2013 Muzaffarnagar riots
The clashes between the Hindu and Muslim communities in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, India in August–September 2013, resulted in deaths of atleast 98 Muslims and 21 Jats and injured 93 and left more than 50,000 people displaced. By date 17 September, the curfew was lifted from all riot affected areas and the army was also withdrawn.
| 2013 Muzaffarnagar Riots | |
|---|---|
| Part of Religious violence in India | |
Location of riots | |
| Date | 27 August 2013 – 17 September 2013 |
| Location | Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India 29.472332°N 77.708874°E |
| Caused by | altercation between Hindu (Jats) and Muslim at Kawal village on 27 August |
| Violence and action | |
| Death(s) | 62 |
| Injuries | 93 |
| Arrested | 1,000 booked |
| Detained | 10,000 |
| Part of a series on |
| Violence against Muslims in independent India |
|---|
| Major incidents |
|
The riot has been described as "the worst violence in Uttar Pradesh in recent history", with the army, as a result, being deployed in the state for the first time in last 20 years. The Supreme Court of India, while hearing petitions in relation to the riots, held the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party prima facie guilty of negligence in preventing the violence and ordered it to immediately arrest all those accused irrespective of their political affiliation. The Court also blamed the Central government for its failure to provide intelligence inputs to the Samajwadi Party-governed state government in time to help sound alerts. In 2021, a local court allowed the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government to withdraw a case of inciting violence against 12 BJP leaders involved in the riots.
In 2022, BJP MLA Vikram Singh Saini along with 11 others were sentenced to two years imprisonment by a special court which convicted them of rioting and other offences.