Mumbai: On February 22, a special Gram Sabha meeting was called at Madhi village in Ahilyanagar’s Pathardi taluka. Its agenda was clear – to discuss the newly-released list of those eligible for housing under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in the village.
The meeting was held on a Saturday, an unusual choice because most villagers and even Gram Sabha members would be away at work. The meeting concluded, and a few attendees who could be present signed the day’s agenda.
These signatures were later allegedly misused for another resolution – this one, to “boycott” Muslim traders who would soon be gathering in the village for the grand annual Madhi fair at the ancient Kanifnath shrine. The shrine, located 50 kilometres from Ahilyanagar (what was earlier called Ahmednagar), is an important place of worship for several nomadic communities. Over the past several decades, with the growing influence of radical Hindutva outfits, it has acquired visual markers that help with the claim that it is a “Hindu” shrine.
The 700-year-old Kanifnath festival at Madhi sees substantial footfall, especially from the nomadic communities, from across the country.
This move, initiated by the village sarpanch Sanjay Markad, has led to unrest in the village. It is illegal and unconstitutional for a Gram Sabha to adopt such a resolution in India. Many individuals whose signatures appeared on the resolution have now accused Markad of using their signatures without their knowledge. But a few claim that they were aware of the move and support the resolution.
The resolution. Photos: By arrangement.
As the controversy erupted, the district administration directed Shivaji Kamble, the block development officer (BDO) of the village panchayat, to look into the matter. Kamble confirmed to The Wire that the meeting was indeed called to discuss the housing scheme and that the boycott of a community was never on the agenda. “Before such meetings, the agenda is explicitly set and notified to the members and villagers. But that didn’t happen in this case,” Kamble said, adding that these were his preliminary findings.
Article 243 (b) of the Indian constitution gives Gram Sabhas significant power to both govern and run the day-to-day administrative work of the village. The resolution adopted at Madhi is thus unconstitutional and is liable to be a criminal case. So far, however, no legal action has been initiated against sarpanch Markad or anyone else involved in passing the resolution. The Wire contacted district collector Siddharam Salimath to inquire about the action initiated against the villagers but didn’t get any response. This report will be updated as and when Salimath responds.
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‘Illegal activities,’ ‘mothers and daughters’
Markad, who has a strong affiliation with the Hindutva outfit Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and other allied groups, claims that the decision was taken keeping in mind the “several criminal activities” of previous years. While speaking to The Wire, Markad claimed that many traders, belonging to the Muslim community, had allegedly engaged in “illegal activities” like theft and gambling during the festival, which lasts for weeks starting from Holi. Markad couldn’t back these claims with evidence.
He also raised objections about buying kumkum (vermilion) from Muslim traders. “How can our women apply kumkum sold by Muslim men?” he asked.
Interestingly, research scholar Firdaus Soni, who has been studying the festivals of the nomadic communities in Maharashtra for her doctoral thesis, shared that it is mainly a subcaste among the Muslims, mainly itinerant, that is engaged in the making of kumkum that Hindus apply.
When asked more questions, Markad was quick to shift the narrative to “saving the Hindu daughters and mothers.” “The step we have taken is to save our daughters and mothers. And if that leads to a violation of the Constitution and other legal provisions, so be it,” he said. No cases of sexual violations of women and children have been registered in the village.
The organisers of the festival, meanwhile, have said that they are opposed to the Gram Sabha’s resolution and claim that they were not kept in the loop.
A village of peaceful coexistence
Madhi is a mixed-caste and mixed religion village. Of the nearly 3,000 houses, about 400 belong to Muslims. The rest are mostly Marathas (the dominant caste to which Markad belongs), and small Other Backward Class groups like Teli, Mali, and Dhangar.
Several houses also belong to the Buddhist community, who have spoken in support of the Muslims in this “boycott” case.
Firoz Shaikh, who runs an automobile repair shop in the village, attended the Gram Sabha meeting last week. He said that the signatures were collected after most Muslim attendees had left. “They didn’t want any of us to be suspicious. So they waited until we left the meeting and made other villagers sign the papers,” Shaikh claims. Another local trader, Jan Mohammed Patel, who has strongly opposed the resolution, says such boycotts are announced only to disrupt peaceful coexistence in the village.
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The Madhi shrine has a complicated history. Anthropologist Robert M. Hayden, in his book Antagonistic Tolerance: Competitive Sharing of Religious Sites and Spaces, describes how the shrine has come to be revered and worshiped by both Hindus and Muslims.
“For Muslims, it is the dargā of the Muslim saint Shah Ramzan Mahi Savar Chisti, while Hindus say it is the samādhi of the Hindu saint Kanifnath. Note that the saint is the same historical person, but with two religious identities, and neither group acknowledges the identity used by the other as valid.”
He further notes that both Hindus and Muslims have a long history of peaceful interaction at Madhi, occasionally punctuated by brief episodes of violence.
Markad’s response is not one-off. Mired in several legal – mainly civil – disputes, many Hindutva organisations have tried to vitiate Madhi’s atmosphere in recent years. Patel says, however, that the disputes have never impacted interpersonal relationships in the village. “For every court hearing, both communities would travel to the nearby civil court, and after the court hearing, they would be seen sitting together and sharing lunch,” said. Patel added that the attempt to boycott was meant to trigger unnecessary animosity among the communities.
Trade patterns
Unlike other Hindu temples and festivals, the festivities at the Kanifnath shrine are primarily led by the nomadic communities. It is important to note that the Muslim traders participating in the fair also belong to nomadic communities.
Soni observed that the Muslims visiting the Madhi fair are mostly small-time traders, selling plastic toys and earning a living from such fairs. Over the past years, Soni has also noted a change in the migratory patterns, with traders from northern India now choosing to come to Maharashtra and southern states. She suggested that this shift may be due to two main reasons: “One, the rampant boycott of Muslim traders in the north, and two, the western and southern regions are seen as better markets, where people have relatively higher buying capacity.”
The boycott in the western part, Soni warns, will only deepen the economic impact on the trading community.
