In a short but brutal attack by a mob on the Muslim quarter of a Samras Panchayat village in Gujarat, hundreds of people become homeless and lose property worth several crores.
“WE heard the drums roll and start to beat. When this happens we know something bad is about to happen and we are in danger,” said Farhana Sheikh at Vadavali village in Gujarat’s Patan district. “The police told us to run to the maidan and take refuge over there. Suddenly, thousands of men wielding weapons, carrying burning torches and even guns, surrounded our part of the village.
Then they began looting and burning and destroying anything and everything they saw. Not a single house or shop was spared. We have lost not only our homes but material possessions worth several crores of rupees. We have nowhere to go,” she said.
On March 25, two students, a Hindu from the nearby Sunsar village and a Muslim from Vadavali, were involved in an altercation at an examination centre at Vadavali. Although the fight was defused by the local people, a group of men from Sunsar reignited it a few hours later and mercilessly beat the Muslim boy. The tension escalated further when some 7,000 men from the neighbouring villages attacked Vadavali’s Muslim quarters. One person was killed in the violence and several were injured. While women and children were spared, almost every house in the Muslim quarter was looted and gutted. The residents of Vadavali have blamed members of the Thakor and Darbar communities, which have a large presence in Sunsar, for the violence.
In recent years Gujarat has witnessed sporadic communal riots but the Vadavali attack, if one goes by news reports and available evidence, appears to have been a planned one, its manner of execution reviving memories of the 2002 post-Godhra riots. Rights activists and observers said it was possible that dangerous political elements had planned to use communal disharmony to influence the State Assembly elections scheduled for later this year. They feared that the State might witness more such arson and riots.
This story is from the April 28, 2017 edition of FRONTLINE.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the April 28, 2017 edition of FRONTLINE.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
How Not To Handle An Epidemic
The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.
Tragedy on foot
As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.
Sarpanchs as game changers
Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Scapegoating China
As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.
New worries
Kerala’s measured approach to the pandemic and lockdown has yielded results. But it still has to grapple with their huge economic impact on its economy, which it feels the Centre’s special financial relief package does little to alleviate.
No love lost for labour
Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.
Capital's Malthusian moment
In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .
Understanding migration
When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.
An empty package
The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.
