Last weekend, violence broke out over a protest called by an organisation of the Muslim community against the atrocities allegedly inflicted upon their brethren in Tripura. Call for a peaceful agitation turned out to be a violent act in the streets and against the police. A counter agitation called the next day by saffron organisations and supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party was no different. In some towns like Amravati, the two communities came face to face creating a serious riot-like situation. The police handled the problem responsibly. Curfews have been imposed in Amravati and an equally sensitive Akola, which reacted to the incidents in the neighbouring district. Actually, Akola has a history of frequent communal incidents. But a low profile Amravati is the latest to join the violent league, though the communal divide isn’t very new to this city that has reflected the pattern in the polling.

Where there is a communal divide there is politics (or vice versa). The riot-like situation in some of Maharashtra’s towns over the weekend stands testimony to the observation. While writing this, the towns where violence has been reported were under control, but tense. The police have been on guard with senior additional director general rank officers being assigned the ranges to oversee law and order and execute measures to prevent untoward events. The Maha Vikas Aghadi and the BJP have blamed each other for the situation. Muslim organisation Raza Academy is again in the news for wrong reasons because it had given a call for a bandh to protest against the last month’s alleged incidents against Muslims in Tripura, including the burning down of a mosque, which the Tripura Government has dismissed as fake news.