Ethnic violence and religious extremism in India on the rise, in five years over 3800 cases

(December 17, 2009) In the last five years, India has seen a sharp increase in violence provoked by religious and ethnic diversity. These are the findings from a report submitted by Ajay Maken, Minister of State for Home Affairs, to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Parliament in New Delhi. Over the past five years extremist attacks number more than 3800. The report refers only to those detected by the authorities, but the real number could be much higher. From the 677 cases registered in 2004 it has passed, in a gradual crescendo, to 943 in 2008. The report says that 11Union States registered no cases during 2009, but despite this the country is marked by an average of two attacks per day. Several cases have been reported from Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The report on the violence of religious and ethnic radicalism came to the Rajya Sabha in the wake of the review of special law, known as the Communal Violence Bill 2005, which is once again at the centre of political debate after the recent wave of attacks against religious minorities, particularly Christians in Orissa and Muslims in Gujarat. While the government of New Delhi is studying new judicial and police tools to stem the flow of these episodes, the victims of violence complain about the inaction of the institutions and continuing insecurity.