Aurangabad, recently renamed Chhatrapati Shambhajinagar (a decision first initiated by the Udhav Thakeray led Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government) has been the scene of dissension and hate, of late. Again, three days ago, on Sunday March 19, the Sakal Hindu Samaj –roped in by political (read Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP nd Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh –RSS outfits) and religio–social outfits (like Vishwa Hindu Parishad-VHP and Bajrang Dal-BD) to spew hate was at it again with its single point agenda.

This time this extreme Hindutva organisation that has actively supported and provided a platform to notorious anti-Muslim hate speakers especially since December 2022, organised a Hindu Jan Garjana Morcha in Aurangabad. In addition to the presence of the usual communally colored and agenda-pushing themes of cow slaughter, “Love Jihad”, and religious conversions, the main agenda behind this event was a “celebration” of the city of Aurangabad’s recent change.

It was towards the end of February 2023 that the newly formed Shiv Sena(Eknath Shinde)-BJP government had put the final seal of approval of the earlier government and formally issued a notification notifying that the city of Aurangabad had been renamed as Sambhaji Nagar.

On the same day, March 19, a hindutva group led protest was organised, which was in support of the name change of the city. The main objective behind this was to heap vile abuse and insults on the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, after whom the city had been named Aurangebad; threatening slogans targeting a particular religious minority community were also heard.  Even though the resolution of the name change of the city had been initiated and passed by the previous government, it did not take much time for the current government and the extremist Hindu outfits to “take credit” for this move and worse, use this opportunity to spread hatred.

At this morcha (protest), hate speeches of an instigating nature were made. Pursuant to them, the protestors had even resorted to destruction of the public properties, banners that had the name Aurangabad written on it instead of Sambhaji Nagar, and vandalism. Many flags bearing the B.R Ambedkar’s photograph and Ambedkarite symbols were also broken.

The photos can be viewed here:

In the past 2 days, We witness a peaceful protest in #Aurangabad city where no harm/damage has been done to any public property. No hateful speech about any great leader or to a particular religion. But, today, a protest supporting #SambhajiNagar led by Hindutva Extremists…
1/3 pic.twitter.com/xBYjD6pDPx

— Aurangabad Buzz (@AurangabadBuzz) March 19, 2023

As has been reported, the rampant destruction of public property and pelting of stones prompted the filing of seven FIRs, including rioting and damage to public property, late. The seventh FIR charges BJP suspended MLA T Raja Singh and Suresh Chavhanke with promoting enmity between different groups on the basis of religion, race, place, and so on. But no arrest has been made.

The poster of the said event is provided as follows:

At the said event, which was attended by almost 5000 people, serial hate speakers BLA MLA T. Raja Singh, Goshamahal Assembly Constituency, Telangana, and Sudarshan TV News Editor-in-chief Suresh Chavhanke delivered speeches which were instigating, misinformed and misleading in nature. These broke the law and the Constitution. Many Islamophobic statement were made and anti-Muslim slurs were used. In both these speeches, threats of violence against Muslim were issued and the audience was provoked to take the law into their hands. In addition to this, open calls for the economic boycott of Muslims were also made. It is also important to note that BJP leader and Maharashtra’s Cooperation minister Atul Save also attended this event. In addition to this, Sena MLA (Eknath Shinde faction) Pradeep Jaiswal and BJP MLA Shivendra Raje Bhosale were present on the dais. Bhumare is also the district guardian minister. The event was largely attended by officer bearers and workers from BJP, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde camp), Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, ISKCON, Vishwas Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal amongst others.

Reports of peaceful protests being organised in Aurangabad also on March 19, with several groups resisting the name change, have also been making rounds on social media. In fact at one rally, protesters against the name change of Aurangabad met where a large number, almost 50,000 people turned up. The entire rally was conducted peacefully and leaders from all parties came together and protested.

The photos can be viewed here:

Aurangabad saw two groups protesting

One in favour of the name Aurangabad with more than 50,000 people turning up. The entire rally was done with discipline. Leaders from all parties came together and protested.

Only Leaders from the city were present in this protest. pic.twitter.com/aXcYuoV3g0

— Bilal Jaleel (@bilaljaleel_) March 20, 2023

The speeches made at the rally conducted by the now notorious Sakal Hindu Samaj had provocative content. Some of this has been transcribed here:

T. Raja speech delivered on March 19, 2023 at Aurangabad, Maharashtra

In his speech, Singh can be heard using anti-Muslim slurs, making false accusations against Muslims, of trapping Hindu women and instigating the audience. Many threats of violence and genocide are also openly made by Singh, one of which is especially frightening, where he can be heard saying, “I just want to tell you all, and to all those traitors too, that this conspiracy of love jihad should be stopped now. Or else, we Hindus are 100 crore in number, if we do our Jihad, you won’t even find girls to marry.”

In one part of his speech, Singh has even directly attacked MP Asaduddin Owaisi, and has uttered derogatory remarks against him and his brother. The transcript of the speech is as follows:

Video 1

“If you want to stop those Love-Jihaadis, if you want to shoot those love-jihadis, then whenever you get to know that our sister or our daughter has fallen prey to these Love-Jihadis, go to that spot with your team.”  (Time stamp- 0:00- 0:16)

“Are of feeling scared? In future, whenever you feel scared, remember Sambhaji Maharaj.” (Time stamp- 0:19- 0:29)

“Wherever you get to that our sisters and daughters are getting trapped, go there with your team. First, request the authorities to help you, but if the authorities do not support you, then you yourself kill the ones that are already half cut (referring to circumcision)” (Time stamp- 0:29- 0:50)

I just want to tell you all, and to all those traitors too, that this conspiracy of love jihad should be stopped now. Or else, we Hindus are 100 crore in number, if we do our Jihad, you won’t even find girls to marry.  (Time stamp- 0:52- 1:17)

Video 2

“And today, some people say, that we have no relation with the Mughals. That Hyderabad wali Owasi, if he could not belong to the Muslims there, how could he even support you all?” (Time stamp- 0:00- 0:21)

“The area that he is a minister of, no Muslim is happy there, and he has only come here to make a fool out of them. He says that we have no relation with Mughal. He is the bigger bulldog, and his brother is the small bulldog.” (Time stamp- 0:22- 0:43)

“His brother, the smaller bulldog, says that we ruled for 800 years. We made Char minar, we made Taj Mahal and we made Lal Qila. The small bulldog says one thing, and the bigger bulldog says something else.” (Time stamp- 0:47- 1:11)

“These two do not have the courage to fight face to face, these (anti-Muslim slur) are impotent.”

(Time stamp- 1:12- 1:20)

The crowd can be heard repeating the anti-Muslim slur!

“And to teach these impotent people a lesson, we should do the same that Chhtrapati Shivaji did with Afzal Khan.” (Time stamp- 1:48- 2:07)

Video 3

“Some people are saying that we were born in Aurangabad, and we will die in Aurangabad. To these disgusting people, I just want to say that you might have been born in Aurangabad, but you will die in Sambhaji Nagar.” (Time stamp- 0:00- 0:23)

“Your death will happen in take place after the establishment of the Hindu nation. I also want to tell the ministers, that whoever will come forward and take the name of Aurangabad, their name and existence will be erased.” (Time stamp- 0:27- 0:46)

“I want to request the Chief Minister, that just like Suresh Chavhanke said, whichever board will have the name Aurangabad written on it, that board should be destroyed.” (Time stamp- 0:52- 1:03)

“Whichever shop has Aurangabad written on it, no one should buy anything from them. Today, we need to show our strength to these traitors.”  (Time stamp- 1:04- 1:23)

“Till the time, we do not keep caste based prejudices aside and say “I am a Hindu, you are a Hindu, till then, neither will we be safe nor our religion” (Time stamp- 1:24- 1:37)

“Today, people in such great numbers have come here. What did Bala saheb Thackarey say? A real is not one who stands in a temple, but one who kill Muslims (uses anti-Muslim slurs)” (Time stamp- 1:37- 1:54)

The videos can be viewed here:

Location: Aurangabad, Maharashtra

Far-right leader and Telangana legislator T Raja Singh continues delivering hate speech targeting Muslims. He demonized Muslims and gave calls for mass violence.

He spoke at an event organized by Sakal Hindu Samaj, a far-right coalition of… pic.twitter.com/hmXfxR8tiH

— HindutvaWatch (@HindutvaWatchIn) March 19, 2023

Suresh Chavhanke’s Speech

In his hate-filled speech, Suresh Chavhanke made anti-Muslim and anti-Islam statements that were vile and disgusting in nature. Not only did he attack history of the medieval period and distort the history of Maharashtra and its leaders, he used anti-Muslim, stigmatizing and derogatory slurs while referring to the Muslim community. In one part of his speech, he openly said that our current Home Minister, Amit Shah, will cut the noses and humiliate the Muslims living in India.

Again and again he referred to the mosques, graves and tombs present in India, and attempted to instigate the audience by demanding the demolition of these structures and constructions of temples in their place.

He also administered an oath wherein he was heard thanking the Maharashtra government and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for changing the name of Aurangabad, and pledged to never let this name be changed again. Chavhanke, similar to Singh, also made calls for the economic boycott of Muslims and Muslim shops. The transcript of the speech is as follows:

Video 1

“Today, the ones who call Babar their father and beat their chest for Aurangzeb are the ones who call us outsiders. We are the ones who climbed and put the saffron flag on the Lal Qila.” (Time stamp- 0:00- 0:19)

“The MP here does not attend any events organised by Marath Wada Mukti Morcha, what more traitorous acts do we need. I want to tell all the Nizami group that our past Home Minister, the iron man Sardar Patel, had humiliated the Nizams.”  (Time stamp- 0:20- 0:43)

“And now, the current Home Minister is the new and updated version of Sardar Patel. Tab Sardar Patel ne naak ragadwayi thi, yeh naya sardar patel naak ragad dega (Then Sardar Patel had rubbed their nose, this new Sardar Patel will cut their nose)” (Time stamp- 0:44- 0:59)

“Now there is Amit Shah. These pillo (puppies) should understand who they are fighting with. I want to tell these Muslims that what Aurangzeb are your leaders telling you about, Chhtrapati Sambhaji and Aurangzeb can never be equated. This is similar to how a lion and a pig can never be equated.”

(Time stamp- 1:00- 0:32)

“Even Aurangzeb’s own father had told him that he is ashamed to have him as his son as he had jailed him. Hindus are better than you who perform death rituals after one of them have died.” (Time stamp- 1:33- 2:00)

Video 2

“The G-20 meeting had taken place a few days ago and the government of India had said that they had visited the tomb of Bibi (Bibi ka makbara). Even beneath that tomb, there is a temple. We have to free that temple.” (Time Stamp- 0:07- 0:24)

“Did you know that Aurangzeb had come to India to rule Maharashtra, but for 27 years he was chased like a dog by the Marathas? His grave is in Nagar. I want to challenge the historians that his dead body will not be found in the grave if there is an investigation.” (Time Stamp- 0:25- 0:59)

“Just like what the USA had done with Osama Bin Laden, the Marathas had done the same with Aurangzeb. We should still keep the grave so that everyone gets to know that this is how the Marathas treat those who come here with an army of 15 lakhs.” (Time Stamp- 1:00- 1:24)

“But who will even go there? Only those who have to pee with their one leg up. Except these people, whoever goes there is not a human.” (Time Stamp- 1:25- 1:32)

“This is why, I want to request the CM and the Maharashtra government, who are also present on this stage, that whoever visits the grave of the monster Aurangzeb should be charged with laws of anti-nationalism.” (Time Stamp- 1:34- 1:51)

“I have heard that the birth anniversary of Tipu Shaitan is also celebrated here.” (Time Stamp- 1:53- 2:00)

Video 3

“Tipu was the biggest enemy of the Marathas. He was a pimp for the French and the Portugese. How did he become a savior of these Muslims? That is why we won’t let them celebrate the birth anniversary of monster Aurangzeb and Tipu Shaitan” (Time Stamp- 0:00- 0:20)

“Through this speech and you all, I just want to send a thankyou to Modi ji. Repeat after me.”

Oath:- “Modi ji, we the citizens of Sambhaji Nagar, want to thank PM Modi ji, CM Eknath Shinde ji and Devendra Fadnavis ji and all those who are in our support of this name change. you changed the name, and now remain till the time that sun and moon are there. We, the Hindus, take the reposibility of keeping this name. We will never let it change, this is our promise.”

The crowd can be heard repeating this oath.  (Time Stamp- 0:20- 2:00)

Video 4

“My friends, I am talking as the representative of the government and Hindu culture, that till now only the name has been changed to Sambhaji Nagar. Now we will change the character of this city. The headline of this is oath that we have taken to change the character of this city.” (Time Stamp- 0:00- 0:23)

“From tomorrow onwards, whichever shop has Aurangabad written over it, we will not buy anything from there. We will economically boycott these dogs of Aurangzeb.” (Time Stamp- 0:25- 0:45)

“Thank you for calling me here to this event. If any of the words uttered by me has hurt anyone, I will not take them back as I want you to hear them.” (Time Stamp- 0:45- 1:10)

The videos can be viewed here:

This is from #Aurangabad, #Maharashtra #Hindutva leader & #SudarshanNews leader #SureshChavhanke delivers #HateSpeech targeting #Muslims; calls for boycotting their business.

Chavhanke was speaking at an event organised by far-right coalition of orgs called Sakal Hindu Samaj. pic.twitter.com/NnOoUQhoVr

— Hate Detector ? (@HateDetectors) March 20, 2023

Apart from a few recent reports that the police “have registered FIRs” against both speakers T Raja Singh and Suresh Chavhanke, Maharashtra’s ruling political class has been conspicuously and eerily silent, not condemning such virulent hate speech. This amounts to a moral acqueisance signififying complicity. Though human rights and civil liberties organisations like Citizens for Justice and Peace (cjp.org.in), PUCL and several others who have come together under the banner of the Salokha Samiti (40 organisations) have been mobilizing protests, to date these are not enough. Over the pst week, the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and the All India Democratic Women’s Organisation (AIDWA) have issued statements in protest. Citizens from Mira-Road and Bhayander have launched a counter narrative and counter communication campaign against hate. CJP has filed over fopur dozen complaints to the senior and local echelons of the Maharashtra police urging them to act, prevent and prosecute these hate crimes. Much more however needs to be done to stem this corrosive tsunami of hate and violence.

Related:

Marginalising the already marginalised: Economic Boycott Targeting Muslims

Review of 2022: A year of discrimination & violence experienced by India’s religious minorities

Provocative poster in Delhi’s Brahmpuri calls on Hindu landlords to not sell to Muslim buyers

Temple fairs and the saga of economic boycott: Dakshina Kannada

Mumbai: BJP leaders attend far right Hindutva rally where calls for economic boycott of Muslims, violence against them are made

Himanta Biswa Sarma targets poll bound Karnataka, spreads communally divisive ideology, distorts history, attacks Congress

Assam: Mass evictions continue as approximately 2500 Bengali-speaking Muslim families get displaced; pleas go unheard

Crackdown on child marriage claims four lives, including three women and one child

Families protest arrests as questions mount on child marriage crackdown in Assam

Hate Watch: Himanta Biswa Sarma on ‘Love Jihad’ during the Gujarat poll campaign

The post Aurangabad badgered with hate speeches, vandalism and destroying of public property followed in protest supporting name change of Aurangabad appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image Courtesy: ANI

As reported in the ANI, a group of unidentified miscreants threw paint on the board at the Aurangabad railway station, thereby erasing its name and then stuck a poster on the board which read ‘Sambhaji nagar.’

In a video that has gone viral on social media, a group of three men can be seen indulging in this act with the man in saffron scarf executing the entire scenario while the others are seen laughing and smirking. The man with the saffron scarf then posed with the renamed board.

Police Inspector Rameswaram Rodge said, “We will give strict punishment to the miscreants. They will be arrested soon.”

This comes after various governments have renamed cities as well as railway stations across the nation. It is pertinent to note the trend in this official name changing decisions, where a Muslim name gets replaced by a Hindu name. 

Just last year, the Elphinstone railway station on the Mumbai Western railway was renamed as Prabhadevi in honour of a local deity Prabhadevi and to erase a “colonial” name. Interestingly, the demand for change of name of the station had been raised by leaders of the ruling BJP and Shiv Sena. In 2018, the Yogi Adityanath led-BJP government renamed the Mughalsarai Railway station to Deen Dayal Upadhyay, Allahabad city to Prayagraj among others.

Though in the latest incident, the change of name of Aurangabad is done by unofficial sources, but one cannot ignore the saffron scarf worn by the miscreants. This clearly indicates that they belong to or believe in a particular ideology, Hindutva to be precise. Whether it was an independent act or supported by some powerful sources is something that the further investigations will reveal.

The post Aurangabad railway station renamed as Sambhaji Nagar by unidentified saffron-clad miscreants appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
Representation Image

Aurangabad: A mob damaged staff vehicles and vandalized the office Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) after two cows died of electrocution a few days ago. The city police registered a case against unidentified suspects.
 
“The MIDC Cidco police have arrested two suspects — identified as Pramod Wadekar and Ganesh Gaikwad — on charges of assaulting a lineman. The accused after being produced before the court on Tuesday have been sent to two-day police custody. “A manhunt has been launched for another two suspects who along with the arrested duo allegedly played a key role in assaulting the lineman and ransacking the state power utility office. Others, who were part of the mob, are yet to be identified,” a police officer said,” reported Times of India.
 
The report added that on Sunday evening, due to heavy rainfall and strong winds, a live wire broke and fell on a pole situated near Shivaji statue in Naregaon area. “A cow died of electrocution after coming in touch with the pole. MIDC Cidco police inspector Surendra Malale said, “After the cow got electrocuted, the MSEDCL staffer was summoned and power supply to the pole was stopped. Later, the carcass was sent for autopsy.” He added, “Nobody knows as to who came and reconnected the power supply to the pole resulting in the death of another cow due to which the locals got infuriated and reached out to the MSEDCL office and started vandalising the office.”  Sources informed that the locals were upset with the fact that power supply to the pole was turned on without even checking if the current is still passing through the pole. An officer privy to the investigation said the outrage seems to be a spontaneous as the cows belonged to a poor man and they were his only source of income,” the report added.
 
Mob Justice in Aurangabad
A woman, identified as Puja Gavai from Ranjangaon village, was assaulted by a mob in Avinash Colony, Valuj in Aurangabad on allegations of being a child lifter. A video of an attack on her was doing the rounds on Whatsapp on June 15. Two men were attacked by a mob on the same day over suspicion of theft near Kasambari Dargah in Padegaon about 8 km from the city. The victims – Vikramnath Lalunath, 38, and Mohan Nath Bairaonath, 35, are residents of Madhya Pradesh. “We came to beg. And because it’s Ramzan, we dressed up in costumes of Laila and Majnu. Some people mistook us to be thieves,” they told ANI. “Both of them earn their living by begging as ‘behrupiya’ (who entertain people by assuming different roles.) Suspecting them to be thieves or dacoits, the villagers thrashed them for nearly three hours,” a police official told PTI.
 
Both the incidents happened after two men were lynched on the suspicion of robbery on June 8. “The deceased are Shivaji Shinde (45), from Mukundwadi in Aurangabad district, and Bharat Sonawane (30) of Mitmita, Aurangabad. Officials said Shinde belonged to the Pardhi tribe and Sonawane was a Bhil,” reported The Indian Express.
 

The post Mob attacks local electricity office as two cows get electrocuted appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The fact-finding team, formed under the banner of Bhima Koregaon Shaurya Din Prerna Abhiyan, Maharashtra, visited the area on May 19 and 20. The committee met with the victims, eyewitnesses, local people, police, administration, political leaders and social activists. Based on those meetings, the fact-finding committee observed that the riots started on May 11, 2018, Friday at midnight, But several people in Moti-Karanja, Shahganj, Nawabpura, Rajabazar, and Gulmandi revealed that preparations for the riot had been underway since almost a month.

The fact that Petrol, Kerosene, Stones, Catapult etc. were used during the riots were collected and stored on the terrace of the multi-storied buildings, is also evidence to its pre-planned nature.

As many as 21 Hindu and Muslim shopkeepers of Shahganj Vyapari Sangh had filed a complaint with the City police chowk on May 7 against Lacchu Pahelwan and his hooligan collaborators for beating, threatening and trying to instigate the communal riot. They had also demanded security from Lacchu Pahelwan and his collaborators. Even after their complaint, no stop was put to their activities.

Therefore on May 8 and 9, the shopkeepers met with S.P Kodekar and Police officer Kadam to demand justice from the harassment of Lacchu Pahelwan and even submitted a written memorandum regarding the same. Many people witnessed that on May 11 the same S.P Kodekar and P.O. Kadam walked along with Lacchu Pahelwan from the site of violence. The people indicated this also as an evidence of the pre-planned nature of the violence.

Fact-finding team has also reported that electricity in Moti-Karanja had been cut off from night 10 p.m. that day and also the electricity in other places went off in many places during the riot. Many transformers were destroyed. CCTV cameras were shut down earlier to save the rioters. All these again clearly points out that the rioters were prepared well in advance.

At the site of violence, people witnessed some armed political leaders walking along with the police. According to the report, All those leaders were Shiv Sena’s leaders. A local member of parliament, Chandrakant Khaire is visible in many video clips. MP Chandrakant Khaire openly admitted to journalists that due to Shiv Sena corporator Rajendra Janjal, his son and ex-MLA Pradeep Jaiswal’s son were rescued from the place of the incident. It is a clear admission to the fact that many Sena leader’s sons also participated in the attack. Hence both Police and local Shiv Sena leaders colluded in this attack is openly visible.

It is being propagated that the immediate trigger for the riot was the removal of illegal water connections. But people in that area said that illegal water connections were not the reason behind the violence. There are more than 35,000 illegal water connections between Kranti chowk to Shahganj area and in the whole city near about 1 lakh, 20 thousand illegal water connections are there. On May 9, the Municipal Corporation did not start their action either from Kranti chowk or Shahganj but started removing illegal water connections randomly in Moti-Karanja Chowk. They removed only four illegal water connection and all of them were Muslims. Farid Iqbal and his colleague, a resident of that area (Moti Karanja) had long before itself submitted a memorandum to the Municipal Corporation regarding the removal of illegal water connections. It is quite clear that the violence had nothing to do with the issue of removal of illegal water connections.

Another reason given for the trigger to the riot is the mango buying incident, there is no substance in this claim either. There was an altercation between a mango seller and his customer. That conflict was resolved and both of them had even embraced each other. But soon nephew of Lacchu Pahelwan came with 8-10 people and started beating that mango seller. People gathered there to save mango seller and they forced Lacchu Pahelwan’s nephew to leave that place. After that Lacchu Pahelwan came and publicly threatened to burn down shops and on May 11, he acted upon his threat and those shops were burnt down.

Shiv Sena holds the Mayor post in the Municipal Corporation. Lacchu Pahelwan’s daughter is an independent corporator but Lacchu Pahelwan controls the actual power. A month back, he joined Shiv Sena and demanded removal of encroachment and hawkers from Shahganj and Meena Bazar area. On May 9, Municipal Corporation sent an anti-encroachment force. Anti-encroachment force removed the encroachments in the Shahganj Chowk (mostly Muslim shops) but when they started removing encroachments of Sindhi shops they received a call from BJP district president Kishanchand Tanwani. And those shop owners told that Anti-encroachment drive had been stopped due to Tanwani’s phone call.

It is clear that Municipal Corporation also functioned with evident bias. 

Every time during the Ramzan period a market called the Meena bazar is held in Shahganj area. 12 years before, the Bhaji market was its place. But for redevelopment, Bhaji market was demolished and all shopkeepers came on the road. They started putting their shops on roads. Two years back, Municipal corporation allocated Aamkhas ground for Meena Bazar but no arrangements were made in the following years. So all shopkeepers again started opening their shops around Shahgunj road. Recently, Shiv Sena demanded the removal of Meena Bazar. All the vendors went to high court. High court ordered that these vendors should not be removed as their right to life cannot be snatched from them. Therefore, on May 11, Lacchu Pahelwan intentionally burnt down the shops of those vendors.

The whole site of violence is a Muslim majority area. Lacchu was trying to establish his dominance in that area. He used to collect ransom from this area. He used to beat up people if they refused to pay the money. Whole area has been afraid of Lacchu. Lacchu was miffed because, on May 8 in Mango buying issue, people forced his nephew to leave the area. Hawkers and riot victims told that, on 11 May, only those shops were burnt who were not supporting Lacchu’s demand of removal of hawkers.
It is important to note that when the shops were being burnt on May 11, Hindu shops and houses located in the Muslim majority area were not burnt or plundered. It also indicates that people just resisted attacks, it was not a riot where attacks happened from both the sides. Shopkeepers of Shahaganj, Nawabpura, and Moti Karanja also said the same thing.

Attackers burnt down a 100-year-old building located at Shahganj-Rajabazar chowk. It was attacked because the owner of that building was a Muslim. In that building one Hindu family was residing and there were three other shops. All of them were tenants. None of the government representatives visited or helped them. Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) extended financial support to only Hindu tenants. BJP has not offered an help to Muslim tenants.

Extreme hatred towards Muslims was clearly visible in the Haris Qadri’s case. Haris left home in search of his younger brother on Friday midnight. Around 2:30 am, the family members came to know that he was injured. They brought him back. Haris was still alive so they took him to the hospital. He was injured because of the bullet. But soon he died in the hospital. On next day, around 11 am, SRP jawans broke down the doors of Haris’s house. They went to the terrace of three-floor building and beat Haris’s uncle.

Their Hindu neighbor asked the SRP Jawans not to trouble Haris’s family and they also told that Haris was seriously injured. But SRP Jawan beat even women of Haris’s family. SRP Jawan conducted combing operation only in the Muslim houses. Combing operation was conducted in the Nawabpura, Baijipura, Kiradpura, Ramanspura, Chelipura, Gincy, Roshangate etc. Muslim majority area. Even now combing operation is going on. Till now, neither the Collector, Police administration, Home Minister, or Chief minister have visited this area.
A number of Muslims have been seriously injured in the police firing. They are under treatment in various hospitals. No one from state, police and administration visited them. Police did not even noted their injuries and registered FIRs. It is evident that police are not recording this information because they wanted to portray lessened intensity of the violence and safeguard themselves against any actions for misuse of power. During the riot, only one community faced the police bullets. Combing operation was also targeted against Muslims. The number of injured is more in the same community. Even the number of arrest is higher among Muslims. Compared to Muslims, the number of arrests or injured among the Hindus are very less. This also then raises a question on whether this is a riot or a planned attack?

On May 11, people chased Lacchu Pahelwan’s gang after they started fighting. So Lacchu’s people gathered near Hanuman temple of Gandhi Nagar and started throwing stones towards Moti Karanja Chowk. Muslim community also gathered at Moti Karanja Chowk to oppose stone pelters march which was trying to enter in the Muslim area. Some attackers took an opportunity of that chaos and from the different route, and they entered the Muslim majority area such as Shahaganj, Raja Bazar etc. This was a method employed for the attack.
MP Khaire said that his commitment is to save only Hindu community. This is an anti-constitutional statement by an elected member of the parliament. Insecurity among Hindus was systematically constructed with spreading of false propaganda such as Muslim population is increasing, Muslims are snatching away the opportunities of the Hindus etc. Shiv Sena wants to polarise the Hindu community by creating anti-muslim sentiment among the Hindus. During the violence, Shiv Sena leaders were walking with Police. Police conducted combing operation in the house of the boy who died in police firing. All those events expose the nature of government.

The institution of the state is much bigger than the handful of thugs and local leaders. The state could have controlled those attacks with short time span but the government wanted those attacks to happen. Hence at the place of the riot, police and Shiv Sena leaders were all found together.

The fact-finding team has concluded that this was not a riot but pre-planned attack on one community and police, local administration as well as political leaders participated in this attack.

Harsh Mander, former IAS, said that any riot which continues for more than four hours is a state-sponsored riot. In Aurangabad, the attack continued from night 10 to morning 7. This attack would not have been possible and continued for so long period without state participation.
Team has also alleged that the attack was entirely a political attack. Shiv Sena MP Chandrakant Khaire directly participated in that attack. It is an attempt to construct fear and hatred of another religion and consolidate vote of a community by polarising people on religious grounds.

“The intention of attack is to teach a lesson to the opponent and to create terror among Muslims,” said the report.

The team has demanded that the “mastermind of attack” Chandrakant Khaire should be arrested immediately, along with the Police officers.

The Government of Maharashtra not only failed in maintaining peace and security but also allowed four riots (attacks) to happen in the last five months. And in every place police took a biased stand with the Hindutva rioters. Hence action should be taken against Home minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis as he should be made responsible for those riots, demanded the team.

Team has also demanded that the action should be taken against municipal corporation officers for their suspicious functioning along with the immediate stoppage over combing operations with the release of all the innocent people from custody.

“Rs. 50 lakh compensation should be given to two families who lost their family members in this attack, Rs. 5 lakh assistance should be given to people who were injured in police firing and other injured should be given 2 lakh rupees assistance. Adequate compensation should be given to the people who lost their property in this attack,” demanded the team through the report along with the demand of the inquiry of the incident through the one sitting judge of the high court.

Courtesy: Two Circles
 

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In a terrible, and cynical fallout of the Ram Navmi celebrations, that have this year at least taken an aggressive and violent turn, Rosera (division of Samastipur) and Munger in Bihar and Raniganj in Bengal are experiencing tensions close on the heels of arms filled processions that were ‘allowed’ in both states. While administrations of both states under varied political dispensations have been stating that these processions were ‘authorised’, the issue that remains is whether processionists should be allowed to brandish weapons and also raise provocative slogans, unstopped. Asansol in Bengal was also affected by the communal violence until the district administration brought things under control.

The Hindu reports that three persons have died and several others injured over the past two days after provocative behaviour by processionists organising the Ram Navmi processions in west Bengal. Incidents are reported to have taken place in Raniyan (west Bardhaman district), Kankinara in North 24 Par ganas and Beldi in Purulia district. On late Monday night’s incident at Raniyan, one person died and 30 persons, including six police officials were injured.

 Pictures from Rosera, a division of Samastipur, Bihar

Pictures from Raniganj, Bengal

Late night reports and photographs coming in from all areas report that police had to resort to firing to dispel mobs on the rampage, themselves spreading rumours. Internet was disconnected by the police at Rosera and Munger and both areas were tense till late in the night. Local residents in Bihar, however, did not rise to the bait though the atmosphere remains tense.
 
Violence was sought to be provoked  in Rosera of Samastipur today and about stray shops are reported to have been attackrd.Though reports cold not be confirmed, no serious damage or loss of life occurred. Photographs of minor damages to the  Zeya Ul Uloom Madrassah of Rosera are available on social media. Rosera was once represented by Ramvilas  Paswan. Munger town also reported disturbances till late last night and though firing had to be resorted to, the armed Ram Navmi processions was still doing the rounds. Both Munger and Rosera are market towns in Samastipur.
 
Munger or Monghyr is hometown of Shri Krishna Sinha (1887-1961), the first chief minister of Bihar. It is also the hometown of Maulana Wali Rahmani and Tariq Anwar of NCP too belongs to Munger though he was and MP Katihar
 
Raniganj (West Bengal), not very far from Munger, also had violence where several dozen shops a lot of shops belonging to the minority community have reportedly been burned it is alleged, between today and yesterday. Violence had briefly even spread to Asansol where the violence was thereafter brought under control. Taj Shoes and Leatherworks is one of the establishments gutted.
 
Comments on Facebook were and are telling:
https://www.facebook.com/jitendra.narayan.7
भाजपाई राज का आनंद समस्तीपुर वासियों को भी दिया जा रहा है…
मोबाइल इन्टरनेट सेवा बंद करके…!!!
#जलता_बिहार

Raniganj, Bengal:
जो खबरें आ रही हैं वह बहुत ही बुरी है चुंकी पश्चिम बंगाल का रानीगंज कल आग में जल रहा था, तो आज आसनसोल जल रहा है। क्या अब त्योहार का दूसरा नाम दंगा है? हमारी अपील है की आसनसोल “सिटी ऑफ ब्रॉदरहुड” के आवाम दंगाइयों को दूर रखें। अमन चैन बना कर दंगाइयों के मकसद को विफल करें।
 
Two days ago, The Times of India had reported how at least 20 shops were gutted in fire and more than seven persons got injuries after a communal clash broke out in town area of Aurangabad district after stone pelting took place on a Ram Navami procession at Nawadih area. In the Aurangabad violence, the provocative role of union minister swini Chaubey and his kin has been pointed out. The New Indian Express had reported on this aspect of the provocations casued by elected representatives and his son. The procession, consisting of bike borne youths, was passing through Nawadih Colony under Town police station when some reports said, miscreants pelted stone on it.In Kaimur, some bike borne youths who were going to attend a Ram Navami procession, raised objectionable slogans in front of a mosque at Mughalpura under Chainpur police station area after which clashes took place on Sunday.

Later in retaliation, at least 20 shops located at Ramesh Chowk were gutted in fire by the agitating mob. The chowk is hardly a kilometre away from the spot where stone pelting took place on the procession.Aurangabad DM Rahul Ranjan Mahiwal said that prohibitory ordered under Section 144 of Cr.P.C. were issued as precautionary measures in town area and situation was under control.

“The procession was authorised and was passing through pre-determined route in presence of magistrates and security personnel  when stone pelting took place on it,” he said adding more than seven persons were injured in the violenceDM Mahiwal also said that stone pelting took place between two groups and an agitating mob torched some shops at Ramesh Chowk.
Patna zonal IG Nayyar Hasnain Khan said that district armed police personnel were deployed in the area and the situation was brought under control. “At least five rioters were arrested and several others were detained,” he added.IG Khan said two persons received minor injuries and the situation was immediately brought under control.

While in Gaya, miscreants pelted stones on a Ram Navami procession under Kothi police station area while it was retreating on Sunday. Stone pelting took place between two communities after which huge number of police personnel were deployed.

“No arrest had yet been made in the Kaimur and Gaya incident,” Khan added.Meanwhile in Siwan, communal clash took place when a group of   people stopped a Ram Navami procession at Nizam pur village under Mazharulhaq Nagar police station area on Saturday night.Siwan ASP Kartikeya Sharma said that the procession was “authorised” and it was passing through pre-determined route when it was stopped. The question is whether an ‘authorised” procession should have processionists carrying arms that imply agression and intimidation and should be ‘permitted to raise provocative slogans?

In the state Assembly, the Opposition RJD and Congress attacked the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government over the March 17 communal clashes in Bhagalpur’s Nathnagar and the present Aurangabad clashes. Nitish Kumar assured that the government is doing its best  to maintain communal harmony and urged Opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav not to “over-emphasize the clashes” in order to let violent sentiments die down.“The government is giving empty assurances as Union minister Ashwini Choubey’s son Arjit Shashwat is yet to be arrested for causing the clashes in Bhagalpur. Give me permission and four constables and I will have him arrested,” said Yadav to journalists.

Arjit Shashwat moved an anticipatory bail application at the ACJM’s court in Bhagalpur on Monday. The court had issued arrest warrants on Saturday against him and eight others accused of inciting violence at Nathnagar during a procession in a Muslim-dominated area on March 17.
 

“While administration was involved in negotiation, miscreants damaged a school building and its vehicles owned by person from minority community in neighbouring Rampur village,” he said adding couple of shops and a vehicle was damaged due arson attempt. The ASP said the central forced have been deployed in the area.
 

The home department and state police’s special branch had separately published advertisements in newspapers on Sunday especially for Ram Navami urging people not to share objectionable posts on social media, not to raise slogans and display pictures which would hurt religious sentiments.
 
Facebook Videos:
 
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1617772041670780&id=100003140006184
Ashwini Chowbey, Union Minister: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2023808487868604&id=100007184160789
 
 
 

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Following protests against her by the local leaders and workers of the All-India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), the exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasrin was forced to abort her planned visit to the heritage Ajanta and Ellora Caves.

Curiously, the AIMIM seems better informed than the Aurangabad police about Taslima’s movements. Around 6 p.m. on Saturday evening a large number of protesters assembled outside a five-star hotel where Taslima was to stay in Aurangabad en route to the caves. That’s when the police first came to know that Taslima was due to arrive in the city. Meanwhile, a second contingent of protesters assembled outside the airport, shouting anti-Taslima slogans.

The Delhi-Mumbai Air India flight via Aurangabad in which the writer was travelling landed at Aurangabad airport at 7.30 p.m. While the flight was in transit, the police spoke to Taslima inside the airport to apprise her of the situation. Having done so, the writer reportedly was offered security cover if she wished to continue with her travel plans. Alternatively, the police offered to find her a seat for her forward journey to Mumbai in the same aircraft which had brought her to Aurangabad.

Taslima “readily agreed” to abort her planned visit and proceed to Mumbai, the police told the Indian Express. She was put back on the Air India flight which took off from Aurangabad for Mumbai at 8.30 p.m.

It may be recalled that Taslima was attacked at a book launch function in Hyderabad in August 2007 by a group of MIM workers led by three of the party’s MLAs. The party had subsequently defended the hooliganism and had warned of serious consequences if she dared enter Hyderabad again.  

The situation in Aurangabad has already been tense in recent days on account of demolition of illegal religious structures.

“Police personnel have been deployed in large numbers. If Taslima visited the city at such a time, a major law and order problem would have broken out. Therefore, I spoke to senior officials from police and the administration and asked them to stop Nasrin from entering the city,” the MIM MLA from Aurangabad, Imtiaz Jaleel, told The Indian Express.

“If she had been allowed to reach her hotel, protesters would have greeted her with eggs and tomatoes. While we are all for freedom of speech and expression, she writes against the Prophet and Islam. Youths cannot stand her and as a responsible legislator, I ensured she is sent back,” Jaleel added.
 

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During her tour of three districts of Marathwada which are reeling under a severe drought, former Rajya Sabha and CPI(M)’s politbureau member, Brinda Karat found the Maharashtra government’s relief schemes woefully inadequate and the local administration lethargic. The result: Agricultural labourers as well as kisans (famers) are in deep distress.

Highlights of her findings:

• The publicised relief measures are in reality either non-existent or highly adequate.
• The government’s promise of providing 150 days of work under MGNREGA is just that: an empty promise.
• In one of the villages Karat visited, labourers had not been paid for 6 weeks. This in effect is pushing them into a debt trap.
• The acute drought has made the soil hard and stony. Because of the unrealistic schedule of rates, though the daily wages are pegged at Rs. 191 per day, no labourer is able to earn more than Rs. 125.
• With successive drought years, farmers are heavily in debt. Already in the first 100 days of the current year, 320 farmers have committed suicide. A majority of the farmers have yet to receive compensation for crop loss for the previous year. Instead of relief from government, farmers are receiving notices from banks adding to their trauma and despair.
• With water and fodder in short supply, desperate farmers have to sell off their cattle at half the price.
• Despite the publicity of water being supplied to villages by the administration, most of the water requirement is being met through private parties who are reaping huge profits.

In a memorandum submitted to the commissioner, Aurangabad, Karat has pointed to some urgent remedial measures. Here is the full text of her memorandum:
 
The Commissioner,
Aurangabad Division
 
Dear Shri Dangat ji,

The Kisan Sabha is holding a campaign on the issues of acute agrarian distress in the Marathwada region. As part of the campaign I had been to a number of villages, cattle fairs, cattle shelters and met approximately 200 kisans and agricultural and MNREGA workers from around  15-20 villages from the districts of Aurangabad, Beed and Jalna.

The Kisan Sabha will undoubtedly give you a comprehensive charter of demands in the coming days. Meanwhile, I would like to draw your urgent attention to the following issues. These are only related to the immediate short term issues which obviously have to be within the framework of a long term plan to deal with water scarcity, water conservation, forestry, etc:

1. The declared government schemes are not seen on the ground in large parts of the area and where they are in operation they are inadequate. The depth of the distress requires administrative measures in a mission mode to bring relief. Unfortunately this is not the case as the following examples show:

2. MGNREGA: I was told by the collector of Beed district that the number of workers on MGNREGA sites has increased from 10,000 to 55,000. However, in all the villages I had reports from there was no work available, not even for the large number of cane cutting migrant workers who have returned to their villages and are desperately looking for work. The government promise of providing 150 days of work is a mockery in the face of this reality.

Even assuming that the official records are all of real workers and not substantially "ghost" workers, as is being alleged by many of the workers seeking work, it is clearly inadequate. With no agricultural work available, the importance of MGNREGA cannot be overemphasised. I believe this requires much greater attention and monitoring to provide work on demand as mandated by the law. 

3. I met MGNREGA workers at the worksite in village Takarwan. They were wearing black ribbons on their wrists as a sign of protest since they have not been paid a single paisa since the work on the project started one and a half months ago. When I checked with the collector, he said that the funds were slow in coming but that it would be done shortly.

It is extreme callousness that in times of such distress wages for work completed are not paid forcing the workers into debt. This is an example of government created and driven debt. I would request you to ensure immediate payment as per the law.

4. The other critical issue on MGNREGA is the current schedule of rates. The soil has turned hard and stony. Yet the work norms are so high as to be impossible for any worker to fulfill. I was informed by the women workers that they have to dig and lift approximately 5,000 kilos of mud a day to reach the work norm for a minimum wage. This is the extent of the cruelty of the government to deprive the workers of the minimum wage. 

It is no surprise therefore that according to the measurement of work done, not a single worker is eligible for the full wage of Rs 191 but the average works out to around Rs 125. It is urgently required to ensure payment of the full wage and reduction of the SORs.

5. As far as kisans are concerned the urgent issue is that of immediate debt relief. Instead, banks are sending notices leading to further trauma and distress. As it is in this region till mid-April, the suicides this year are as high as 320.

Fruit growing kisans such as orange farmers stated that they have had to cut and burn their dried up trees for lack of water. In Beed district it was said that the compensation for crop loss of last year has still not been received by the vast majority of kisans. This again shows the absence of sensitivity on behalf of the government. It is essential to ensure debt relief as well as crop compensation on a war footing.

6. Distress sale of animals is a critical issue driven by debt as well as by the huge expenditure required to maintain the animals with no water availability and no fodder. In the cattle fair at Pachod in Paitha tehsil, Aurangabad, kisans were selling a pair of bullocks priced at Rs 70,000 for just Rs. 30,000-35,000. This is linked to the failure to provide water and cheap fodder.

There are two issues which need to be dealt with urgently. Firstly, the scheme for cattle shelters if implemented properly can be of great help. But these are far too inadequate in number. Also the government must directly run these shelters instead of handing them over to societies which are not being paid in time leading to further problems. Secondly, the amount of assistance does not cover the actual cost of maintaining the animal.

It was shocking to hear that of the amount of Rs 70 rupees to be disbursed per animal pay day,  Rs 8 was being cut by government for the projected price of the manure from each animal per day. This is perhaps the most bizarre approach which depicts the callousness of the government and should be removed and adequate expenditure provided.

7. While the government has publicised its efforts to provide water, in the areas I had visited the main supplies were provided by private  water companies. There were reports of a nexus between government suppliers and private companies.  In any case, it is a fact that the private water companies are making windfall profits, exploiting the desperate need of the people for minimum supplies of water which the government has utterly failed to provide, leaving the field open for private suppliers. There is no regulation or control over the prices being charged. This is an urgent issue which needs to be addressed by the administration.

These are a few of the issues which I wanted to bring to your attention. The deep distress is the region demands a much more comprehensive and mission approach which is sadly lacking.

Yours sincerely,
Brinda Karat

(Along with  colleagues in the Kisan Sabha and CPI(M) including comrades PS Ghadge,  Bhausaheb Zhirpe, B Potbhare and B Bhumbe).

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Written by Garima Mishra | Pune | Updated: March 10, 2016 6:03 am
 
Among the pamphlets and bills stuck on the building of Harun Mukati Islamic Centre (HMIC) in Aurangabad, some say: ‘ISIS se bachchon ko bachaiye, Lashkar-e-Toiba se bachhon ko bachaiye’ (save your children from ISIS, save your children from Lashkar-e-Toiba).

Others declare ‘jihaad against terrorism’.

Among the several initiatives this social organisation has taken up, one of them is to raise awareness among Muslim youths and their families to guard against extremist groups.

Yusuf Mukati, who founded the organisation in the name of his father over a year ago, said, “The issue of terrorism has been haunting the nation. These days, every incident is given a Hindu-Muslim twist. Muslim youngsters are being misguided by extremist organisations. Many a times, they get carried away and join such groups. In a recent case nearly two months ago in Aurangabad, a youngster was caught by the police for being involved with the Islamic State. That’s why we felt the need to raise awareness about the issue, especially in the Muslim community.”

Around two weeks ago, HMIC organised a lecture on the topic ‘Fight against Terrorism’, which saw participation from six maulanas – three from sunni community and three from tablighi community, and an ATS official. Nearly 1,500 people attended the event, where the maulanas interacted with youngsters.

“They briefed them on how Islam does not preach bloodshed and terrorism; the prophet propagates the message of peace and love. They stressed that enemy countries, especially Pakistan, are spreading falsehoods about the Muslim community, such as their diminishing population and how we are unsafe in India. The maulanas told the youngsters that they should not believe such things and go astray. Besides, they should also stay alert on social media, which is widely being used to trap Muslim youngsters with vulnerable minds. The youth were advised against posting hurtful comments related to sensitive issues on social media,” said Mukati. He added that through posters, the organisation is also asking people to be careful while renting out their houses and to keep the police in the loop.

HMIC runs various skill development programmes for girls, where they learn stitching, computer operations, yoga, mehendi, aerobics, calligraphy etc free of cost. “The teachers at the Centre ask the girls to keep a watch on the men in their house, especially young brothers, and see that they do not fall prey to any terrorist group,” said Mukati.

Chai Pe Shaadi

In a spin-off of the PM’s ‘Chai Pe Charcha’ strategy, HMIC has begun ‘Chai Pe Shaadi’, an initiative seeking to render a social service. It reaches out to financially weak Muslims and helps them organise weddings by offering free-of-cost venues, services of a kaazi (priest) and tea for the guests. The initiative was started nearly two months ago and so far, seven weddings have take place. “Often, the financially weak have to approach money lenders and borrow money on a high interest to organise a wedding. We want to help them. Apart from arranging the venue and a kaazi for them, we also provide tea for nearly 800 people, free-of-cost,” said Mukati.

http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/muslim-organisation-takes-up-cudgels-against-extremism/#sthash.J7NGpdRP.dpuf
 

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