'Would True Shivaji Bhakts Torch Homes & Loot Women?': Kolhapur Violence Victims

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"They unleashed hell on the village. They snatched women's gold chains, looted ration from shops, and robbed jewellery from many homes. True Shiavji bhakts will never do such things. They were goons," said Zafran*, a resident of Gajapur village, about 75 kms from the city of Kolhapur in Maharashtra.

On the morning of 14 July, he opened shop at around 8:00 am as usual.

At a distance of about five minutes was a gathering of hundreds of protesters at the foothills of the historic Vishalgad fort, all claiming to be staunch followers of Maratha king Chhatrapati Shivaji.

They had gathered at the site on a call given by former MP Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje to protest against illegal encroachments at the fort, a cause that Sambhaji Raje has been a vocal advocate of.

Most from the Kolhapur region, many of them had also arrived from Pune a night before at the site, sources said. But what was claimed to be a peaceful protest against illegal encroachments on the Vishalgad fort had several protestors brandishing sticks, swords, axes, and koytas (a moon-shaped knife generally used to chop coconuts).

"They had come with the intention of wreaking havoc," Zafran claimed.

By the end of the day, about 40 homes and shops in Gajapur had been destroyed, a mosque had been attacked, scores of locals were injured, many homes were vandalised, and several shops were looted, including Zafran's.

'Illegal Encroachments are on Vishalgad, Why Was Our Village Attacked?'

Sambhaji Raje, heir to Kolhapur royal family as the 13th direct descendant of Maratha Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and great grandson of Rajarshi Chhatrapati Shahu of Kolhapur, has been an active advocate of restoring Chhatrapati Shivaji's forts and had been spearheading the 'Vishalgad Anti-Encroachment Movement' for about a year.

He is the son of Shahu Chhatrapati Maharaj of Kolhapur or Shahu II, the current Lok Sabha MP and also the current titular Maharaj of Kolhapur.

On 14 July, protestors gathered at the foothills of the Vishalgad fort with chants of Jai Bhawani, Jai Shivaji and 'Maharajancha killa vachva re vachva' (Save the king's fort).

Ahead of the arrival of Sambhaji Raje at the site, some miscreants allegedly pelted stones at the Rehman Malik Dargah near the fort, during which some residents and cops were injured. Some of the residents then reportedly retaliated, following which the situation went out of control. The police then cordoned off the fort and barred entry, following which the mob allegedly attacked shops and homes in Musalmanvadi of Gajapur, a Muslim locality on the outskirts of Gajapur village.

"Different groups of five-six people entered my house. I have two cars, they broke windows of one car while toppled the other and damaged its engine. I run a grocery shop here, they just looted it. They ran away with cans of oil, packets of rice, packets of chips, whatever they could lay their hand on. I had a small fridge in the shop, they dragged it out of the shop and trashed it," Zafran said, adding that the mob also torched over 25-30 motorcycles and about 20 cars in Gajapur and Vishalgad.

"My old parents were at home. They escaped to the forest that is right behind our house and hid there for an hour," he added.

Most local women speaking to the media also said that they picked up their children and ran to the forest behind their homes on the outskirts of the village.

Razia* had a similar story to tell. I was sitting in my house with my neighbour when we heard commotion outside. We saw groups of men just toppling things at a shop nearby. We heard some of them saying "khaali kara" (vacate the place). Some of them started breaking things with sticks. We immediately dragged our children inside and shut the doors and windows," she said.

"We hid inside in the kitchen and remained quiet but then we heard banging on the front door. They were banging for about three to four minutes. We jumped out of the kitchen window which opens on the side of the forest and ran as fast as we could with our toddlers," Razia said.

After returning, Razia saw both windows on the front side of the house broken and stones and shreds of glass on the floor.

While some villagers claimed that they found jewellery missing from the cupboards of the house, many say that their vehicles were destroyed by the miscreants.

"This is not the first time demolitions have taken place on Vishalgad. Whenever there have been evictions in the past, the police is deployed there and it is a matter between them and the Vishalgad residents. So, why did they attack the village? It was mere hooligaism," Zafran said.

'Children and Elderly Were Thrashed': Women 

A delegation of the opposition's INDIA bloc, including MP Shahu Maharaj and MLA Satej Patil, visited Gajapur on Tuesday in a bid to address the locals' grievances and distributed food packets to affected families.

Many women, while speaking to the delegation, were seen weeping while demanding for compensation and justice.

In videos from the site, one of the women can be heard telling Shahu Maharaj: "There were old people and children who were attacked. We were attacked with swords and knives. Our property and belongings were destroyed. What was our fault? Please ensure justice for us."

Speaking to the media, Shahu Maharaj said: "We will speak to relevant authorities in Kolhapur and make sure that the affected families are fairly compensated."

'How Could the Police Not Anticipate This?'

The handling of the situation by the police has come under question from several quarters, including the political leaders.

The gathering at the site had taken place despite no permission by the police or the authorities. But while police was deployed on the fort and the nearby areas, many locals feel that some security should have been deployed in Gajapur too.

"They deployed police on Vishalgad where demolition was supposed to happen. They knew the meeting place is at the foothills. Why did they not safeguard the villages around too? Why did the authorities not deploy 5-10 cops in our village? How could experts like them not anticipate that our village could also come under attack? Who will take responsibility for our losses?" Zafran asked.

"How can the government allow this? Does the Constitution allow this? Does it allow protesters to brandish hammers and axes, enter somebody's village and wreak havoc? There were also some women brandishing sticks," he added.

MLA Satej Patil on Monday also demanded that the failure of police personnel in the matter must be questioned.

After meeting affected families on Tuesday, Patil alleged that the violence may have been pre planned.

"We have spoken to the affected families. They have incurred heavy losses. There are doubts that the attack may have been pre planned," he said.

"I demand that the chief minister and both deputy chief ministers clear their stand on this. The ones who are involved, their names haven't been made public. It looks like those in power are trying to shield those responsible," he added.

'I am Not a Mature Politician': Sambhaji Raje

Addressing the media on Monday, Sambhaji Raje, too, blamed the authorities for the incident and said that the situation would never have arisen if illegal encroachments had not been allowed.

Asserting that the violence could not have been pre planned and that he is not associated politically with either the ruling Mahayuti or Opposition's Maha Vikas Aghadi alliances, he also said that he is "new to politics and not a mature politician."

While he claimed that the protestors who had gathered had no communal agenda, Gajapur locals feel otherwise.

"One of the first encroachments to be destroyed belongs to a Prakash Patil. Some of the first action was faced by Hindu families. Some people are trying to do Hindu-Muslim over this, they must not," Sambhaji Raje said while addressing the media outside the police station on Monday.

"Why would they attack the mosque if there was no communal agenda?" Zafran asked.

The police has registered four FIRs over the violence so far, in which 500 people have been booked and 21 have been arrested so far.

While details of the FIR and the accused have not yet been made public, the police has said that no accused will be spared irrespective of their religion, sources said.

It is yet unclear if Sambhaji Raje has been named in any of the FIRs.

"Several Shiv Bhakts have been booked. Rather than harassing them, the police should book me. I kept asking them if I have been booked but they refused to answer," he said, after a two-hour long meeting with police officials on Monday.

Several Muslim bodies led by Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind submitted a letter to the Kolhapur authorities to take strict action against those accused and demanded that Sambhaji Raje must be arrested.

The Sakal Hindu Samaj, meanwhile, submitted an undertaking to the authorities that "innocent Shivaji bhakts are being targeted by the police to cover up for their incompetence and that cases must be registered against the real perpetrators." The outfit demanded an independent probe into the matter by a retired judge.

*Names of several subjects have been changed to protect their identity in compliance with their request.