Kasganj violence took place on 26 January 2018, in

Kasganj Kasganj is a city and the district headquarters of Kasganj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The district was formed by grouping three Tehsils at 17 April 2008 . History Kasganj, which lies in the historical region of Braj, was al ...

, a district in

Western Uttar Pradesh Western Uttar Pradesh is a region in India that comprises the western districts of Uttar Pradesh state, including the areas of Rohilkhand and those where Khariboli, Braj and Kannauji are spoken. The region has some demographic, economic and cu ...

, when 22-year-old student of commerce named Chandan Gupta died by gunshot of an Islamist in a Muslim-majority locality of Kasganj during an "Tiranga bike rally" organised by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of the ruling

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the List of ruling p ...

in the state to mark the 69th

Republic Day Republic Day is the name of a holiday in several countries to commemorate the day when they became republics. List January 1 January in Slovak Republic The day of creation of Slovak republic. A national holiday since 1993. Officially ca ...

Background

On 26 January 2018, A ''Tiranga yatra'' was organized by members of the local unit of the BJP-affiliated students' group,

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) () is a right-wing all India student organisation affiliated to the Hindu nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). History The ABVP, founded in 1948 with the initiative of the RSS ...

(ABVP) to mark the 69th

. The clash came about after a group in Badu Nagar objected to nationalistic slogans being raised via bike-borne members of the ''Tiranga Yatra'', which had started out from the Bilram Gate area. But as per police, the clash allegedly broke out when a member of the student rally allegedly slapped by the another group A 22 years old, Chandan Gupta, was shot dead, and another man named Noushad was admitted to a hospital in Aligarh district after being shot in the leg. Later, the shops were burnt and property was vandalized while returning from the cremation of Chandan Gupta by mobsters. The injured and dead were Chandan Gupta who was allegedly shot by a Muslim youth Saleem Javed.

Aftermath

A special team was set up by the

Uttar Pradesh Police The Uttar Pradesh Police (UP Police), ( IAST: ), is the primary law enforcement agency within the Uttar Pradesh state of India. Established in 1863 as the Office of the Inspector General of Police, United Provinces under the ''Police Act, 1861' ...

. UP CM

Yogi Adityanath Yogi Adityanath (born on 5 June 1972 as Ajay Singh Bisht),

condoled the loss of life in the Kasganj violence and urged people to maintain peace and harmony. The government shut down internet service in the district. On 28 January, 81 people were arrested. Dr Puja Shakun Pande, state president of the Hindu Mahasabha, was held under preventive detention in her house.

Ram Naik Ram Naik (born 16 April 1934) is a veteran Indian politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party, served as the 27th Governor of Uttar Pradesh. Political career Ram Naik was a member of the 13th Lok Sabha and was Minister of Oil and Natural Gas i ...

has described the Kasganj communal clashes as a "blot" on the UP state. Former UP CM and

Bahujan Samaj Party The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is a national level political party in India that was formed to represent Bahujans (literally means "community in majority"), referring to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (OBC), a ...

chief

Mayawati Kumari Mayawati (born 15 January 1956) is an Indian politician. She has served four separate terms as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. She is the national president of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which focuses on a platform of social chan ...

blamed the BJP government for the communal violence and criticed the

Yogi Adityanath Yogi Adityanath (born on 5 June 1972 as Ajay Singh Bisht),

government in the state.

Kalraj Mishra Kalraj Mishra (born 1 July 1941) is an Indian politician, serving as the Governor of Rajasthan. He is the former Governor of Himachal Pradesh and Cabinet Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in the BJP-led NDA government of Prime M ...

termed the incident 'very unfortunate'.

References

{{Reflist Riots and civil disorder in Uttar Pradesh Conflicts in 2018 2018 in India History of Uttar Pradesh (1947–present) 2012 disasters in India Kasganj district Religiously motivated violence in India