The Hindu-Muslim clashes witnessed today were among the worst witnessed in recent years.
The Old City of Hyderabad served as a battleground today, for two restless sides aiming to create complete chaos within it.
The Hindu-Muslim clashes witnessed today were among the worst in recent years. The earliest of incidents began on Monday with stone-pelting by both communities at Siddiamber Bazar, with one group targeting the Gol Mosque, and the other, the temple opposite to it. However, students writing SSC exams in the Old City faced no trouble, and RTC buses ran until the exams ended.
Tensions grew as soon as the exams ended, with Sultan Shahi witnessing air firing as the police tried to curb the rising mob unrest. Charminar, along with Chandrayangutta and Shah Ali Banda, also witnessed violence in the morning, with both groups throwing stones at each other. Rubber bullets were fired by the police in an attempt to control the agitation after tear gas shells and batons proved unfruitful.
Incidents of motorbikes being attacked & set ablaze along with other vehicles, and people riding in them being stabbed by miscreants appearing in fives and sixes, became a regular sight with the day, as Section 144 CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure) was completely disregarded. One person was dead, and several others have been severely injured.
Lal Darwaza was the most hit as it witnessed the heaviest bouts of stone-pelting and thrashing of wooden-sticks. By the end of the day, the entire Old City had witnessed acts of turbulent vilification.
The presence of the RAF, Task Force, CRPF, CISS was felt in and around the area, but was ineffective in controlling the turbulence. Hyderabad Commissioner of Police A K Khan moved into Old City along with 7 other IPS officers, to keep a tab on the movements, but the move proved quite ineffective as unrest continued with frenzied mobs voicing slogans and functioning from lanes and bylanes.
There are allegations that these riots are a result of careful planning and a well-executed series of actions, and especially that the tensions were deliberately created by provocative SMSes from wrong-doers.
Home Minister Sabita Indra Reddy visited the troubled areas, and promised peace to the locals. BJP leader Bandaru Dattatreya, meeting the injured in the Osmania hospital, expressed regret, saying that the attacks on Hindu temples and other places of worship will hurt the sentiments of people and that the police should've imposed the curfew yesterday itself.
However, no other areas in Hyderabad apart from the Old City have been affected with communal riots on Monday.