Indore's transition from trade union politics to communal politics

(Published in: The Economic and Political Weekly,July 26, 2008)

Communal Violence in Indore

by Jaya Mehta, Vineet Tiwari

The "Bharat bandh" of July 3 saw communal violence erupt in Indore, with the police either on the sidelines or allegedly conniving in the attacks on the minorities. A number of events preceded the flare-up. Now fear and insecurity haunt the minority areas.

In the wake of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad's (VHP) call for an all-India bandh, Indore witnessed widespread violence on July 3 and 4, 2008. Eight persons died. (Seven of them were Muslims.) Many people were injured and were admitted to hospitals in a serious condition. This was just a glimpse of the communalist forces active in the town and in Madhya Pradesh (MP).

Background

Indore has had a glorious past of communal harmony. The Holkar state was known for its secular and progressive rule in the region. Indore was also a major textile centre in central India. Hindu and Muslim labourers worked side by side and the working class culture constituted a major bulwark against caste and religious divides. However, the mills have closed down. Indore is no longer an industrial town. It is now a major business hub and a real estate hot spot. Trade union politics has given way to communal politics. The working class culture has been replaced by the neorich culture of shopping malls.

The town is flush with loads of unaccounted money. At the same time, unemployed youth are available in large numbers for recruitment into various activities which characterise the distorted lumpen capitalism of our time.

After the BJP government came to power in the state again in 2003 the Hindu right wing organisations geared up their activities on all fronts and the local administration supported them. 'Path sanchalans'are organised regularly by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in different parts of the town. All public parks are used for morning 'shakhas'. The premise of a girls' college has been taken over to build a temple complex. 'Surya namaskar' is compulsory in all government schools.

Communal politics has made deep inroads in the administrative setup as well as in the audiovisual and print media. Temples in the premises of police stations are a common feature.

It is in this milieu that activists from the Bajrang Dal and other allied organizations have routinely registered their rowdy presence at the railway station, at the airport, in hospitals, and of course, on the streets. The Christian and Muslim communities have been attacked innumerable times. The Muslims retaliate locally. The Christians lodge their protests in various secular forums. However, the skirmishes occur with greater frequency than before.

As a background to the violence on July 3 and 4, one needs to mention two specific occurrences during the past year.

(1) Karbala Dispute: Over the last 150 years or so Muslims have been using a particular piece of land, the Karbala ground, for their three-day long fair of Moharram. This land was given to them in 1890 by Holkar rulers. They have all the necessary proof regarding legal ownership of the land. In 2000, Bajrang Dal, RSS, VHP and BJP activists claimed that there was an old Hanuman shrine in the ground.A Hanuman idol was installed and they started worshipping there every Tuesday.

The case went to court. In 2006, the court mandated that such activity should stop. A huge protest was organised against the ruling in April 2006 and the 'aarti' continued. Taking no cognisance of the court order, the administration decided that the Hindu organisations would be allowed to perform aarti on Tuesdays and the Muslims would continue using this ground for the Moharram fair.

In 2007, Moharram fell on January 30, a Tuesday. The clashes between the two communities started 10 days in advance. Muslims were humiliated and beaten up mercilessly both by the saffron brigades and the police. One old imam in a mosque was beaten up by the police and both his legs were fractured.

On January 30, the administration decided that the Muslims would use the ground till 9 pm. After that the ground would be vacated for the Hindus to perform the aarti. The Muslims gathered on Karbala ground in a large number (about 5-10,000).

At 9 pm, a small group of Hindus reached there. The collector requested the Muslims to vacate the ground. The humiliated mass in thousands refused to vacate and were assaulted by the police. The Karbala issue has become a ready excuse for starting a confrontation at any time. The Hanuman idol is there, the mazaar or the dargaah is there in the other corner of the ground. Despite the presence of police security, the area is always tense.

(2) arrest of SImI activists: On March 27, 2008, the Madhya Pradesh police made a sensational arrest of 13 Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) activists, who included Safdar Nagori, the organisation's top leader and Shibly Peedical Abdul, a Kerala born computer engineer, sought by the police since 2006. The media publicity that these arrests got generated an impression in the town that many Muslims in Indore had links with the terrorist organisation. A number of innocent people have been harassed by the police in this connection.

The cases were registered in Pithampur, an industrial suburb of Indore which belongs to Dhar district. The bar council of Dhar passed a resolution that no lawyer would take up the cases of those arrested in SIMI connections. When one lawyer came forward to take up the cases he was beaten up in the court. In this way, those arrested were denied their fundamental right of defence. Incidentally, Dhar has also been experiencing communal politics since the Babri demolition. The issue of Kamaal Moula masjid and 'Bhojshala' is known to everyone.

It is against this tense background that one looks at the happenings from July 3 onwards.

Chronology of Events

The VHP and BJP gave a call to observe the Bharat bandh on July 3 to protest against the Jammu and Kashmir government's order revoking the transfer of 40 hectares of land to the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board. The local leadership of BJP and the allied organisations naturally decided to make the bandh a big success. It was an opportunity to once again demonstrate their power. As the day broke, the saffron activists unleashed a reign of terror determined to stop all routine activities and in addition harass Muslims in the town in whatever way possible. At around 10 am, the bandh supporters marched in a procession and entered the Badwali Chowki, a Muslim dominated area. They shouted provocative slogans and misbehaved with local residents. There was not enough of a police force to control the hooligans. This happened afterwards in other Muslim dominated areas - Ranipura, Lodhipura, Mukeripura, Narsinghbazar, etc.

In Khajrana area, rowdy mobs of 10-15 teenage boys spread out and attacked, with hockey sticks, Muslim men and women walking on the roads. The victims were poor labourers wanting to go for work. Two women were coming home after a funeral. All these people were stopped, their religion was ascertained by their looks or by their names, and then they were beaten up. The police did not help the victims. They were left unattended on the road. When the Muslims went to the police station, there were only a few constables present and they refused to lodge their complaint. The Muslims then attacked the police station. This was sufficient for the police to behave in the most brutal manner. The bandh supporters were there in large numbers. The local 'patidar' community arrived on the scene with private guns. Some ammunition and arms was reportedly with Muslims also. There was firing resulting in the loss of three lives. Incidentally, all the three were Muslims. In Mukeripura area, when a mob of bandh supporters were near a masjid, they shouted provocative slogans. There was stone pelting from the rooftop of a building.

The bandh supporting mob started throwing stones in retaliation. On the local television channels one could see that the police stood by helpless, unable and unwilling to stop the violence. In all, four people died in the violence which erupted in the town on July 3, 2008. Apart from three Muslims who died in Khajrana, one Sindhi Hindu youth died in Mukeripura. Local residents reported that he was playing cricket outside his house, when the saffron cadre took him to the riot affected area. He died there with head injuries. Police and district administration imposed curfew in four areas of the town.

The next day, on July 4, fresh violence erupted in many other areas and in Juna Risala, two lives were lost because of police firing. Newspapers say that Muslims coming back from the nearby masjid after 'namaz' in Juna Risala started throwing stones and petrol bombs. The police was thus forced to open fire. However, according to the residents in the area the reality was just the opposite. The Muslims werecoming back peacefully after the namaz.

A petrol bomb was thrown on a scooter standing near the masjid. It caught fire, the Muslims were agitated. The saffron squads were present on the spot. The stone throwing took place from both sides and the situation got out of control. The police resorted to teargas shells and firing almost simultaneously. The area also has police residential quarters. The Muslims threw stones and petrol bombs on those houses and people witnessed that there was firing from the roof tops and from windows of the police quarters. Two people died in the firing (both Muslims). After this, curfew was imposed in the whole town.

On July 4, when curfew was imposed in the whole town, a religious procession of Venkatesh Mandir was not stopped in the Chhatripura area. Some 3,000 people participated in the procession. It is to be noted that the procession was taken out in an area, which had witnessed rioting and killing just a day before. Sumitra Mahajan a Member of Parliament, Mahendra Hardia a legislative assembly member, and many other BJP leaders participated in this procession. The police and administration found themselves helpless. Kailash Vijayvargiya, a minister in the state government, was given the responsibility of restoring peace and order. He repeatedly alleged that SIMI has been behind this eruption of violence. The director general of police reasserted this allegation. When asked to provide satisfactory evidence, the press was informed that the police was looking for evidence.

The very next day the Pithampur police recovered four live country made bombs, eight detonators and batteries from a mine in the vicinity of the Pithampur-Rau bypass. Although the police did not explicitly connect the riots with the discovery of bombs and the detonator, all the newspapers prominently placed the two news items adjacent to each other.

The curfew continued for five days. Sewa Bharati, an RSS outfit, offered help to the curfew affected people by providing them food. Along with food, they also distributed copies of a local eveninger, which had brought out a special issue on SIMI's activities in Indore. At the same time, the Bajrang Dal activists stood outside a hospital (Rajeshri Hospital) and did not allow Muslim riot victims to be admitted there.

On July 7, 2008, the BJP leaders took out a peace march in a riot-affected area. The implicit message to the minority people was - "Look, nothing happened to us and nothing will happen to us. You be aware of our strength". The collector and superintendent of police (SP) reaffirmed the message. There are hoardings in the town asking the union government to take back the Haj facilities from Muslims. The Congress leaders came and took the BJP, RSS and district administration to task. They addressed the press and raised a big protest in the assembly at Bhopal. With the elections approaching, the focus will soon shift from providing real justice to the victims to collecting votes.

After five days of curfew the town limped back to normalcy. Like Ahmedabad, Indore is also divided into two. The Muslim majority areas are simmering with anger and a sense of terrible insecurity. These areas are still under police guard. In many households the earning members are still not able to resume their work. The other side has resumed its normal life. The middle class Hindu community blames the Muslims for the disturbance in the town. The Hindu right wing activists go on with the refrain that they wanted a peaceful bandh; it is because of the noncooperation of Muslim community at large and the militancy of SIMI activists that bloodshed occurred.

Administration and Police

Both the collector and SP in the town took charge just about a month before the violence. The administration was admittedly unprepared for the violence which erupted in the wake of the bandh call. The police force recruited in the sensitive Muslim majority areas was inadequate and did precious little to confront the saffron squads harassing the Muslim families.

On July 4, the Khajrana area was under curfew. The police van arrived there on the pretext of guarding the streets under curfew and entered the Muslim residential area. Reportedly, the police force went on a rampage without any provocation from any quarter. The police threw stones at Muslim houses and vehicles parked in the street.

There is the more serious question of police opening fire at Khajrana on July 3 and at Juna Risala on July 4. The Muslims in Juna Risala refused to perform the last rites of the dead, till the first information reports (FIRs) were lodged against three policemen. Reportedly, even though the FIRs have been lodged, no action has been taken against them. On the other hand, the bandh supporters demanded that the FIRs be taken back. Any action against these policemen would bring down the morale of the entire police force, it is said.

The story of police action in Khajrana is even more sinister. One 17 year old boy Imran was going for work. When he saw the crowd in front of police station, he turned back to go home. According to his 14 year old younger brother, a policeman caught him, dragged him down to the ground, put the gun on his face, pulled the trigger and walked away. The mother found the body in the city hospital.

Till now, in communal conflicts, private parties were attacking each other with sticks, stones, knives and other such weapons. This is the first time that private guns have been used on such a large scale. Apart from those who died in firing, a large number of wounded persons suffered from bullet injuries. It needs to be investigated how many licences were issued lately for fire arms and to whom.

Media

Most of the pictures in the newspapers, or footage given on TV showed the Muslim boys and youth with beards and caps throwing stones or shouting. It is clear where the cameramen were and when these photographs were taken. The cameramen stood on the other side, i e, the side of the BJP-VHP people. Channels were continuously showing the scenes of violence for next two to three days after the incident with the label "live".

Once curfew was declared and rioting stopped, the media started reporting in great detail how people (the middle class) were passing their time during the curfew - playing cricket in the streets or inside the compounds of their multistoried buildings; men were cooking some special dishes, or, watching TV with the family or playing cards, etc. The media reported how marriages were organised under the curfew, and so on. The BJP leaders were projected as peaceseeking people appealing to the public to calm down. They led massive peace rallies. Little space was left for reporting the plight of those poor families whose near ones had died or those who were lying in hospitals. There was no effort in the media to mobilise public opinion to take action against the culprits of this crime. In fact, as already mentioned, the media collaborated in diverting attention to SIMI involvement.

Conclusions

The July 3 Bharat bandh for Amarnath shrine land was only an excuse. Any odd excuse can cause a flare-up in Indore. And every new flare-up makes the situation more volatile. Indore is indeed a mini-Gujarat in the making.

The Muslims are insecure. They cluster together and seek shelter in the religious infrastructure whether it is Friday namaz or sending their children to madrasas. At the same time, the Muslim youth is restive and desperate.

The Hindu right wing has many sufficiently well organised squads of young activists who are ready to cause mayhem anywhere at a very short notice. No one dares to resist them. The administration and media offer support with impeccable loyalty to the ruling party's political agenda. The educated and elite Hindu middle class is complacent, rabidly anti-Muslim and anti-reservation. The rest of the Hindu community (the poor and the lower caste) is silent. This silent majority has no opinion, primarily because it has no confidence that its opinion matters anywhere.

It is of utmost urgency that the secular space be recovered. Politics has to be necessarily wrenched from the domain of caste and religious divides so that the meaningful agenda of development, employment and equitable growth comes on the centre stage. One hopes that the civil society groups and the left parties, and secular forces from other political and nonpolitical parties/ organisations will come together and take up this ambitious task without losing any time. One hopes that sufficient confidence can be instilled in the silent majority. It can then claim its democratic space and declare, "We will not allow Madhya Pradesh to become another Gujarat".

Shafi Mohd Sheikh, Ashok Dubey, Sarika Shrivastava, Pankhuri Mishra and Sourabh Das helped in collecting the data, meeting the victims and in writing this article. Jaya Mehta (jaya_mehta[at]hotmail.com) is an economist and Vineet Tiwari (comvineet[at]gmail.com) is a human rights activist and journalist, both are based in Indore.