A blasphemous FB post, police inaction, a truculent SDPI and rumours of Congress infighting...all lead up to Bangalore's worst street rioting in yearsBy Ajay Sukumaran

August 31, 2020

Ground ZeroRiot police patrol a street in the violence-hit area of Bangalore. Photograph by PTI

No sooner had the August 11 mob violence in east Bangalores Kaval Byrasandra locality been containedafter police firing which claimed three livesthan the politics kicked in. The Congress hadnt reacted immediately and when it did, the response was guarded. So, leaders from the ruling BJP lost no time in prodding the party over appeasementthe violence-hit localities have a sizeable Muslim population and the Congress has a strong presence there. In fact, Congress MLA Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy, whose house was ransacked and burnt down, had won the 2018 polls with the highest vote share in Karnataka.

So what had gone wrong? A Facebook post on Prophet Muhammed shared by Murthys nephew P. Naveen touched off the riotous scenes in which a mob attacked his house, vandalised two police stations and torched vehicles on the street. But various undercurrents in these localitiesseemingly linked to the municipal polls that are due this yearalso appear to fill the frame of what has been Bangalores worst street riotings in several years. Karnatakas home minister Basavaraj Bommai hinted as...

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Anatomy Of A Riot - Outlook India