Mehsana: Belim Vas is a Muslim-majority area in Kheralu of north Gujarat’s Mehsana district. Here, locals are careful to keep their own movements limited and are watchful of police officers stationed in the area.
On January 21, Hindu residents in the area led a ‘shobha yatra’ – a rally – on the eve of the consecration ceremony at the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Locals’ estimates have it that at least 600-700 people participated in this rally.
The rally diverted from its set map, took a different route and reached a mosque in the area, locals say. Local Muslims urged the revellers in the procession to not play loud music and engage in bursting crackers outside the mosque. Those pleas were ignored by the revellers, they say.
A verbal spat began, which became violent. The rally participants used swords, sticks and stones, locals said. This is visible in videos of the incident seen by The Wire as well.
A video screengrab showing swords in revellers’ hands.
Muslims arrested, detained
As the violence escalated, Mehsana Police began dispelling crowds using teargas. Locals in Belim Vas claimed that the police mistreated and manhandled them.
Police has also arrested 13 men and two minors – all from Belim Vas and all Muslims.
Muslim women have alleged that police officers reportedly broke into their homes, smashed their doors and cars, in an ostensible effort to punish them.
Rubina, whose husband Mohammed Hussain, 30, has been arrested, told The Wire that he was picked up soon after the violence. She said that the police severely beat Hussain while dragging him out of their house. “They broke down our gates, doors and scattered everything around. When women protested, they threatened us with arrest too,” she said.
Rubina’s husband is lodged in Mehsana’s Vasai Jail with 12 other Muslims. Hussain is a patient of depression and currently on medication which he cannot access in jail.
Rubina’s woes echo in Mohammed Siddiq’s household. Siddiq wears a face devoid of any expressions. It has been five days now since his 16-year-old son, Rehmatullah, was picked up by Mehsana Police in connection with the violence.
“They didn’t tell any family members about where they took our arrested relatives. Today, after five days, I was informed that he has been shifted to a children’s home until the matter clears,” he said.
Doors broken, allegedly by police, at a Muslim house in Belim Vas. Photo: Tarushi Aswani.
‘Planned, provocative procession’
Zubair Belim, a former corporator of the area is stunned at how the previously peaceful neighbourhood of Kheralu witnessed such targeted action.
“Muslims are a minority here, but we have never felt unsafe. Things are changing. The last 10 years have really changed the way Hindu processions move around. They had swords and rods, and then they pelted stones. They smashed a TV in my house, they burnt a nearby eatery. This is very dangerous. We expected a rally to celebrate the temple, but didn’t expect to be targeted this way,” said Belim.
Another local whose name is being withheld over his safety concerns said he has videos of known and local faces in the rally, but he does not want to identify them to police as one of his sons is under arrest. “My son is the only Muslim in his college, he is a gold-medallist in sports. Vishwa Hindu Parishad goons had had their eye on him for long, and now he is under arrest,” he told The Wire.
“I have videos of locals wielding swords and pelting stones at our homes, but I am scared that if I report against Hindus, either I will myself be arrested or my family will face security issues. All of us know it was a planned attack and meant to provoke us.” he explained.
His neighbour, one Shaista, is also under similar stress. Her husband, Wazeer Mohammed Saadiq Ali was not only beaten, but had to get six stitches on the back of his head because of the violence. “Police broke into every home. They dragged my husband away and hit him severely. They even took all our phones,” she said. Their daughter, a minor in Class 4, said how she has been avoiding school since the violence and the arrest of her father.
A car window smashed in Belim Vas. Photo: Tarushi Aswani.
Armed and angry
The men, women, and the youth of Belim Vas shared videos with The Wire that clearly show men in the Ram temple celebration rally wielding swords and rods.
“They set fire to my tea shack, and they burnt down Ambika hotel which owned by a Hindu but run by a Muslim. They changed their route to instil fear in us with their presence and harm us. And yet it is our sons and brothers who have been named in the first information report,” a Muslim woman, who requested not to be named, said.
Rushikesh B. Upadhyay, Commandant, State Reserve Police Force, Mehsana confirmed to The Wire the number of men and minors arrested. He also said that police have had been holding ‘Shanti Samiti’ – peace committee – meetings to diffuse tension. An investigation is underway, Upadhyay added.
The Wire also spoke to a reveller from the Ram temple celebration rally – Sachinbhai Barot. Barot said it was Muslims who had a problem with the procession first. While the videos show the revellers brandishing swords, rods and saffron flags, Barot said he would not like to answer about the presence of weapons.
Belim Vas. Photo: Tarushi Aswani.
Locals have claimed that while they could not point out VHP, Bharatiya Janata Party or Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh workers in the rally, local Hindutva groups such as Shatriya Sena and Thakur Sena were behind the mobilisation of Hindu men on the day of the violence. The rise of these new groups, they say, signals a trend where such anti-Muslim action is localised.
Hozefa Ujjaini, social activist, views this trend of purposeful instigation as a method the right-wing is using to express their dominance in society and over public spaces. Ujjaini also shared that this is a specifically concerted situation where such rallies are taken out with weapons to exert a sentiment of Hindu strength and control over society.
Across the state, various neighbourhoods witnessed rallies culminating into violence. Most such Ram temple rallies were taken out without police permission. Ahmedabad’s Juhapura, Dehgam’s Karoli, Anand’s Bhajipura also saw rallies which attempted to instigate crowds in the run up to the January 22 Ram temple event.
