Police atrocities in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India

[Anhad Team led by prominent Social activist Shabnam Hashmi, Navaid Hamid and others recently visited Goplagunj, Ladumka and adjoining villages in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district. A worst ever carnage took place after minority Muslim Meos and dominant Hindu Gujars clashed over the dispute over kabristan (Graveyard) land. A communally-biased police force was instigated by political leaders bearing communal mindset, resorted to indiscriminate firings leading to gory incidents reminiscent of post-1947 riots. Meos were targeted, butchered, some of them burnt alive, and mosque ransacked . A number of Meos were killed in police firing. And, all this happened right under the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress Party government in the state, which boasts of being savior of minorities and upholder of secularism. The mainstream media as usual has shut its eyes on the macabre Bharatpur riots and decided to instead better focus on Gujarat CM Narendra Modi’s ‘Sadbhavna Mission’ fast only because huge amount of money were doled out through advertisements. The Bharatpur Riots have surely raised the important issue of immediate passage of Communal Violence Bill 2011. Will the Rajasthan government act soon enough to ensure speedy justice to the riot-hit victims? Will the mainstream media take up the issue forcefully in the same way as they are spending their energy on projecting Narendra Modi as future Prime Minister of India? Is anybody listening?

We are producing the Press Release verbatim and Photos sent by Anhad for the benefit of our readers and also to those who are equally concerned and accountable hoping that urgent action will be taken and justice meted out to the victims.

There was tension, fear, apprehension and a strange smell in the atmosphere
An Anhad Team comprising of Navaid Hamid (Member, NIC), Shabnam Hashmi (Social activist), Mohan Kumwat (Documentary film maker), Apoorv Pandey (Anhad Production Housing), Ashim (NCDHR), Zakir Hussain, Ramzan Choudhury, Arif and Bashir & others visited Goplagunj, Ladumka and adjoining villages.

We read reports about the dispute over kabristan land, followed by clashes between Meos and Gujars. The official reports coming out in the media were very different from what we were hearing from the ground. Anhad has been working in Mewat for over two years and we received innumerable calls from local social activists, villagers about police firing, killings of Meos and a heavily biased attitude. It was on the basis of these phone calls that we decided to visit the area.
Our vehicle was stopped before we entered Rajasthan. The police officer said we have orders to stop you. It took us one and a half hours of negotiations, shoutings, several telephone calls to the CM and principle secretary’s office, and conversations with the collector before we were allowed to proceed. Meanwhile 7 jeeps full of policemen and a bus arrived to stop us from going any further.

The police throughout tried their best to misguide us and not to let us enter the villagers, they forced us to go to some madarsa saying victims were there. Again after a battle of words and shouting matches we were finally allowed to enter the mosque. As we were going in the police officer literally threatened us, if you take too much time we will leave, conveying that we won’t be responsible for your safety. Our team promptly told them to leave as we did not need their security.
There was nothing inside the mosque which was not broken. Inside and on the roof at least on 8-10 places there were big blood marks and marks of either the injured or dead being dragged. Some of them leading to dead wall ends from which obviously bodies/ injured must have been thrown down. The outside wall had more than 15-20 bullet marks and so did the inside walls. There were torn pages of Quran scattered in two places, broken glasses, bricks, blood soaked clothes , utensils etc.

In the villages we were heard stories of indiscriminate police firing on Meos, petrol being thrown on people before burning them, people missing, search for bodies still scattered over places etc. The villagers were constantly being threatened by the police not to give any information. Where ever we went the police force in hundreds reached before us.

There was tension, fear, apprehension and a strange smell in the atmosphere.

The police kept on threatening us and asking us to leave. The collector called and said I advise you to leave immediately. We told him we will take another half an hour.

Then we went to the Eidgah which was so far locked but was opened for some time and the police was inside.
Courtesy: Indian Muslim Observer