Kerala ranks eighth in communal tension clashes in India

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala can take some consolation from the fact that with 41 communal clashes during 2013, it stands  eighth in the matter among the states, while Uttar Pradesh tops the list with 247.  Only one person was killed in such incidents in the state during the year, but 65 persons were injured.

Kerala has been witnessing an increase in the communal incidents over the last few years with 10 in 2007, 22 in 2008, 36 in 2009, 24 in 2010, 30 in 2011, 56 in 2012 and 41 in 2013, according to the Union Home Ministry statistics.

Police sources said that though communal tension occurs quite frequently in the state, the timely intervention of police and district administrations often helped in preventing it from flaring up. “In a recent incident near Thiruvallam here, the police and district administration nipped it in the bud,” said the source.

RTI activists D.B. Binu who obtained the statistics said that it was high time that a strong law  to combat communal tensions was introduced. Though a fresh Act was mooted last year, it had to be dropped after opposition from various quarters.

In Uttar Pradesh, 77 seven persons were killed  during 2013 in communal clashes, which include the Muzaffarnagar riots too. The other states ahead of Kerala are Maharashtra with 88 incidents, Madhya Pradesh 84, Karnataka 73, Gujarat 68, Bihar 63 and Rajasthan 52. The total number of communal clashes during the year was 823.

In 2012, 56 cases of communal incidents were reported in Kerala in which 71 persons were injured. The number of incidents in 2011 was 30 with one death, and in 2010 it was 24 with no deaths.