1994; August 15: Hubli (Karnataka)

69% Hindus, 26% Muslims

Chief Minister of Karnataka: M. Veerappa Moily, Congress Party, November 1992–December 1994

Violence erupted on Independence Day in Hubli (Karnataka). The town had suffered from communal tensions for quite some time over the Idgah Maidan, a piece of open land held by the Anjuman-e-Islam (AEI), a Muslim organization. The Hubli municipality had leased out the area to the AEI in 1921 so that Muslims could have a place to hold prayers twice a year. Troubles cropped up in the 1960s when the AEI built a commercial complex on the land. In 1992, echoing the hoisting of the national flag by BJP President Murli Manohar Joshi in Srinagar (Kashmir), the Hubli’s BJP unit attempted to hoist the national flag on the Idgah Maidan, thereby provoking the indignation of the AEI. BJP attempts were successfully countered by the state administration till 1994. On August 15, 1994, two BJP leaders, Sikander Bakhtand Uma Bharti, joined the flag-hoisting campaign in Hubli on the Idgah Maidan. They were arrested by police, angering a crowd of BJP activists. The police resisted and opened fire, killing six people. This riot remains a symbol of the communalization of the South of India.

**(The Pioneer 01/02/1994); **(The Times of India 15/08/1994); **(Sunday, 28/08–03/09/1994); **(Sunday 4–10/09/1994); (***Engineer 1995d)