New Delhi/Junagadh, Gujarat: On June 14, the Junagadh municipal corporation sent a notice to the administration of the Majewadi Gate dargah, demanding that they produce ownership papers of property before June 19.
However, on June 16, around 10 pm, at least 500 people gathered around the Majewadi Gate dargah to protest the possible demolition of the Islamic shrine as police surrounded the premises. As the number of protesters increased, police presence also escalated in the area, stirring tensions and stone pelting.
Videos of Muslim men being publicly flogged right outside the dargah also surfaced on social media. The videos show a few Muslim men made to stand in a line, with a masked man flogging them right outside the dargah. The flogger took intervals to beat them, amidst loud screams from the victims.
Chaos and confusion
On the night of June 16, when more than 500 locals gathered, the police began lathi-charging protestors and deployed tear gas shells to break the protest. Reshma Mohammed Chand, 24, a local from the Majevadi Gate area said she has been traumatised by what happened at the protest and its aftermath. Her father and two brothers who were invested in dispelling other Muslims from protesting and arguing with the Police, were in turn harassed and beaten up by the Police, she alleged.
She also shared with The Wire videos of the aftermath of a police raid at her home. “They picked up my father and brothers, they even hit my mother, they created chaos and then left,” she alleged.
Ebrahimbhai Sama, another local, says he may never be able to forget this night and neither will his family heal anytime soon. After the incident of protest and tear gas shelling, Sama alleges that the police made their way into their house which is at least a kilometre away from the dargah. Upon entering, the police harassed the family and caused damage to property. “We were all about to sleep, but at 1 am they barged in, accusing us of causing the protest. They turned the whole house upside down, flung open our fridge randomly,” he said. Sama is dismayed at the way Muslims have been treated, “It is easy to harass Muslims, damage their homes, because no one in the government cares about us,” he said.
Many locals have shared videos and photos of their damaged homes with The Wire and have alleged that the Police was responsible for it. Photos show broken doors, windows, messed up kitchens and toppled beds. Since the protest, local Muslims have been staying indoors, to avoid being arrested or accused of attending or instigating protests against the police and the municipal corporation…
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here