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Riots Continue, Over 250 Indians Killed, Dozens Burnt Alive
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Shops and house have been set ablaze. |
By
Zafarul-Islam Khan, IOL South Asia Correspondent
NEW
DELHI, March 1 (IslamOnline) - After a total collapse of law and order
machinery, in Ahmedabad, the largest city of Gujarat, and over 250 people
murdered, mostly Muslims, the Indian authorities called in the army to restore
order. But the army has been deployed in only four cities out of 36 cities in
the state which are under curfew while extremist Hindus are still on the rampage
to 'avenge' the alleged involvement of 'Muslims' in the train incident on
Wedenesday in which Temple volunteers were attacked by people of the washermen
community after the volunteers misbehaved with their women.
As
violence continued unabated on Friday ten more towns were placed under curfew,
bringing the total towns under curfew to 36 in Gujarat. Fresh communal violence
in Ahmedabad and its outskirts early Friday claimed 30 more lives, including 27
burnt alive while asleep.
Despite
the presence of the Army in Ahmedabad, mobs are still out on the streets. In
addition to the human casualties, over a dozen mosques have been damaged or
demolished during the disturbances.
Some
of the worst violence occurred in Naroda-Patia area of Ahmedabad where in one
single act of carnage, a mob of around 5,000 persons killed nearly 65 Muslims in
one stroke. The victims included a 20-day-old baby.
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Hindu extremists.
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"There
was a huge mob of around 5000 people who stormed our house and pulled me and my
parents out. They doused us with petrol and set us ablaze...my parents are dead
and see what they have done to me”, cried 15-year-old Shah Jahan, a resident
of Noorani Masjid area in Naroda-Patia, pointing to her face that looked like a
horror-mask dripping with blood. Victims said that they were targeted first on
Thursday afternoon by a mob that torched the entire locality within minutes. At
least 58 dead bodies had been recovered yesterday and scores admitted in the
Civil Hospital with serious burn injuries.
Mohammad
Farooq, a painter, has lost his three children and wife to the mob frenzy. He is
left with three children, all admitted to hospital with serious burn injuries.
"They burnt down everything. My wife is gone...I do not know whether these
motherless children will be able to live or not...In one stroke, they wiped out
all that I had," sobbed Farooq as he nursed his three children, all
suffering from 50 to 70 per cent burns. Most of the victims in the Naroda-Patia
area are women and children, many of whom are struggling for life alone in the
hospitals. Their relatives are either dead or injured themselves.
There
are reports of fierce attacks by mobs in other cities like Vadodara, Surat,
Rajkot, Surendranagar, Deesa, Palanpur, Khedbrahma, Bharuch, Nadiad, Viramgam,
Mandal, Idar, Dholka, Kalol, Bhiloda, Visnagar and many other smaller towns of
Gujarat. So widespread was the violence that police in smaller towns didn’t
have the required force or the fire brigade to control the damage and enforce
curfew strictly.
An
official of Ahmedabad, who was worried at the flare-up in Viramgam and Mandal
areas, said: “We can’t do anything. There is no police force out there.”
VHP activists seemed quite emboldened by the backing that they got from the
state BJP and did not hesitate to even burn the offices of the Waqf Board and
Minority Finance Corporation located in the Old Secretariat in Gandhinagar.
Despite the attack on such a high-security area, there was no attempt by the
police to contain the damage.
Gujarat
chief Minister Narendra Modi said that “Fifty million people of Gujarat have
been stunned and shocked due to the barbaric act committed by the terrorists in
Godhra and obviously peace-loving people have been hurt…By and large people
have observed restraint as the authorities have been forced to impose curfew
only in 27 towns out of 200 towns of the state”!
One
of the worst incidents of violence took place in Ahmadabad's Gulbarg Society in
Chamanpura on Thursday when close to 50 persons were burnt alive. The victims
included a former member of Parliament, Mr Ahsan Jafery who kept phoning the
police and the administration for six long hours seeking help against a mob
which had encircled his compound but no help arrived. The death toll, said
senior police officials, could go higher.
Jafery
was pulled out of his house in Gulbarg Society and set on fire. Five family
members of Jafrey, who were staying in the same locality, are also believed to
have been lynched.
In
another heart-rending incident a mob of 200 criminals caught hold of six Muslims
on the highway near Dehrol railway station in Gujarat. They doused them in
kerosene and burnt them alive. Of the victims, four were women.
Both
houses of Parliament were adjourned today without transacting any business,
following uproarious scenes over Gujarat killings, with the Opposition accusing
the Government of failing to control the communal flare up. Even before Lok
Sabha [lower house] was called to order, opposition members shouted
anti-government slogans and demanded resignation of the Government.
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A police officer watches as houses are on fire. |
In
Delhi this morning Opposition leaders led by Sonia Gandhi marched from
Parliament to the Presidential Palace where they met President Narayanan to
lodge their protest against the killings in Gujarat and sought the dismissal of
the Gujarat government. The delegation asked the President to deploy the army in
Gujarat.
The
VHP called for a nationwide strike today which was partially successful in some
states like Maharashtra and Rajasthan. Stray cases of violence have been
reported from some other places as well but there is no report of any fatality.
'Religious places' (read: mosques) have been targeted by the criminals including
five in the northern states of Haryana and Punjab. These religious places have
been partially demolished and one was set on fire by a mob in Kaithal in
Haryana. Another religious structure was partially damaged in Kapurthala in
Punjab.
In
the southern city of Hyderabad three persons are reported to have been injured
in police firing as a frenzied mob ransacked the Bhavaninagar police station in
the Old City of Hyderabad on Friday in protest against the mob violence in
Gujarat. Five or six rounds were fired in the air but reportedly three persons
sustained bullet injuries in the firing. Trouble began in the Muslim-dominated
Old City of Hyderabad soon after the Friday prayers at the Mecca Masjid.
The
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken serious note of
"escalating communal violence" in Gujarat and reports of
"inactions of police and the highest functionaries". The NHRC today
issued notice to the state government of Gujarat and its director general of
police asking them to submit a report within three days on the incidents and the
measures taken to contain them.
An
all-party meeting was held this evening in Delhi at the invitation of Prime
Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who told the meeting that the Government would
firmly and effectively deal with the situation arising out of disturbances in
Gujarat. A joint appeal by leaders of major political parties has been issued to
all the communities to maintain peace and communal harmony. "We urge them
(people) to isolate perpetrators of violence and defeat their sinister designs.
It is our collective responsibility to promote brotherhood and national unity at
all costs," the appeal said.
While
the official inquiry will establish the extent to which the attack on the
Sabarmati Express was premeditated, "there can be no doubt about the
planned nature of the violence directed against Gujarat’s Muslims on Thursday.
Property worth tens of millions was burned down by well-organised gangs, which
went about their business in the knowledge that the police would do
nothing," he added.
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