1980 Moradabad Muslim massacre
On 13 August, as Muslims were celebrating Eid throughout India, police & PAC opened fire on the Moradabad Eidgah where around 40,000 Muslims had gathered to offer prayers.Around 300 Muslims were killed.
Congress was in power in both state & center
On 13 August, as Muslims were celebrating Eid throughout India, police & PAC opened fire on the Moradabad Eidgah where around 40,000 Muslims had gathered to offer prayers.Around 300 Muslims were killed.
Congress was in power in both state & center
Compare that to Jallianwala Bagh, where thousands had gathered on the day of Baisakhi to celebrate and protest. The army under the command of Dyer opened fire, killing around 400 people. The similarities do not end there. In both cases, the victims were fired upon and confined
to closed spaces with only one exit point which was blocked. Then MP Syed Shahabuddin called the Moradabad firing the Jallianwala Bagh of independent India. And rightly so.
BJP leader and external affairs minister MJ Akbar, who was a young journalist at that time, reported from
BJP leader and external affairs minister MJ Akbar, who was a young journalist at that time, reported from
Moradabad. He wrote in his book Riot after Riot: “Men of the Provincial Armed Constabulary opened fire on about 40,000 Muslims while they were at Eid prayers. No one knows exactly how many people died. What is known is that the incident at Moradabad was not a Hindu-Muslim riot
but a calculated cold-blooded massacre of Muslims by a rabidly communal police force which tried to cover up its genocide by making it out to be a Hindu-Muslim riot.”
The media also played a huge role in ensuring that this appeared to be a communal conflict rather than what it
The media also played a huge role in ensuring that this appeared to be a communal conflict rather than what it
was: Murder in cold blood. The English and Hindi media were controlled primarily by the Congress and the Left, who were responsible for giving the police narrative legitimacy that the Muslims' communal tendencies led to conflict.
One English newspaper even published fake news-
One English newspaper even published fake news-
Saying four BSF jawans had been killed, and five were missing and blamed the Muslims. The BSF, reacting quickly not only refuted the news, but also took the press around to show them that none of their personnel had been injured.
This was the line that the police and the Congress government took even as they tried to retain Muslim votes and defend their secular image. On the other hand, the media followed, as has been its tradition, the Congress government's anti-Muslim narrative.
It was a case of police brutality, pure & simple.Force unleashed their fury on Muslims who had come to offer prayers on their day of joy & celebration. 100s, including many children, died in the massacre and stampede. 100s more were critically injured. For them, death came slowly
No record, no compensation:-
Justice Saxena Commission report #MoradabadMassacre of August 13, 1980 has not been tabled in UP assembly 40 years after the incident. Victims of violence, which occurred on eve of Eid that year, at Eidgah, left 284 people dead timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bareilly/…
Justice Saxena Commission report #MoradabadMassacre of August 13, 1980 has not been tabled in UP assembly 40 years after the incident. Victims of violence, which occurred on eve of Eid that year, at Eidgah, left 284 people dead timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bareilly/…
