiths – indicating that a Hindu had started the fracas.
The riots were reportedly spurred on by SMSes and instructions to casually available youth (of the age group of 19-25) who had little to think about, and even little to lose by taking part in active violence.
Politicos have much to gain in any case. For the MIM, this was as vocal a show of strength as it could get. For the BJP, a party with almost zero base in the city, this is an opportunity to power up its presence, and quick. That is because the party's newly-appointed state president Kishan Reddy undisputedly has much ground to cover before AP is put on BJP's national map.
As for the ruling Congress party, the fact that several of its leaders have a bone to pick with the CM Rosaiah is no secret. The expected cabinet reshuffle only heightens suspicions that top Congress politicians with possibly bleak futures in the ministry do have a role to play in the recent melee, laden with a mission to portray the government as weak.
It may be recalled that the Telangana break-out - though it evolved into a powerful civil struggle - late last year initially smacked of back-stage orchestration, not too long after Rosaiah came to power. That it attained a well-deserved momentum of its own and that it rightfully gained nation-wide cultural recognition is a different matter, but its unannounced entry did raise a few eyebrows.
In the end, even as a larger, shinier part of Hyderabad remains oblivious to the bleeding of its elder sibling, it is clear that the spirit of the city has been shaken. Because power, in the guise of prayer, has come back to haunt it.