In Bombay, the dalit Republican Party of India astroturfed yet another round of fake ‘riots’ yesterday after some random statue was dinged two days earlier on the other side of the country:

Thousands of low-caste Hindus attacked police, vehicles and shut shops in India’s financial hub Mumbai on Thursday to protest against the desecration of a statue of their leader and founder of the constitution… “We want police to arrest those who broke [a statue of B.R. Ambedkar]. Otherwise we will burn Maharashtra…”

… police used batons and fired tear gas shells to disperse unruly mobs in the city’s Worli, Bandra and Chembur neighborhoods… “We arrested a man… He was drunk when he pelted stones at the statue, breaking an arm and damaging its head.” [Link]

Four persons were killed and 60… injured in violence across Maharashtra [due to] protests against the alleged desecration of BR Ambedkar’s statue in…. Kanpur… “Five coaches of the Pune-Mumbai Deccan Queen were burned…” Protestors told people to get out of the train before setting the coaches on fire. [Link]

Outbursts like these are very well-planned. It is ridiculous to even think they are spontaneous, especially after two days of the desecration of the statue in Kanpur which is pretty far from Mumbai…

I keep wondering, why do protests always erupt with elections round the corner? …

Protests and reactions are held in far away places and people who are not even remotely connected to the issue are made to suffer…

Stuck in office, afraid to get out after seeing burning trains and broken bus windows, only one thought comes to my mind. Let’s not have any statues. [Link]

In Miami, the Republican Party of America conducted a less violent fake riot in the Bush-Gore recount of ‘00:

… some two dozen GOP recount observers and other Bush supporters had begun pounding on the doors and windows of the county elections tallying room… They demanded to be admitted and chanted, “Stop the count…”

… the fracas at Miami’s recount headquarters was engineered and carried out by Republican Party operatives imported from the heartland… “There were no guayaberas. This crowd looked tweedy. They were from out of town…”

… the Miami protest was carried out by rent-a-rioters flown in by the Republican Party. GOP spokespeople have said that at least 750 Republican activists have been sent into South Florida from around the country to oppose the recount, with the party picking up the tab for a number of them… The halt of the Miami-Dade County hand count…… dealt a devastating blow to Al Gore’s presidential campaign…

“…. most of the people I talked to were white, mostly men, from Oklahoma, Texas…” [Link]

Dalits are still thoroughly discriminated against, but these aren’t riots, they’re organized crime. It’s asinine to commit thuggery over a statue instead of a nonviolent rally about the real issues. Elections coming up? Torch a train.

These crimes are committed by many parties, the last round by saffronists. But what is it about the word ‘Republican’ and violent political intimidation?

Update: Turns out Ambedkar named the Republican Party of India after abolitionist Abraham Lincoln.

Related post: Mob rule