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A mosque was set on fire in Rajasthan’s Alwar on 20 June, and among the accused in the incident is the former sub-district head of Bharatiya Janata Party’s Alwar division.
In Alwar’s Bahadurpur village, locals spotted flames of smoke emerging from the Shah Jamal mosque at around 3 in the afternoon, and rushed to the hilltop, where it is situated.
“It is a very old mosque and many of the locals used to regularly pray in it. Along with burning the mosque, its iron gates were also broken,” Mualana Hanif, former chairman of the district Waqf Board told The Quint. The mosque is built on Waqf land, he said.
In the FIR of the incident filed in the Alwar Sadar station, the complainant says that this was done by “hooligans and anti-social elements” who “have routinely threatened us.”
The FIR has been registered against 14 people as well as unknown individuals, under IPC sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 153A (offence against any place of worship), 295A (acts to insult religion), 427 (mischief causing loss or damage), 436 (mischief by fire), 504 (insult intended to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation).
Local BJP Leader Among Accused, Not Arrested Yet
Among the 14 accused is Raman Gulati, the former Alwar sub-district president.
However, the Alwar Sadar police confirmed to The Quint that Gulati hasn’t been arrested yet.
The Quint reached out to Gulati but hasn’t received any response yet.
Locals suspect that the mosque was set on fire in a bid to “communalise” matters in the run-up to the Rajasthan elections, slated for December this year.
“Our village has a significant Hindu as well as Muslim population and we have mostly lived in peace. Incidents like these are done to cause tension among communities and polarise them before elections,” Sahun Khan, the sarpanch of the village told The Quint. Sahun is also the complainant in the case.
Dargah-Related Dispute Preceded the Fire
The mosque was set on fire three days after a dispute over the adjoining dargah (shrine) present in the same compound ensued among the locals. “People of all faiths go to the Dargah to pay their respects. That has been the norm for decades,” Javed, a local resident, told The Quint. “But a few days ago, the gate to the dargah was latched temporarily because of some construction work. People spread a false rumour that entry to the dargah has been stopped for the Hindu community. That led to tensions,” Javed added.
The village sarpanch told The Quint that these were “baseless rumours” and “entry to the dargah isn’t restricted for anyone.”
Inspector Dinesh Chand Meena, investigating the case, said the police is “communicating with both sides.”
“We don’t want this to escalate further so are appealing to all sides to keep peace,” Inspector Meena told The Quint. On the question of the BJP leader Raman Gulati being an accused, the inspector said he hasn’t been arrested yet but the “investigation is on.”
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