advertisement
“If the government and police can’t manage the Ram Navami procession why did they give permission? Who will pay for our losses?” questioned a teary-eyed Sangeeta Yadav, resident of the Sanjay Nagar area in Khargone, Madhya Pradesh.
But the stage for the clashes that broke out on Sunday was set earlier during the day when the first procession was crossing Talab Chowk at 11 am.
When the procession, organised by Raghuvanshi Samaj which has a sizeable population in Khargone, reached near Talab Chowk, they had to stop owing to the police barricading. The members of the procession objected to the barricading claiming that it did not leave enough space for the procession to turn around.
Talking to The Quint, Manoj Raghuvanshi, the organiser of the first procession, said, “Members of the rally were demanding the barricades be pulled back to make space for the procession.”
He added further, “There was a minor verbal tussle over barricading and Shyam Mahajan, district BJP president also arrived at the scene. Then Shyam got into a heated argument with the Additional Superintendent of the Police, Neeraj Chaurasiya. However, after senior officers got involved, we were given space to turn around and reached the city’s Ram Mandir. We conducted the ‘Bhandara’ (a religious feast) and then everybody returned home."
As people pooled into the procession in front of the Jama Masjid situated at the Talab Chowk in the second procession, the situation grew tense.
Around 5 pm the clashes broke out while the procession swelled at the chowk. As the police tried to dispel the clashing mobs at the chowk, multiple reports of stone-pelting and arson started pouring in from Sanjay Nagar along with Qazipura and Tavdi area.
According to BL Mandloi, in charge of Khargone police station, the procession was supposed to leave between 2-3 pm but got delayed until 5 pm.
“When the government knew it won’t be able to control the procession why did it permit it in the first place? Who will return to us what we have lost? Will the government compensate or will the Rambhakts who carried out the procession?” Sangeeta asked.
Following the clashes on Ram Navami, Khargone witnessed multiple incidents of arson and stone-pelting resulting in the loss of property, homes and livelihood from both communities.
Talking to The Quint, Manju Bai, a resident of the Sanjay Nagar area said that they didn’t know when the clashes broke out, but there were stones being hurled at the homes and their two-storey house was set on fire.
While Manju Bai was forced to run from her own house, Nawab Khan, another resident of the Sanjay Nagar locality, also had to leave as rioters tried to barge into his house.
“The other families started moving out of their houses and locked them, we sensed something is going to happen. By the time I understood, there were stones from all sides. I was alone in the house and I locked myself up. A while later when they started banging on the doors and tried to set the house on fire, I called the police. I called them twice but they didn’t come, they kept saying we are reaching, but nobody came until 1 am. By this time the situation had escalated a lot, I feared for my life and so I fled from the scene from the backside of the house,” Nawab Khan.
According to police sources, 26 houses, 10 bikes and a godown were set ablaze on the intervening night of 10-11 April, following the clashes.
A day later, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said to the media, "There is no place for rioters on the soil of Madhya Pradesh. These rioters have been identified, they will not be released. Strictest action will be taken against them.”
Following both ministers' statements, the district administration on Monday, 11 April, set out on a spree of demolition razing down 16 houses and 29 shops citing involvement in the clashes. According to the official sources, all the demolished establishments are minority-owned.
“They came with 5-6 bulldozers and crushed the house which they themselves had given permission and money to build. My house was a kaccha house and I made a pucca house after I got the money under PM Aawas Yojana. Everyone is saying that my house was demolished as an action against the stone pelters, but I never pelted stones. I live over 1km from the area and I am a daily wage labour working every day to feed my family. I can’t afford to take a day off,” said Amjad Khan with a heavy voice.
The district administration claims that they have demolished the illegal establishments built on the encroached land.
Khargone collector, Anugraha P, has, however, claimed, “These names were already on the list of people who have built establishments by encroaching on the government lands and coincidentally many of them were involved in the riots. The demolition drive is completely legal, everyone was given prior notice."
Notably, Sadulla Baig, whose house was demolished for the second time in last one year said that he is not a rioter but is fighting to live through the day.
Apart from the demolition drive till Tuesday, 12 April, 25 First Information Reports (FIRs) were registered from the Hindu community while only one FIR has been registered on the complaints of the Muslim community.
A total of 89 people have been arrested and 70 of them have been sent to jail, police has said.
Following the orders of chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, the Madhya Pradesh government set up its first claims tribunal in Khargone to recover the damages to the property from the accused.
The tribunal has been set up under section 4 of the 'Madhya Pradesh Lok Evam Niji Sampatti ko Nuksaan ka Nivaran Evam Nuksaani ki Vasuli Adhiniyam 2021' after the Khargone riots.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)