There’s plenty of political finger-pointing going on over the riots in Uttar Pradesh; meanwhile the most recent clashes leaving at least 31 dead. But surely to any observer, all the political parties involved the Samajwadi Party, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress must share responsibility. The Samajwadi Party stands for the rights of Other Backward Castes and Muslims, with its founder Mulayam Singh Yadav being called “Maulana Mulayam” and believed to have a strong grasp on the Muslim vote in Uttar Pradesh.

Yet communal riots have increased in UP on their watch. The BJP and its founders have militant Hindu nationalism as their most abiding credo; whatever flip-flopping they may do on other subjects like the economy or foreign affairs: exclusion of “the other” lies at the bottom of everything. The Congress in its all things to all people mantra has encouraged sectarian violence as much as it swears by secularism.