July 8th, 2008, Indore
by Vineet Tiwari
(Shafi Mohd. Sheikh, Jaya Mehta, Ashok Dubey, Pankhuri Mishra and Sourabh Das helped in collecting the data, meeting the victims and in writing this article).
In the wake of BJP and VHP’s call for an all India Bandh, Indore town witnessed widespread violence on July 3rd & 4th 2008. Seven lives were lost. (Six of them were Muslims). Many people were injured and are admitted in the hospitals in serious conditions. It was merely a glimpse of the intention of the communalist forces active in town and in the state of Madhya Pradesh. They want to replicate the Gujarat experiment of massacre and bloodbath in MP too.
As the state government is of BJP, it was clear to everybody that state will rope in all its resources to make the Bandh a success. There has been a massive reshuffling of state bureaucratic cadre in the recent past. As a result, both the Collector and SP in the town have taken charge just about a month ago. One wonders if they bothered to get familiar with the history of recurrent communal strife in the town.
On the 3rd and 4th of July 2008, BJP and its allied cadre targeted the Muslim community in a planned manner and the administration offered them the opportunity to do so. Here is a brief chronology of the violent incidents which occurred.
1. On July 3rd, two outlets of Reliance Fresh opened their shutters to unload the vegetables which arrived in the morning. These outlets were attacked by the BJP, Bajrang Dal and VHP cadre.
2. At around 10.00 A.M., the Bandh supporters entered in the huge number in Badwali Chowki, a Muslim dominated area. They shouted provocative slogans and misbehaved with local residents. There was not enough police force to control the hooligans.
3. The same happened afterwards in other Muslim dominated areas -- Ranipura, Lodhipura, Mukeripura, Narsinghbazar, and Khajrana. In Khajrana area, people passing on the road were stopped. After ascertaining their religious identity, Muslim men and women were beaten up and left unattended. A mob of 10-15 people comprising of young teenager boys were beating Muslims with hockey sticks. Police was not helping the victims. Aroused people went to the police station but were not given any assurance. Angry and humiliated people poured their anger on Khajrana police station. It is also to be noted that the Bandh supporters were also there in large numbers. Filled with fury and fear, the Muslim community retaliated with stones and other weapons. Reportedly some ammunition arms were also there. Firing was opened from both the sides resulting in the loss of three lives. Incidentally all the three were Muslims.
Likewise, in Mukeripura area, when a mob of Bandh supporters reached near a Masjid, they shouted provocative slogans. There was stone pelting from the roof top of a building. Those who indulged in this violence covered their faces with handkerchiefs. The Bandh supporting mob also started throwing stones in retaliation. On the local television channels we observed that the police stood by helpless unable to stop the violence.
4. In all, four people died in the violence which erupted in the town on July 3rd, 2008. Police and district administration imposed curfew in four areas of the town. Both Collector and SP accepted in an interview with media, that they did not anticipate this level of violence. Three people died from the one area, Khajrana. They were all Muslims and the one Sindhi hindu youth died in another incident. Local residents reported that he was playing cricket outside his house, when BJP leaders took him to the riot affected vicinity.
5. It seems that even after the previous day's incidents, police and administration could not gauge the boiling temper of the town. Next day, i.e. on July 4th, 2008, fresh violence erupted in many other areas and took two more lives. Newspapers say that Muslims coming back from the nearby Masjid after Namaz started throwing the stones and petrol bombs. However, we were informed by some residents that first the Muslims, who were coming back peacefully after the Namaz were attacked. They retaliated. The police took action against Muslims only and supported the BJP and others taking active part in the riot. After this, curfew was imposed in the whole town.
6. The pressure of BJP on Police and administration can be well understood by one more incident. When curfew was imposed in the whole town, a religious procession of Venkatesh Mandir was not stopped in Chhatripura area. Police and administration found themselves helpless. Some 3000 people participated in the procession. It is to be noted that the procession was taken out in an area which witnessed rioting and killing just a day before. Member of Parliament Sumitra Mahajan, MLA Mahendra Hardia and many other BJP leaders participated in this procession.
7. Kailash Vijayvargiya, a minister in the state government has been given the charge to restore peace and order. He has repeatedly alleged that SIMI is behind this eruption of violence. DG police reasserted this allegation. When asked to provide a satisfactory evidence for this allegation, press was informed that the police was looking for the evidence. Next day the police promptly put up the supporting evidence. It should be noted here that in the recent past police has been found guilty of planting false evidence and harassing innocent people in connection with SIMI activities.
As elsewhere in the country, Indore also has a glorious past of communal harmony. However, for last two decades the engineered communal tensions and clashes are increasing. The reason is no different than that in other parts of the country.
The Holkar state is known for its secular and progressive rule in the region. It is common to find temples and mosques or churches built adjacent to each other. Now, with the advent of communal strife, these symbols of peaceful coexistence are being used to poison people’s mind and to fill the two communities with hatred. Not a single month goes without a major or minor communal skirmish in the town.
Communal politics has made deep inroads in the administrative setup as well as in the audio visual and print media. Temples in Police Stations are a common feature in entire country, including the states ruled by the left front. Now a days, the press clubs are also not spared. In Indore Press Club, one can see a newly built big enough temple inside the premise.
Muslim community in Khajrana reports that on 3rd of July the RSS and Bajrang Dal systematically bashed up the Muslims walking on the street. When the muslims went to lodge a complaint at the local police station the police refused to do so . This infuriated the Muslims and they started throwing stones. This was promptly photographed and reported by the media ‘Muslim mob in communal frenzy’. Innumerable instances of such biased and inflammatory reporting can be cited. Channels were showing continuously the scenes of violence for next 2-3 days after the incident with the label ‘LIVE’.
Media was reporting in great detail how people (middle class) are passing their time in curfew---playing cricket in the streets or inside the compounds of their multi storied buildings, or men cooking some good dishes celebrating it as a holiday, or watching TV with family or playing cards, etc. Little space was left for reporting plight of those whose near ones died or those who are lying in hospitals. There was no effort from media to mobilise public opinion to take action against the culprits of this crime. There were several shows of peace seeking people appealing public to calm down. There was a general philosophical message inherent in these all that “Past is past; now forget about it and restore peace”, as though; it was a natural calamity or merely an accident.
Reportedly, the police force on the pretext of guarding the streets under curfew entered the Muslim resident area and indiscriminately attacked their vehicles and threw stones at their houses. Reportedly, there was firing from the rooftops of police quarters.
Furthermore, Sewa Bharati, an RSS outfit, declared help for curfew affected people by providing them the food. Some mobile numbers were also shown on the television to contact. This reminded me of the US attack on Afghanistan when they threw food packets along with the bombs. On July 7th, 2008, BJP leaders took out a peace march in a riot affected area. This was clearly giving a silent message to minority that- Look, nothing happened to us and nothing will happen to us. You minorities, be aware of our strength. Quiet and calm Collector and SP were also silently reaffirming the message. There are hoardings in the town asking the union government to take back the Haj facilities from Muslims, if Amarnath Shrine Board is not given the land title in Jammu. These hoardings display the names of the very same people who took the lead in the Peace March.
On July 7th, 2008, we interviewed and took the statements of the injured people and talked to their relatives. Three were critical. They got injured in firing. They were kept on ventilators. I saw them. The same night, one of them died who was hit by a bullet in the neck.
Congress leaders came and took the BJP, RSS and district administration to task, but they are no real hope. With the nearing elections in the state, as well as in the nation, the focus will soon shift from providing real justice to the victims to collecting votes.
In such circumstances, we know that there is no readymade solution. It is also not that that we have suddenly got up from any sleep after this shock. We, in limited numbers and in more limited resources, have been fighting with these communal fascist forces, forces of globalisation and forces of darkness for years. But, and this has been a big but for all of us, these forces are gaining fresh strength day by day.
We appeal to all anti communal, anti fascist forces to keep a close watch on Madhya Pradesh, and try to spare more time for the activities in Madhya Pradesh, and make strong links with the likeminded people and organisations.
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CONTACTS: Sandarbh Kendra, 26, Mahavir Nagar, Off Kanadia Road, INDORE-452018.
Vineet Tiwari -09893192740, Jaya Mehta-0731-2561663, Ashok Dubey-9424577474, Shafi Mohd. Sheikh-9425032121
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