A conspiracy to derail Uttar Pradesh’s success story

In UP, Taj Mohammad burnt a copy of Quran in a mosque. In another incident, Mohammad Adil and Mohammad Kamal were held for desecrating three 'mazaars'. Are these incidents isolated or is there a common invisible strand that joins them?

Is there a conspiracy to derail Uttar Pradesh's development story and push the largest state of India into a vortex of communal catastrophe? A number of disturbing incidents, that have hit the state in the recent past - though unhinged on the surface - have an underlying common thread pointing to a diabolical plan aimed at bringing the state into disrepute, and pushing it into throes of massive disturbances.

During communal riots, rival communities desecrating each other's places of worship, though undesirable, is a common phenomenon in the Indian subcontinent. But what to make out of a situation when someone tries to defile one's own place of worship, that too in peaceful times? Then there have been a number of cases where the Hindu religious processions have been attacked and idols desecrated to trigger communal violence and plunge the state into chaos.

Here are some such recent cases:

November 2: A copy of the Quran was found burnt in a mosque. The police later claimed to have arrested a man for allegedly damaging the holy book. The accused, Taj Mohammad, was identified and later arrested from Barujai locality, Ramit Sharma, IG, Bareilly range, told the media.

The CCTV footage revealed that a man secretly entered the mosque, burnt a few pages after tearing them from the book and escaped easily without being noticed by anyone. As the information about the incident spread, hundreds of people gathered outside the mosque and staged a protest. Some people engaged in arson by pulling down hoardings installed on the roadside. Just imagine the havoc this incident could have caused if the culprit had not been identified.

July 22: Two brothers, Mohammad Adil and Mohammad Kamal, were held on charges of desecrating three 'mazaars' to vitiate communal atmosphere during the ongoing Kanwar Yatra in Bijnor district.

July 12: In Lucknow, eight Muslims offered namaz on the premises of Lulu Mall, the video of which subsequently went viral. Rumours were spread that those offering namaz were Hindus, posing as Muslims. Mischief mongers were obviously itching to enrage passions and start a riot. After investigations, the Lucknow Police denied media reports that the eight persons, who were caught on camera offering namaz in Lulu Mall were Hindus. Quick action on the part of the police helped to nip the mischief in the bud.

October 18: A video wherein one Mohammad Shoiab was seen urinating on the Shivling in a Mahadev temple in Meerut went viral on social media. The despicable incident reportedly occurred in a 200-year-old ancient Mahadev temple in Rasna village, which falls under the jurisdiction of Sarurupur police station.

October 10: Thirty-two Muslims attacked Hindus in Sultanpur during Durga Puja, and were subsequently arrested for assaulting a crowd taking part in a Durga idol immersion procession in Baldirai area of Sultanpur.

September 7: One Taufeeq Ahmed was booked for allegedly vandalising a deity's idol at a temple in Lucknow. The incident took place in Lete Hanuman temple situated on Gomti bank. According to the police, the accused entered the premises of the temple while wearing a tilak' on the forehead and started vandalising the deity's idol, while chanting Jai Shri Ram'. What possibly can one make out of this weird act?

August 9: The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested a 25-year-old man from Azamgarh, who was associated with Islamic State (IS) group and was planning to carry out a blast during Independence Day. He was also planning to target RSS members, the ATS claimed. According to the ATS, Sabahuddin Azmi, a resident of Mubarakpur area of Azamgarh, worked as an electrician.

April 3: Ahmed Murtaza, 29, injured two Provincial Armed Constabulary jawans with a sharp- edged weapon and tried to forcibly enter the Gorakhnath temple. He is a chemical engineering graduate from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mumbai.

Are these incidents isolated ones, independent of each other? Or is there a common invisible strand that joins them in a series with a shared goal? Two things are certain: the perpetrators of these crimes want to trigger Hindu-Muslim strife and they have some ulterior motive in doing so. What possibly could be the aim of such elements in creating this mayhem? One to defame Yogi and BJP and second to halt the development process in the state. Obviously, no investor is going to put even a dime in a place which is burning and where law and order is in shambles.

So, there is surely a method in this madness. The Yogi government has highly ambitious plans to put the most populous state of the country on a fast development escalator. Recently speaking in Lucknow, the Chief Minister announced his resolve to make the state (till recently dismissed as a part of BIMARU matrix in the country), a one trillion-dollar economy by 2027. Given the fact that present size of the state economy is estimated at $ 274.3 million - a near four-fold jump in five years appears to be impossible - or too optimistic.

But Yogi has his plans in place and he is working overtime to make the near impossible, possible. The CM has drawn a roadmap - he is proposing to organise a Global Investor Summit in January, 2023 and the target is to invite investments worth Rs 10 lakh crores.

The state is driving socio-economic growth across the region with infrastructure development. The newly completed Purvanchal Expressway, the ongoing Ganga Expressway, and the extensive road network planned are all in the right direction. The Noida International Airport will transform the state and region as a global hub for both passengers and cargo. With the Ganga clean-up projects, the river can be developed as a central waterway system like the Rhine in Germany.

Can UP do this? That too in such a short time? Hopefully, under Yogi it can. Just look at the state's performance during the last five years, including the three wasted ones because of COVID. Exports increased from Rs. 88,000 crores to Rs. 1.56 lakh crores in the last five years. UP implemented over 500 reforms leading to a quantum jump of 12 positions to secure the second rank in the Government of India's Business Reform Action Plan ranking. UP also jumped seven positions to rank sixth in India on Logistics Ease Across Different States' survey.

Uttar Pradesh has the potential to emerge as the cultural capital of India. Places like Mathura, Ayodhya and Varanasi are being developed at an epic scale. The Ram temple in Ayodhya is likely to emerge as a global tourist hub - leading to all around development of the state.

While the Yogi government has taken initiatives to free the state from scourge of criminals, mafia and anti-social elements, vested interests - many of them inspired, controlled and funded from abroad - will continue to make determined efforts to disturb peace and communal harmony so as to scare the potential investors and vitiate the environment. Yogi Government will have to watch out for such anarchist elements, for whom human lives mean nothing and wouldn't hesitate to do anything to derail the state's march to progress and prosperity.

(Mr. Balbir Punj is a Former Member of Parliament and a Columnist. He can be reached at: [email protected])

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