Following violence that broke out in Nagpur’s Mahal area after Hindutva groups protested, demanding the removal of Aurangzeb’s tomb, local Muslims accused the police of being “mute spectators” to attacks on Muslims and said there were arbitrary detentions taking place.
Clashes erupted when VHP and Bajrang Dal members burned a poster of Aurangzeb and a Dargah chadar. Residents accuse the police of siding with the mob and detaining innocent people. A curfew and Section 144 have been imposed to restore order.
In front of the Shivaji statue in Nagpur’s Mahal area, members of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal staged a protest on Monday at 11 AM, burning a poster of Aurangzeb along with a Dargah chadar inscribed with Quranic verses.
Following the incident, Muslim men gathered at the site, demanding the immediate arrest of those responsible. They staged a protest and lodged a complaint with the police, but residents alleged that the authorities were supporting the Hindu right-wing men instead of taking action.
By 7 PM, VHP and Bajrang Dal members marched through Muslim-majority areas of the city, chanting slogans. This provocation led to clashes between the two communities. The police were initially absent and arrived only after tensions had escalated, locals said.
The mob shattered the windshield of a Hyundai i20 belonging to Shafiq Ahmed, a 52-year-old resident of Bhaldarpura, Nagpur. “My car was parked outside my house when, around 11 PM on March 17, a group of 200-300 men from Hindutva outfits arrived wielding lathis. They vandalized all the vehicles in the area, including mine. Shockingly, several policemen were present alongside them,” Ahmed said.
Ahmed claimed that the police, instead of controlling the mob, actively participated in vandalizing vehicles in Muslim-majority areas. “It was their duty to maintain order, but instead, the cops supported the mob in spreading chaos,” he said.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.