Friday, September 20, 2013

Blog 2: Fear and Loathing in North India’s Sugar Cane Town

Violence in small villages in India has begun to spread due to religious tensions. On September 7th, riots broke out between the majority Jat community and the Muslim minority in the Muzaffarnagar district located about 80 miles North of New Delhi in an agricultural district of predominately sugar cane fields. Forty-five people have already been killed and 42,000, mostly Muslims, have been evacuated to Muslims camps located in Muslim majority villages. The start of the riots, however, started out small with two Hindus man killing a Muslim man for stalking their female relative. The family of the stalker retaliated by killing these two Hindu men and progressively the violence evolved into riots. On September 8th, local police were sent out to respond to the violence by imposing curfews and evacuating Muslims to camps. The families from the villages affected by the violence have encountered everything from shootings involving the death of many of their family members as well as the burning down of their villages.

            Families of the victims killed by the violence in their villages must come to terms with the loss of their loved ones while also adjusting to their new lives without them. This can be especially challenging for women because of the lack of financial opportunities they have in the rural areas of India. This can eventually lead to poverty within their families if they are unable to come up with enough money to support their families. . It is also important to note that Muslims are the minorities in the Jat community where the violence has occurred which can suggest that they are being treated this way since there is less of them to fend for themselves.   The violence occurring in India also more sociological implications because Hindus and Muslims are not being treated the same. According to the article, unlike the Hindus, Muslims are being evacuated to crowed camps in horrible conditions where other Muslims are going through the same situation. The Prime minister has already promised relief to the victims and persecution of those responsible for the riots but nothing has actually been done. 

Karina Velazquez
9/20/2013
12:08 am

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