By any yardstick, the reaction in Agra to the road accident will appear severe. It may even seem overwhelming to residents of cities that are learning to get used to the frequent spilling of blood on the streets. But the early-morning rampage of the truck — which mowed down four youngsters returning home after prayers on a night that held special religious significance for the majority of city-dwellers — had obviously touched a raw nerve. Within hours, the consolidated anger was being directed at objects larger and less tangible than the killer truck. The symbols of the administration, the police included, were the main targets. But ordinary people on the streets, too, took much of the brunt. The spiralling violence left one dead and several others injured — and worse, it now threatens to rip apart the carefully preserved communal fabric of the city. Unless, of course, the curfew holds.

As in all other instances of violence, the troublemakers, who seize the leadership of such operations to give full play to their criminal streak, did much of the damage. The success of peace measures depends on how efficiently they are kept under control. However, they could hardly have managed to manipulate the situation to their advantage had there not been a groundswell of feeling that encourages such lawlessness. Difficulties faced by the people in the course of their day-to-day existence as members of civic society or specific grievances of particular communities often galvanize such feelings. The Gujjars’ fear of losing out to Meena dominance had promoted widespread disturbance throughout northern India recently, leading to what has been described as the biggest siege of Delhi in living memory. And even as this is being written, Dalit anger over an upper-caste killing is spreading like wildfire through Haryana and parts of Punjab. While the larger issues, enmeshed in politics, invariably require time to be addressed adequately, the day can be saved only by the alacrity of those entrusted to maintain law and order as also a stupendous public will to stop things from sliding.