Mehmdavad
The attacks that took place in this part
of Gujarat on March 1, 2002, were widespread and organised. The statements
of villagers from Mehmdavad and Jinger Kheda district, said the crowds
were 5-7,000 strong and attacked from three sides. Three-four leaders who
were using mobile phones, hordes of people wearing saffron headbands and
the resounding echo of abusive slogans were the lasting impressions the
attacks made on a shattered rural and small-town community.
Karim Bhai Mallick, a witness from
Mehmdavad whose statement was placed before the Tribunal, stated that on
March 1, Mehmdavad, which is a small town with a history of communal
harmony, saw violence and hatred for the first time. A Muslim majority
township, Mehmdavad held out bravely under prolonged attacks that carried
on through the day. However, Sarvar Khan, a karigar (craftsman)
who carved mandirs (temples) from wood, was brutally
slaughtered by a mob, which also tried to attack the witness.
Nearby villages like Ghodasar and Jinger,
which have 50-100 Muslim houses, saw brutal murders and arson. In Ghodasar,
14 persons were hacked to death and there was nobody left to pick up the
corpses. Witness S. Mansoori from Mehmdavad stated that the Darbar
sarpanch of Ghodasar, Gansham Singh, saved the lives of 13-14 Muslims
who were in danger. The maimed and gorged bodies, of persons found in the
fields outside Jinger, were made public only on March 5. These 14 persons
were buried in nearby Jinger. In Jinger, which has a population of around
1,500 Muslims, 80 per cent of whom fled the village for months. Large mobs
of about 5,000 surrounded the village and attacked the Muslims
relentlessly. In Ghotas village, Hindus and Muslims are together even
today. Haldasvar village, which had around 100 Muslim homes, faced a
violent attack from the Bajrang Dal and the VHP. The Muslims managed to
save Mehmdavad kasba (small town) but the farms on the outskirts
were vulnerable and three persons were killed in their homes. Two were
Sayeds from the Bori Roji Vista and one other. The deceased are Sarvar
Khan, killed in Mehmdavad; 14 hacked to death in Ghodasar and 3 killed in
Mehmdavad kasba.
Statements from residents of Mehmdavad
were also placed before the Tribunal. Shafi Bhai Mansuri, ex-president of
the local municipal corporation, described how Mehmdavad faced an attack
from three sides. The villagers were completely taken aback. The mobs
carried weapons like swords, trishuls and guptis. Twenty
shops were looted and destroyed, including that of the witness. There are
9 villages in the Mehmdavad area, where unfortunately, all the Muslim
homes and shops were attacked. The shops and businesses belonging to
Muslims in Ghotas village and Khatrad chowki were destroyed
completely, reducing people to abject poverty.
The terrorist violence that the Bajrang
Dal and the VHP unleashed left the ordinary person terrified. Their attack
was both physical and mental. It was meant to crush the victims. The
statement of another witness, S. Mansoori, describes how there was
complete peace in Mehmdavad after the Godhra incident. Residents even had
a meeting of the Shanti Samiti (peace committee) on March 1. And
then, as if from nowhere, they were suddenly attacked by a mob of 7-8,000.
There are a total of 40 policemen available for Mehmdavad range and they
were not enough to control the mobs, whose leaders were consulting people
on mobile phones. The idea behind the attack was clear: destroy
businesses, burn the shops and wherever there were Muslim peasants, kill
them. This witness stated that, while 14 bodies had been found and buried
in Jinger, there were 15 to 20 persons still missing. He stated that,
tremendous pressure was put on the police and the revenue department to
let the mobs do their work unhampered. But he and others were full of
praise for DIG Kuldip Sharma, who resisted the pressure.
Statements of witnesses have raised
serious questions on the issue of rehabilitation. When villages were being
wiped out and entire businesses targeted, how are Muslims supposed to
handle the issue? In Kani village, even the fields and crops belonging to
Muslims had been burnt. Mansoori also gave the Tribunal details of his
son’s plight in Vasad village in Anand district. The village is
dominated by Patels and the 50 businesses belonging to Muslims there were
targeted. Dinshabhai Patel, the sarpanch, was leading the attack.
The witness’ son Mehmood, his wife and four children, were attacked by a
mob carrying revolvers. They managed to escape because the mob was more
interested in looting. The mob took away 15-20 tolas of gold. The
masjid and dargah in Vasad were destroyed using a bulldozer.
The statement of this witness records
his anger at the calculated misreporting by newspapers like Sandesh.
On March 9, Sandesh published a story saying that arms were found
inside the Mehmdavad masjid. It also reported that in Daudpura
area, externee criminals were to be found. This, the witness stated, was a
blatant lie. Residents of Mehmdavad themselves got the police to check the
masjid, who found the story to be false. The police said
that they knew such news was being used to generate more hatred and
violence. There are Hindus living all round them in Mehmdavad – Lohars,
Thakurs and Parmars. The Muslim residents of Mehmdavad, a Muslim-majority
village, were proud that they did not allow anything to happen to them.
The statement of Amar Singh Parmar of
Mehmdavad was also placed before the Tribunal. A Hindu, he said that he
was awake along with everyone else, battling the mobs that were trying to
attack the villagers. He also asserted that there was never any disharmony
in the city. The statement of Yusuf Sheikh, film distributor,
living in Mumbai, was also placed before the Tribunal. Asha Cinema in
Mehmdavad, which he owns, was completely destroyed, causing him a loss of
around Rs. 20 lakh. It was thoroughly burnt from inside and the equipment
and machinery totally destroyed.
In Kheda town, Yusuf Sheikh was witness
to the destruction of shops and businesses. What was most disappointing
was the utter lack of response from the police to their pleas.
Kheda town
The Tribunal recorded statements of
Yasin Bhai Mohammed Bhai Vora, ex-president, Kheda municipal corporation,
who said that prior to this, Kheda town in Kheda district, had not seen
violence in the past 60 years. At 12.30 p.m. on March 1, 2002, shops in
the bazaar near the Jama Masjid were destroyed and a rickshaw was
burnt. A rice mill, two kirana (provision) shops (Lucky
Trading and Ismail and Co.) belonging to Mehta Bhai Gafur Bhai were burnt.
One bakery (Gujarat Bakery), two shops belonging to Noor Mohammed and five
cars belonging to Zubeidaben were also destroyed. About 150 local Hindus,
from the Hanuman Mandir, Balapir and Baghod areas, were the ones who led
the attack.
In Kheda town, the dargahs of
Baban Shah Pir, Dawood Shah, Shikaru Pir and Utavla Pir were destroyed.
The witnesses blamed the sarpanch and inspector of police for
inaction. The Kheda Relief Camp had about 2,000 people who had taken
shelter from the villages and towns around.
Of a total population of 32,000, the
Muslims in Kheda number 10,000. However, it is the Muslims who dominated
business activity in the town and the total damage they suffered as a
result of the attacks amounted to Rs. 70-80 lakh. For the past two years,
the RSS, VHP and the Bajrang Dal had repeatedly sought to provoke the
population. Sentiments were kept on the boil. At least 3-4 times a year,
provocative pamphlets were circulated. In fact, the last such pamphlet had
been circulated a month before the Godhra incident. The purpose was to
create hatred against Muslims. Published anonymously, the pamphlets asked
every Hindu who received it to make at least 10 copies so as to keep the
circulation chain expanding.
Nadiad
In Nadiad city, in Kheda district, where
two people died in police firing, there was not a single Muslim shop left.
Fifteen or twenty shops selling TVs and other electronic goods, watch
shops, a bakery, a kerosene dealer and timber mart right next to the
police station and the bus stand, were destroyed on February 28, 2002. At
the same time, the 25 shops selling vegetables in Santram market,
belonging to Hindus, were left untouched.
The two persons who died were a
maulvi, Hafiz Zuber Memon, (25) and Yakub Bhai Indori (22). Pankaj
Bhai Vinod Bhai Patel (known as Gotya and belonging to the BJP)
accompanied the police as they fired.
Those accused of mob violence in Nadiad
are: The RSS, the VHP, Bajrang Dal, Pankaj Bhai Vinod Bhai Patel (BJP),
sarpanch of Kheda town. The policeman indicted in Nadiad: IP of Kheda
town, for acting at the behest of the BJP’s Pankaj Bhai Vinod Bhai Patel.
Kanij
Kanij is a 500-year-old village in Kheda
district, with a population of about 10,000 including 125 Muslim families.
The Muslims belong mainly to the Malik and Pathan castes. Amongst the
Hindus, the main castes are the Patels, Rabaris, Darbars, Harijans and
Thakurs.
On March 1, 2002, at around 7.00 p.m.,
as the Muslims were getting ready for dinner, they were attacked by a
2,000–3,000 strong mob. All the Muslims fled to the fields of Nainpur
village situated 3-4 km away. They hid in the fields until the morning of
March 3, and got food from neighbouring villagers and passers-by. When
they returned, on March 3, they found 106 houses completely burnt and
completely looted. The remaining 19 houses, built adjacent to Hindu
houses, had been looted but spared from arson. These were mainly some
kaccha jhuggis (crude huts) of the poor, and one three-storey house.
The losses included household goods, agricultural implements and cattle.
An hour after they had returned, a mob
collected and launched another attack on the Muslims. Zakir Mian Rasul
Mian Khokar (22) fell into the hands of the mob and was killed, while
others ran to save their lives. Once again they ran towards Nainpur and
decided to proceed from there to Mehlaj. After a 6-7 km walk, they were
again attacked by a mob near Shahdara village. Sakir Mian Rasool Mian
Sheikh (18) and Shafi Mian Mirsab Mian Shiekh (20) were surrounded by the
mob and killed and their bodies burnt. The rest found shelter in relief
camps at Mehmdavad and Mehlaj.
On March 19, Vikram Singh Darbar, a rich
landowner of Kanij, sent tractors to bring the Muslims back to the
village. Most families came back, and Vikram Singh provided them with food
for over two weeks.
Who were the attackers? The victims
denied recognising any of them, maintaining they had come from other
villages though independent sources have indicated to the Tribunal that
the mob was mainly composed of people from Kanij itself. The reason for
the Muslims’ silence is that most Muslims are landowners and their
livelihood is tied to the village. They also have little faith that the
state will apprehend and punish those responsible for the killings and
destruction. Therefore, the FIRs filed did not include the names of the
attackers. Up to mid-April, no arrests had been made.
The same Darbar community, which was
being praised later for their help had led the earlier attacks. The deal
that victims made with the attackers included non-identification of the
accused. After speaking to the victims, the Tribunal formed the definite
impression that the new equilibrium was far from stable. How could they
ever feel safe or think of living with the people who had destroyed them
completely? The Tribunal also gathered that the larger communally
surcharged atmosphere was actually used to settle village level scores. It
seems that the Darbars (Rajputs) had dominated the village panchayat
for the last 4-5 decades but in the recent panchayat elections,
a Patel become a sarpanch due to support from the Muslims, while a
Muslim became the deputy sarpanch. The attack was aimed at teaching
the Muslims a lesson.
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