MOST of the newspapers in India especially in Gujarat have been developing a new theory and endeavoring steadfastly to make it current that the Muslim minority in India suffers from several tendencies and frequently attacks the majority Hindu Community. If any-body wishes to study the process of psychic rationalizations he should, study the anti-Muslim riots in India particularly in Ahmedabad which the land of Mahatma Gandhi an apostle of non-violence and peace. Muslims are about 14 percent while Hindus are more than 80 percent of the total population of India. Muslims in comparison are economically extremely poor, socially backward and educationally, much lagging behind the Hindus. There is no question of the weak Muslim minority attacking the strong Hindu majority. Just as it is foolish to believe that the Hindu minority in Pakistan or Bangladesh attacks the Muslim majority. But the newspapers in India want Us to believe in such irrational fantastic and anti-human theories to hide their guilt and cheat themselves and cheat the world. Anybody who believes in the sanctity of human rights, will be stored to the hilt if he scientifically studies these communal holocausts in India whether they take place at Jamshedpur, Bhivandi, Hyderabad or Ahmedabad or Baroda. Everywhere in India, we find the same pattern. There is vicious communal propaganda against Muslims by Hindu Parishad, Hindu Mahasabha, Bharatiya Janata Party etc. and powerful attempts are being made to excite the Hindus against the Muslims and false rumors are spread deliberately and systematically by certain malicious groups of Hindus.

HINDU RELIGIOUS PROCESSIONS PROXIMATE CAUSE OF ANTI-MUSLIM RIOTS:

Second point that is worth noting is that most of the anti-Muslim riots spring from the religious processions of the Hindus. In Ahmedabad, Baroda, and other cities and towns of Gujarat state in India, there has taken place consecutively three anti-Muslim riots within the period of the last one and half years and two of them were due to Rathyatra a religious procession of Hindus. Previous to it in 1969 riots of Ahmedabad, 2000 Muslims were killed and many Muslim women and children were burnt alive within the period of only three days which were again the result of the same Rathyatra which implied a religious procession of thousands of Hindus starting from the Jagannath Temple which is situated in the predominantly Muslim area There was the false propaganda with big headlines in the newspapers that this temple was attend by Muslims and as one senior politician of West Germany who visited Ahmedabad to study the riot made a remark that he had read in the very objective and reliable newspapers of West Germany this temple was razed to the ground while he found that the temple was completely intact and only some glasses in the tower of the temple were broken when there was a skirmish between the Sadhus and the Muslims in that area, as Sadhus had attacked the Muslim shopkeepers on the issue Of beating of the cows. In India, cows are considered to be holier than human beings and that is why they are found to be roaming hungry in search of food on the streets and are made falsely the cause of many anti-Muslim riots. Again in 1985, the agitation of the high caste Hindus against the backward schedule caste Hindus pertaining to their reservation in government jobs and educational institutions was deliberately turned into the anti-Muslim riot by the hired events of the government of Gujarat, as the government was afraid that the agitation may force the ministry to resign and they did not mind the innocent lives being sacrificed if that saved them their power! Muslims were made the scapegoats though they have no reservation anywhere in any field and the conflict was between two: Hindu groups.

The second anti-Muslim riot in the same year broke out when the Sadhus and other Hindu youngmen of the same religious procession of Rathyatra who were equipped with spear scepters and who had vans full of stones, attacked the Muslims while passing through the predominantly Muslim areas. When Muslims tried to defend themselves, the police fired upon them and 11 Muslims died on the spot. The police allowed the Hindus to attack the Muslims and the police saw to it that Muslims are not allowed defending themselves. It was again that the Muslims were arrested and thrown into jails and in order to support such atrocities, the newspapers concocted the false stories that Muslims had attacked the Hindu religious procession of Rathyatra.

ANTI—MUSLIM SLOGANS OF THE HINDU RELIGIOUS SOG SCTO RIGS

On July 9th, 1986, the same Rathyatra was allowed by the government and the precisionists insisted to pass through the Muslims localities also. In many Muslims to localities, Muslims arranged special programmes to welcome them and garlanded the chief Mahant of the Jagannath Temple. But the Sadhus and the misguided Hindu youngmen were shouting anti-Muslim obscene slogans like Jai Ramchand, Miyya chor (long live Ramchand, Muslims are thieves) etc. just to incite the Muslims in order to start anti-Muslim riots. But Muslims controlled themselves and kept quiet and nothing happened when they passed through Muslim localities. So the Hindu precisionists became restive and impatient. When this religious procession of one hundred thousand persons was passing through the predominantly Hindu area of Kadia Naka and Delhi Chakla, suddenly they started burning and looting Muslim shops that were few and far between there and attacked the isolated pockets of sparsely populated Muslim areas. When they reached the Shahpur area which is a mixed one, they again started burning Muslim — shops and when the Muslims came out to protect their shops, the police fired at them and 8 innocent:

Muslims were shot dead on the spot. The police and the Hindus united to kill the Muslims. Ag the Muslims were the ones who were arrested in large numbers and the newspapers owned by the Hindus (Muslims have no daily newspaper) circulated the entirely false story that the Muslims had attacked this religious procession of Rath yatra. What a travesty of facts! It is adding insult to the injury! Hindu religious leaders gave a call for Gujarat Bandh which resulted into Widespread anti-Muslim riots as if like wild fire in Ahmedabad, Baroda, Kadn, Broach, Nadyad and other towns and cities of the Gujarat state of India. Two Muslims who had come to the Government Civil Hospital to enquire about the health of their relative were chased by the crowd of Hindus and when they ran to the second floor of the hospital, they were beaten to death in the very presence of the doctors and the nurses and thrown to the ground from the second floor and burnt. Muslim doctors in the hospital had to fly away to save their lives. In the Meghani Nagar area, 6 members of a Muslim family were burnt alive and the photos of their charred bodies have appeared in “Radiance” Weekly of New Deli. More than 100 persons died and properties of lakhs of rupees were looted and burnt. This was the third anti-Muslim riot in the period of the last one and a half years.

In the second anti-Muslim riot of 1985 which we have already referred to, more than 100 Muslims were killed jointly by the Hindus and| the police. In the Indira Nagar of Bapu Nagar, police in simple dress led the attack of hundreds of Hindus over the Muslims and shot dead some 14 Muslims and the Hindu crowd then followed and killed many other Muslims and looted their houses.

APPLICATION OF TERRORIST ACT TO INNOCENT MUSLIMS

In another area, Hindus threw bombs on the houses or Muslims and tried to burn Muslim houses. But the military came and it stopped on that day. After the lapse of another day, they gain threw bombs and 500 Hindus started burning Muslim houses. Muslims just to checkmate them burnt some vacant Hindu houses. 3 Muslims and 2 Hindus were shot by the military. Though this was a two sided Hindu-Muslim riot, 63 innocent Muslims were arrested under the charge of murder and no Hindu was arrested. Besides, the Terrorist Act which was enacted to check the activities of the Sikhs in Punjab, was applied to this case and according to this Act, the only punishment is that of being hanged to death, From amongst 63 arrested Muslims, there are Muslims who are the strong believers in Hindu-Muslim unity and who had saved the lives of 30 Hindus in the previous communal riot of 1985 It also included persons who had left the area many days ago. Even Hindus know that all these 63 arrested Muslims are completely innocent. But the police and the Hindu communal organizations are concocting and fabricating false evidence and bringing to the Courts the false eye-witnesses who were simply not there and who had already left their area due to the previous disturbances. Habitual drunkards are brought in by the police as eye-witnesses to the court.

MUSLIMS BURNT ALIVE AND MUSLIM WOMEN ATTACKED:

Muslim rickshawalas are burnt alive and Muslim women also are attacked in Ahmedabad, Great bitterness and hostility are spread against all Muslims and the Terrorist Act is being applied to the communal cases in order to create Judicial murders of the innocent Muslims. Thousands of Muslims are languishing in refugee camps and hundreds of them are tottering in jails for the last one and half years and their family members are starving. Before it is too late and before the hands of the believers of the Hindu-Muslim unity become weak and the radicals take over the charge. the young Prime Minister of India who is the hope of many, should take active steps to quell these anti-Muslim riots, control and eliminate the vicious propaganda against the Muslims and undertake measures to withdraw the application of the Terrorist Act to communal riot cases and arrange to release the innocent Muslims who have been arrested under fabricated and false charges.

We admit and appreciate some healthy and glorious incidents of Muslims saving lives of Hindus and Hindus saving lives of the Muslims and in certain cases. some police officers behaving neutrally and helping all victims irrespective of religion and caste, but alas, such cases are few and far between, Recently the Government of Gujarat did not allow any religious processions to be taken out on the street and that is quite in the fitness of things and we appreciate that step. For five years from now, no religious procession of Hindus or Muslims or of any other religion should be allowed to be taken on the street and Rajiv should take personal interest in quelling the anti-Muslim propaganda by Hindu communal organizations and ask persons like Chidambaram to be in touch with the Government of Gujarat and help it in achieving the goals of communal harmony and national integration.

Article extracted from this publication >> December 5, 1986