Muslims flee homes in Bareilly; fear being targetted during Kanwar yatra

After some kanwariyas were caught on tape vandalising a car in Delhi's Moti Nagar area recently, another disturbing news about the ongoing Kanwar yatra has come in. A report published in The Indian Express states that atleast 250 families in Khelum village of Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district have been given 'red cards' by the police over the last one week. The 'red cards', which were handed over to both Hindu and Muslim families, states that if they try to disrupt the ongoing Kanwar Yatra in any way, they will be held accountable for the trouble. 

"We have secret information that during the Kanwar yatra you might create trouble...with this red card we are informing you that if you create any trouble during the Kanwar yatra, action will be taken against you. You will be held accountable," read the red cards, according to the Indian Express report.

The district administration has also identified 441 locals who might cause trouble. These locals have also been made to sign a bond of Rs 5 lakh so that they don't cause any disturbance. 

The drastic move has scared around 70 Muslim families and they have decided to leave the village. The step comes a year after violence hit last year's Kanwar yatra in the same village. The clashes between Kanwariyas and Muslims had left dozens injured along with 15 security officials following which the police had registered two FIRs against 29 Muslims and 14 Hindus. 

While the Hindus in the village are hopeful of a peaceful yatra this time, it's the Muslims that are scared of the red card warnings and bonds. According to the report, Bareilly SSP Muniraj G said that the red cards were not legally valid and were only issued so that the locals know that they were under the police's surveillance. Speaking about Muslims leaving the village, he said that he was unaware of it and speculated that the Muslim families might have gone from the village for their own work. 

The district administration also made it clear that they had never asked the Muslims to leave the village in this manner. "It has come to our knowledge that people have locked their houses and left the village. They fear that if there is any kind of violence they will be falsely implicated. This mentality has been created by some people. We have assured them that no action will be taken against anyone not involved, but they have not listened," the report quoted Bareilly District Magistrate as saying. 

What's interesting in the whole episode is the fact that the police has turned the house of one Hasmat Khan into their control room after Khan left the village last week. "We have put the route under-surveillance and installed CCTV cameras. We have a set up a control room at Khan's house," the report quoted Aliganj SHO as saying.