Metro Mail

Life in this ‘IT hub of India’ stopped in its tracks on Sunday, January 21, 2007, nwhen people returning from a conclave of the RSS, went on an arson spree and lit several vehicles in the mixed locality of Shivajinagar in downtown Bangalore.


The communal violence that rocked Bangalore in the wake of two rallies has kicked up the issue if conclaves or rallies with communal undertones be allowed in cities. The violence claimed life of one Muslim boy and left scores of people wounded. But the Government of Karnataka is mooting a ban on all rallies with patently communal appeal.


Life in this ‘IT hub of India’ stopped in its tracks on Sunday, January 21, 2007, when people returning from a conclave of the RSS, went on an arson spree and lit several vehicles in the mixed locality of Shivajinagar in downtown Bangalore. Stoning by the mob pushed the people indoors. Police was deployed in huge numbers and they took no chance. Following teargas, they resorted to firing which killed Sazal, an orphan from K.G.Halli area. The City was gripped with tension which took a couple of days to vanish from the air.


The RSS conclave touted as Virat Hindu Samajotsava had been widely publicised in the City. Muslim areas were special targets for stringing saffron banners, flags and posters. The canvassing had gone on for weeks before the conclave which was to be held in three different parts of the City. The spark was lit on January 19, when Muslim rallyists coming to the conclave called by veteran Congress leader C. K. Jaffer Sharief behaved in an unruly manner and vandalized shops, burned three cars and hit a few people. Sharief’s conclave was to condemn the hanging of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussain and the ‘American imperialism’. Sharief having lost the election from North Bangalore in 2004 and largely ignored by the Congress, had been sulking for long. He had been trying to make best of every opportunity to create noises and thrust his progeny into the limelight. It drew leaders from a wide political spectrum and seated over the dais were MLAs from both the Congress and the Janata Dal including former CM Dharamsingh and KPCC president Mallikarjuna Kharge. It was basically a show of Sharief’s clout.


But little did he realise that though he could very well hold a conclave, ensuring the peaceful return of the participants to their homes was not entirely in his hands. A group of the rallyists from a notorious locality in the City, while returning, pulled down some saffron banners and enticed the other group into a confrontation. They queered the pitch for the Sunday showdown when the Samajotsava participants let their fury out in full force. City Police Commissioner, N. Achutha Rao, accused the RSS activists of igniting the trouble and indulging in arson and violence.


However, the City Police had made massive deployment in previously trouble torn areas. It did all it could to localise the impact, knowing fully well that the City, now the destination of investments and business tycoons from world over, could not afford a longer spell of disruption of normal life. With its notoriously congested traffic arteries criss-crossing the downtown, it could not have withstood the curfews. But it could not avoid the blame of being highhanded. There are reports of police entering Muslim homes and beating up innocent inmates and rounding up anyone on whom they could lay their hands upon. Majority of those being held in jail without being produced before the court (even three days after the riot) are Muslims, many of them children. Politicians like Jaffer Sharief and Roshan Baig MLA, who visited hospitals to see the injured, were gheraoed and heckled.


Now that the things are back to normal and business as usual, everyone is looking for scapegoats. Sharief has been roundly lampooned for holding a conclave to mourn a fallen dictator and for having done it 20 days after Hussain was hung. Spontaneous protests and agitation would have sent different signals. Was it justifiable to call a conclave at the time he did? Did he not know that a communal organization was holding its rally two days later and going by its record, even lighting of a small fuse could have led to an inferno? Did not he do all this to resurrect himself politically when the chips were totally down for him? Is it a case of a faded out politician seeking to revive himself by hanging to the coat tails of a hung hero?


Several intellectuals and writers have condemned the Sangh Parviar for instigating communal trouble. Writer H. Marulsiddappa, former Backward Classes Chairman Raviverma Kumar etc joined a select band of people who said the celebration of Samajotsava was aimed at injecting communal venom among people. They also condemned the State Government’s decision to withdraw the decision to include egg in the midday meals scheme. They said a very large majority of the midday meals scheme beneficiaries consists of OBCs, SCs, STs and minorities who are non-vegetarians and it was not proper for the Government to follow the diktat of Mutt chiefs.


Whatever may the motives, the larger question still remains unanswered: How and who should allow venting of democratic dissent in cities that are now turning into strict no, no zones for rallies in their march to being investment-friendly?


(The writer can be reached at maqbool_siraj@rediffmail.com)

The gang rape of two madrasa girls in Allahabad has shocked the community. In a bold step, both the victims and their families have refused to accept the cheque of two lakhs announced by the state government, and demanded that the culprits should be booked and punished.


While Ardh Kumbh was in full swing and devotees were engrossed in their holy dip in the Sangam, some goons had chalked out their criminal plans. They forcibly entered the residential girls madrasa, Jamia Al Saalihat Islamia, Mahmoodabaad, Basoona Road, Karaili in Allahabad, took two girls from there and gang raped them. Six miscreants, impersonating themselves as police personnel (CID) coming for “routine investigation” forcefully broke the front door of the madrasa on the fateful night of January 17, 2007 around 12 a.m. After entering into its premises they locked the watchman in the storeroom and woke up the caretaker (khaala). They enquired about the whereabouts of the manager of the madrasa..


The criminals threatened the girls with knives and pistols and locked them in a room except two of them, whom they took away to the fields, hardly a km away, opposite the madrasa and gang raped them for two hours. Victims were threatened to keep quiet about the incident otherwise their bodies would be cut down into three pieces. Girls locked-up inside cried for help, but being a deserted place none could hear them or come for rescue. Both the victims were thrown in front of the madrasa around 2 a.m. The madrasa authorities requested the police to lodge the F.I.R and conduct medical examination of the victims, but this did not happen until political pressure compelled the S.O. of Kareli to do so. The case got registered after the intervention of SSP in the afternoon, under 376, 452 and 506.


Pressure from social activists, NGO’s and intervention of women’s groups led to the medical examination of the victims done by a three-member doctor’s team of Duffrin Hospital. Doctors confirmed that both the girls were brutally assaulted and gang raped. Activists took the victims along with police to the site for identification. They identified four men.


Chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was in Allahabad for the ‘holy dip’ at sangam, announced Rs two lakh each as aid for both the victims. But he did not take any action against anyone including the alleged S.O. UDF and other social activist groups organised a protest dharna in front of the Chowk Kotwali that continued for several hours. Subhashini Ali, national President AIDWA, Rita Bhauguna Joshi of Mahila Congress, AIPWA, CPI-ML, Stree Adhikaar Sanghatan and several organisations along with prominent citizens and hundreds of local residents including women participated in the protest dharna to express their anguish.


Family members of other girls got back their wards to their respective homes. They are reluctant to continue their children in this madrasa which has been temporarily closed for one month. On January 22, a one member team of the Minority Commission visited Allahabad to inspect. After a lot of hue and cry, Mulayam Singh Yadav sent a Muslim minister, Ahmad Hasan to Allahabad to tackle the situation. Hasan met the victims and local religious leaders on January 22 to gain their confidence. In a bold step both the victims and their families have refused to accept the cheque of two lakhs announced by the state government and demanded that the culprits should be booked and punished.


The madrasa was set up in 1992 in a rented accommodation in Kareli, Allahabad. Three years ago, it was shifted to Karhenda, a secluded place situated beside a mosque close to the bridge over Sasur Khaderi River. Maulana Wasiullah was running the madrasa for religious education. This is also the first madrasa for girls in Allahabad.


The role of the police in mishandling the issue is embarrassing. People of Kareli are furious. They claim that the police is a puppet in the hands of some politicians who instruct them to exploid such incidents to fulfill their vested interests.


What was the motive behind this gruesome incident? Speculations are that a private colony named Elena city was being planned near the madrasa by a MPs relative. The madrasa was a hurdle for the proposed city. To acquire this land, the miscreants had made the innocent girls their victims.


(The writer can be reached at asifanwaralig@gmail.com)
(With inputs from Nasiruddin, Padma and Zara in Allahabad)