Bengaluru: The state has failed to cut down on instances of communal incidents, reveals a recent statistical report submitted in the Lok Sabha on Monday, according to which Karnataka has yet again topped the list. However, Uttar Pradesh stands first.
Of the 300 communal incidents that have taken place in the country which has claimed 44 lives and injured 892 persons in the first five months of this year, the state stood second with nearly 36 such incidents registered of which three people lost their lives and another 93 were wounded.
Uttar Pradesh which has been topping the list since 2014 accounted for 60 incidents killing 16 people and injuring another 151.
Other states where higher number of communal incidents were reported this year were Madhya Pradesh (29), Rajasthan (27), West Bengal (26), Bihar (23) and Gujarat and Maharashtra (20 each).
Ironically though the number of communal incidents in the state saw a marginal decline in 2016 with 101 incidents as compared to 105 incidents in 2015, Karnataka has been topping the list of communal incidents in the country next only to Uttar Pradesh. The year 2014 also saw UP, Gujarat and Maharashtra on top followed by Karnataka.
Last year saw 703 communal incidents, a decrease from 751 reported in the previous year. In 2014, there were 644 incidents. Altogether, there were 2,394 communal incidents between 2014 and May 2017 in which 322 were killed and 15,498 injured.
The statistics also showed that the highest number of loss of life was in 2015 when 97 were killed. Last year, 86 lost their lives while in 2014, the number was 95. Among the injured, 2014 accounted for 1,921 while it was 2,264 in 2015 and 2,321 last year.
