As tensions run high after incidents of communal violence rocked the area, residents allege that elected representatives of the area are trying to incite tensions and reportedly are trying to ensure that police remove safety barriers that are put in place in the Mira-Bhayandar region of Mumbai. Sabrang India brings to you an on-ground report of what led to the current events.
What happened at Mira Road?
On the night of January 21st, tensions ran high between two groups as a group which consisted of more than 50 people pelted stones and vandalised four cars and 10 motorbikes adorned with “Jai Shri Ram” flags near Hyderi Chowk. This reportedly took place after a rally of bikers went through the neighbourhood shouting religious slogans.
On January 22nd, evening, people reportedly affiliated with Hindutva groups targeted a couple of parked auto rickshaws in the area, resorting to stone-pelting, as reported by the police. In light of these events, security measures were heightened at Mira Road station on Tuesday, and were accompanied by a police march in and around Naya Nagar. The Bajrang Dal had voiced slogans outside the railway station on Tuesday evening, only to be dispersed by law enforcement. This rally was reportedly live streamed by the participants. Maktoob Media posted a video where a group of people can be seen vandalising an auto rickshaw and beating a young man in a truck after forcing him to come out. Maktoob Media further spoke to the father of a young man who was forced to come out of the truck, Abdul Haqq Chaudhary who said that the mob was planning to burn the truck with the people inside as well which is why his son was forced to come out. All three who were in the truck, according to Chaudhury, have been grievously injured.
Following the episode of stone-pelting in Mumbai’s Mira Road, the Mira Bhayander Vasai Virar police issued a directive to administrators of groups to not let inciteful forwards, jokes, or videos related to the recent clashes be shared on social media platforms in order to maintain communal harmony. The police explicitly instructed that administrators of such groups would be held accountable and face repercussions if found violating this directive.
Similarly, Indian Express reported the Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis took to the social media platform X on Monday stating his no-tolerance approach. He says he has urged the police to undertake the most stringent measures against those responsible for the violence that unfolded on January 21st. “Law and order is the highest priority and concern of the state government. There will be zero tolerance against anyone who tries to take the law into their own hands and attempts to disturb the law-and-order situation in Maharashtra.”
According to the Indian Express, subsequently, the police have arrested a total of 13 people on the following day, with nine of them being formally arrested while the remaining four have been identified as minors. The 15 people arrested face charges under Section 307, including serious offences such as attempt to murder.
However, according to police authorities as per Indian Express, approximately 13 FIRs have been filed after complaints filed by people involved in the incidents. According to the IE, four of these complaints are from the Muslim community. However, no arrests have been made in connection to these four FIRs. Following the initial incidents of violence, the Mira-Bhayander municipal corporation, under police protection, have also undertaken demolition of alleged illegal structures in the area which reports reveal belong to Muslims from which some were rented out to members of the Hindu community as well, according to a report in Scroll.
BJP MLAs’ ultimatums to the authorities
As tensions persisted in Mira Road, particularly in the Naya Nagar area, the area was reportedly fortified with police presence according to reports. Students did not attend schools and coaching centres. However, what was disturbing amidst this turmoil is the reported presence and constant urging by local BJP MLAs. For instance, BJP’s MLA Nitesh Rane attempted to enter Naya Nagar in the late evening, but was prevented from doing so by the authorities.
Sabrang India spoke to Sadiq Basha, a resident of the area and a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), “After the Naya Nagar incident on Day 1, the police have arrested 19 people. Another 40-50 people are slated to be arrested as the people are looking at CCTV cameras. The police are doing their job. However, local electoral representatives such as Geeta Jain and Nitish Rane are doing the opposite. They took out a rally yesterday to remove the barricades. They are trying to spoil the environment, despite taking an oath in the constitution to uphold communal harmony, they are making attempts to spoil it. They are urging the police to tell the (police) commissioner to remove the barricade, they want rallies to pass through the area again and want to intimidate the minorities.”
Sadiq notes how he and some citizen-activists and artists are preparing to take legal action in order to prevent further violence. “We, as citizens, are planning to take legal action in order to prevent the situation from getting worse and prevent the representatives from spoiling the environment. People are being intimidated by elected representatives. Tensions are high. However, as of now, further violence is not happening, because the police have done a commendable job.”
In a video shared by Geeta Jain’s X account, she can be seen speaking to ANI, saying why are people being asked to show their Aadhar card to cross the (Mira-Bhayandar) area. She further stated that Nitesh (Rana) has also stated that if the barricades are not removed in the next 24 hours, then they will come again and remove it themselves. Geeta Jain is an MLA from the Mira-Bhayandar constituency. She and Nitesh Rane have both been observed to have engaged in rousing communal sentiments in Maharashtra in the past year.
बस अब और नहीं चलेगा…! #जयश्रीराम #miraroad #bjp #india #BJPIndia #bjpmaharashtra #DevendraFadnavis #MiraRoad #connectgeeta #MiraRoadriot #miraroad pic.twitter.com/G5gcOhyDKB
— Geeta Bharat Jain (@MLAgeetajain) January 23, 2024
Furthermore, Nitesh Rana, a BJP MLA for the Kankavil constituency in Maharashtra further posted on X a seemingly incendiary tweet, talking about beating people and picking them ‘one by one.’
“मीरा रोड मद्ये जे काल रात्री झाल..
एक याद रखना..
चुन चुन के मारेंगे !!!
जय श्री राम “
मीरा रोड मद्ये जे काल रात्री झाल..
एक याद रखना..
चुन चुन के मारेंगे !!!
जय श्री राम 🚩🚩
— nitesh rane (@NiteshNRane) January 22, 2024
It was noted by journalist Rana Ayyub that this tweet by Rane had several people commenting and urging for the implementation of “bulldozer action”, and as noted, after this tweet demolitions took place at the Mira Road area.
The responses to this tweet ask for bulldozer action against Muslims, some ask for 92 to be repeated. Few hours later bulldozer runs in Mira road. pic.twitter.com/EzCn85Amde
— Rana Ayyub (@RanaAyyub) January 24, 2024
Coordinated online hate
The BJP IT Cell seems to be on a roll. Social media site, X, saw Mira Road trending nationally. By looking through the posts that featured in this trend, many online users of X can be seen endorsing the violence against Muslims. Many were seen justifying it and saying that this was only a matter of time as they shared several videos of the mob vandalising private property.
One account by a man named Manoj Tiwari, who has written sports journalist in his bio, wrote the following tweet. This tweet was incidentally eerily identical with another tweet posted by another account.
“Maratha’s teaching peace to peacefuls since 6th June 1674.Now watch retaliation by Hindus against riots in #MiraRoad (मीरा रोड), Thane, Mumbai.”
Maratha’s teaching peace to peacefuls since 6th June 1674.
Now watch retaliation by Hindus against riots in #MiraRoad (मीरा रोड), Thane, Mumbai.
— Manoj Tiwari (@ManojTiwariIND) January 24, 2024
Another tweet, that was just as identical as the one above, was posted by an account with a woman’s display photo that goes by the name Prarambhi. The account has about 13000 followers.
“Maratha’s teaching peace to peacefuls since 6th June 1674. Now watch retaliation by Hindus against riots in #MiraRoad (मीरा रोड), Thane, Mumbai.”
Maratha’s teaching peace to peacefuls since 6th June 1674.
Now watch retaliation by Hindus against riots in #MiraRoad (मीरा रोड), Thane, Mumbai. pic.twitter.com/4n7O1n0vfe
— Prarambhi (@HBPrar) January 24, 2024
Another account by a man named Deepak Sharma, with over 37,000 followers tweeted the following, seemingly alluding to the residents of Mira Road being “Jihadis” with “heat”, “मीरा रोड मुंबई के जिहादियों में ज़्यादा गर्मी थी.”
Furthermore, there were several posts re-sharing Geeta Jain’s video statement. Many were asking, like the one below, whether India was still a majority Hindu nation.
🚨 ‼️ 🚨
This is BHARAT 🇮🇳 NOT PAKISTAN ❌
It seems they are running their our own country as ” Mini Pakistan”
Barricading has been done , in whole locality entry allowed only by Aadhar Card,
Are we still a Hindu Majority Nation ?? #Miraroad #MiraRoadriot मीरा रोड pic.twitter.com/EHqnOj66or
— NAVEEN JAGLAN (@Dr_NvnJaglan) January 23, 2024
According to Times Now, in the aftermath of the communal clashes in Naya Nagar, Mira Road, on January 23rd, Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik met with the Mira Road Commissioner and reportedly issued an ultimatum where Sarnaik called for the immediate arrest of all people accused of involvement in the recent violence. He issued a warning, stating that if the accused are not arrested within the next 48 hours, Mira Road will witness a complete shutdown on January 25. Sarnaik said that the Mira-Bhayandar area is known as “mini-India” and an incident like this has never happened before. The Times of India has reported that community leaders and local politicians, such as Haji Babu (from the Shiv Sena Shinde faction) have been trying to maintain peace in the area and prevent tensions from escalating. Sabrang India tried reaching out to authorities handling the case. However, they could not be reached despite several calls.
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