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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Disquiet brews over Gopalgarh brutality by Sunny Sebastian

Disquiet brews over Gopalgarh brutality by Sunny Sebastian

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published Published on Sep 19, 2011   modified Modified on Sep 19, 2011

The brutality and the intensity of the attack mounted on a gathering of worshippers at the Jama Masjid in Gopalgarh by the members of a community on the fateful Wednesday past week was such that the residents of some 40 odd Meo villages dotting Kaman tehsil in Bharatpur are yet to recover from their horror.

The Meos, who inhabit the hilly Mewat terrain in Rajasthan and Haryana, are themselves known to be a tough community, but the sights of mutilated bodies and the partially-burnt corpses have left them stupefied.

“The victims were immobilized by sudden attacks and the police firing. Those who fell were cut into pieces and their bodies burnt,” said a gathering of residents in Ladumka, a village situated at a distance of about three km from the Jama Masjid. “The attackers then built three pyres with cow dung, dry wood and petrol and threw the bodies into them,” said Tahir Khan. Tahir managed to escape unhurt but his uncle's son Zakir Husain (35), a motor cycle mechanic, was killed.

“Both Zakir and Mubarik, the other victim from our village, were praying on the roof. I was next to them. Zakir received bullets but he did not die of them. He was hit by a heavy object on the head. His palms were smashed as he covered his head with his hands,” Tahir Khan said.

“The police and the Gujjars are jointly responsible for the killings and the vandalism. Some of the bodies were defaced. The involvement of the police is obvious. The entire police station was communalized,” charged Kavita Srivastava, general secretary, PUCL Rajasthan, who returned from Gopalgarh on Sunday after a fact-finding study.

Though the conflict, over a piece of land behind the masjid, had been simmering for sometime there was a precipitation the past week following a court order. The assault which happened at the time of the ashar ki namaz took the victims by surprise as they were waiting for the outcome of negotiations initiated by the district administration.

“The police came along with Gujjars and started firing from Vajra (anti-riot vehicle). It was ‘azan' time and those standing outside the mosque could manage to escape, but the others got trapped,” said Umardeen Khan of Ladumka.

Ladumka, with 250 households and a death toll of two, has a masjid of its own but the believers had been gathering at Jama Masjid since morning after a call by Shahi Imam who was beaten up by some miscreant the previous day. The roughing up of the Imam created a lot of resentment among the villagers. On Wednesday, representatives from some 40 villages gathered at the mosque.

The morning too had witnessed a clash between the Meos and Gujjars in the presence of the local police, in which the former seemingly had an upper hand. The police were unarmed and had to beat a hasty retreat. This probably acted as a provocation to the district administration and the police. The Collector and the Superintendent of Police were egged on to act aggressively, reportedly by the leaders of the radical Hindu groups present.

The Hindu population of Gopalgarh, predominantly Gujjar, is generally apprehensive of big gatherings in masjids. This time also, in the background of the dispute over the land which the non-Meos claims as community property, a large congregation triggered reaction. “Some 5000 persons gathered in the masjid and were getting ready for an attack,” Ramesh Gujjar of Gopalgarh said. “ Mussalmanon ki roz meeting ho rahi hai , (Muslims are gathering here daily)” said Jagdish, another resident of Gopalgarh.

The deserted house of Bhagwan Singh, whose family escaped unhurt, stands testimony to the Meo fury. The stock of grain is partially burnt inside the rooms while the rest are strewn all over. His buffaloes are gone and the water pump was thrown into the well. “Bhagwan Singh has six children. His house was targeted as it stood alone. We were in our houses holding fort,” said Ramesh.

Four of the 23 persons presently admitted to the Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur are non-Meos while one of them, Balbir Mali, was hit by a bullet.

The Hindu, 19 September, 2011, http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article2466753.ece


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