For context, the Vishalgad-Kolhapur violence that erupted on July 14 has left multiple Muslim families of the Gajapur village helpless and distraught, with not even a pair of clothes to change during the rainy reason. On July 14, a Sunday, disturbing visuals of a Mosque being demolished emerged from Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district. A video from the ground showed a group of men belonging to an extremist Hindutva mob climbing atop a Mosque holding saffron flags and vandalising a Mosque with hammers. The video showed mobs of people standing upon the Mosque and planting a saffron flag on it. While the police rushed to the spot of the mob demolition to get a hold of the situation as the Mosque was being demolished, a mob of thousands entered the Gajapur village and wreaked havoc. As per on-ground reports, the Gajapur village was the worst violence hit village during the whole incident with approximately 50-60 houses and shops belonging to the Muslim community were attacked, torched and loot by the mob. 

Detailed reports of the violence and the plight of the people of Gajapur can be accessed here and here.

Tamboli has provided that a copy of the memorandum that he had, with a group of locals from Gajapur village and Vishalgad area, submitted to the District Collector. The said memorandum had been submitted to the Collector on July 15, one day post the eruption of the violence. Through the said memorandum, Tamboli has majorly raised a total of four issues. The first issue raised by him through the memorandum is that the encroachment drive that has been initiated, and is ongoing, be paused till the rainy season is going on. As per multiple media reports, the protest called on by Sambhaji Raje had only been called off after an assurance by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde that action will be taken against illegal encroachments in the fort. It had also been reported that following the violent incident on Sunday, about 35 illegal shops were razed by authorities on Monday on the orders of CM Shinde who arrived in Kolhapur on Sunday night. Additionally, it had been highlighted by Tamboli that these alleged “encroachments” consist of shops of certain vendors and structures, the removal of which no one is contesting. But the same should not be done during the rainy season. 

In addition to this, as the second demand, Tamboli has asked the authorities to ensure that the people who will be rendered homeless after the encroachment drive is conducted should be provided with adequate rehabilitation, as is the legal norm. 

The third demand raised by the Tamboli was regarding a judicial high-level inquiry into theviolence that took place in the Gajapur village as well as the demolition of the Mosque. 

It is crucial to note that a letter demanding judicial inquiry into the Vishalgad violence was also sent by Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar on July 18 to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. In the said letter, the leader of opposition in the state assembly claimed that anti-social elements targeted a particular community in the name of removing encroachment in Vishalgad. “The violence at Gazapur in Vishalgad was government-sponsored,” Wadettiwar had alleged in his letter, urging for the main culprit to be unmasked, as per The Print.

It is further essential to point out that Wadettiwar had also addressed a press conference wherein he had claimed that the targeted violence against Muslim in Gajapur was the result of the ground was slipping under the feet of communal forces after the victory of a candidate upholding progressive values in the Lok Sabha polls in Kolhapur.

“The violence was engineered keeping in mind the upcoming assembly elections. Those indulging in violence cannot be followers of Chhatrapati Shivaji. Hence, the government must find out who are the culprits,” he had said.

In addition to the same, the Congress leader had accused the police of inaction while the violence was on. Tamboli had previously highlighted how the Superintendent of Police was present a mere one kilometre away when the violence was taking place in Gajapur, which also left 40 Muslims, including children, injured. Wadettiwar also claimed that the issue of encroachment could have been resolved through dialogue, but the government did not want that to happen. 

Lastly, the fourth demand that was raised by Tamboli in his memorandum was that the superintendent of police, Mahendra Pandit, be transferred be suspended as it was under his charge, that the present incident of targeted violence had taken place. Tamboli also stated that the failure of the SP in containing communal incidents is evident as in the past one year itself, this was second such major incident where Muslims had been targeted. According to him, it was the failure on the part of the police authorities that a mob in thousands, armed with weapons, had run freely and burnt down houses, vehicles and shops that belonged to Muslims. 

The complete memorandum can be read here.

While speaking to SabrangIndia, Tamboli had also highlighted that prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the erstwhile Code of Criminal Procedure are still in place, and police is still deployed in the area. The police present there is preventing any aid, provided by certain non-government organisations, from reaching the affected people. The families whose houses have been burned down by the mob are left with nothing, and yet the police are not allowing for any aid to be provided to the persons affected. As provided by Tamboli, the authorities are ensuring that the affected Muslim families are harassed even after suffering through the violence. Tamboli stated that “the police failed to do anything before, but now they are harassing the people by not letting us give them ration and not letting us meet them. it was only after talking to the Collector and arguing with the police for atleast two hours was I allowed to meet them before. I will go and meet the IG today and raise this issue with him.”

Related:

Post violence follow-up in Gajapur village of Kolhapur shows Muslims families left with no food, shelter or vehicles, activists blame authorities of being mute spectators

Violence, vandalism and arson in Kolhapur, Muslim houses and mosque targeted by mob that had gathered on the call of former RS MP Sambhaji Raje Chhatrapati

Maharashtra: Bulldozer Raj, tensions rise in Kolhapur’s Laxtirth Vasahat Colony after administration demolishes Madrasa under pressure from Hindutva organisations

11 educational institutions target of organised Hindutva mobs in in Kolhapur: Fact-finding team

The post Opposition leaders, activists demand suspension of SP, Kolhapur and judicial inquiry into Vishal-gad Kolhapur violence appeared first on SabrangIndia.

In the first political intervention after the gross lynching, to death, of a dairy farmer in Rajasthan , Pehlu Khan, last week,  leaders of All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) yesterday visited Jaisinghpur of Nuh District of Haryana to console the bereaved family members of Pehlu Khan, the dairy farmer who was allegedly killed by organisations reported to be a part of the sangh parivar. AIKS leaders including Hannan Mollah, former Member of Parliament (MP) and Polit Bureau Member, Subhashini Ali, General Secretary, P Krishnaprasad, Finance Secretary, Master Sher Singh, President of Haryana Kisan Sabha and Manoj Kumar visited the family of the victims.   Satvir Singh, state president of CITU, Major S L Prajapathy, Gurgaon District secretary of CPIM were also part of the delegation. 

The delegation met Pehlu Khan’s mother Ankuri Begam, wife Jebuna Begam, and two children Irshad and Arif who were also injured in the same incident. Pehlu Khan had six children including four daughters. The delegation also visited Ajmat who is bed ridden at home since he was forcefully discharged from the Alwar Hospital. 

Hundreds villagers gathered to receive the Kisan Sabha leaders.  Ajmal Khan, former MLA,  Kalekhan, former sarpanch, Sarfudheen and Khaleel Ahamad Akthar Hassan of Sahdani Sabha Mewat, Raj Singh and Adv. Arshad khan among others attended the meeting.  The meeting decided to call a panchayath of the people of neighborhood villagers in the next week to mobilise and protest the incidents that signal India's sliding into rank vigilantism.The family of Pehlu Khan has around 1.5 acres of land and is dependant on wheat cultivation and dairying as a means of livelihood. On that fateful day, Pehlu Khan, his two children, his nephew and two other villagers went to Jaipur to purchase milching animals since they hope they could get animals cheap in the Cattle fair of Jaipur Hatwada. 

The Mewat region, dominated by a Muslim population has a rich tradition of Hindu Muslim amity and brotherhood, termed “Gothpal”. The Muslim families are traditionally peasants and cattle breeders. This has been eroded over the decades by the politics of division and othering. The brutal killing of Pehlu Khan by RSS organisations has created fear psychosis and nervousness among the peace loving people. 

The FIR on the lynching clearly states that the mob which attacked the farmers belonged to the Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal(BD) and also points to the role of the parent organisation, the RSS. After Pehlu Khan died succumbing to his injuries, district-level leaders of the VHP had even threatened the senior police officers of dire consequences if they arrest any of their activists. The Police, then registered a false FIR against Pehlu Khan and other innocent farmers despite the fact that they have records of the cattle purchase issued by the Jaipur Municipal Corporation.  The Home Minister of Rajasthan has been, shockingly, accusing farmers of 'smuggling' cows by violating the law and even the Union Minister Mukhthar Abbas Naqvi has misguided the Rajya Sabha by denying that any such incident of murder even occurred in Rajasthan.  All this exposes the role of RSS and BJP leaders who appear set to defend the lynch mob in general and those responsible for this gross murder, in particular.

The situation is serious, dragging the country towards anarchy and lawlessness which needs to be fought tooth and nail to protect the democratic rights of the people and to preserve the secular fabric of the society.  The AIKS leadership has demanded a high level enquiry to unearth the conspiracy behind the Alwar Killing. The AIKS leaders also assured the village people and the family members all help to ensure strong action and stringent punishment to the entire culprits as per law including legal aid.

Home Page Photo Courtesy: Indian Express

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