As ANNA notes in the previous post (we seem to have been writing at the same time) explosions earlier today targeted ceremonies being held in a Muslim cemetery in the city of Malegaon in Maharashtra state. The reported death toll has risen to 37, with 200 injured. The exact details including the number of blasts are still unclear:
At last count, the local police said there seemed to have been three blasts at the Bada Kabristan cemetery where thousands of Muslim devotees had gathered to observe “Shabbe Baraat” when the dead are remembered. Another blast was reported from elsewhere. Ten deaths had been confirmed, about 100 people were injured.
The blasts outside Nurani Masjid in this textile town triggered a stampede with devotes rushing, falling over each other, the injured and the dead to reach safety.
On Shabbe Baraat, thousands of faqirs (alms seekers) gather in Malegaon. The crowds at the prayers were made up largely of the faqirs when the blasts occurred. Some reports suggested the blasts occurred in the belongings of one such alms seeker.
The city is under curfew and the central and state governments appear to have reacted quite quickly dispatching troops to avert communal violence. Political parties including the BJP and Congress have of course condemned the action. (Not clear yet if the Shiv Sena/RSS have been heard from: in view of their popularity in Maharashtra, a strong condemnation could help ensure things don’t spread; if anyone knows about this or any other pertinent developments for that matter, send a link and I’ll update the post.)
There’s not much to say about this incident until more information comes out, but I noticed that reports referred to Malegaon’s history of communal violence, so I thought I’d look for a little background to help us get some context. Here’s what I found out:
Malegaon is a city of between 400,000 and 650,000 (the numbers I found vary) in inland Maharashtra northeast of Mumbai. The city is majority (about 75 percent) Muslim and its main economic activity is textile mills, which have been hit by a long lasting recession that has led to numerous job losses. Socio-economic indicators are poor; both male and female literacy are well below the state average, for example.
Malegaon was the site of the first communal riots after September 11, 2001. On October 19, a local politician seeking re-election led a 15,000 person anti-US rally at which “slogans were raised” in support of Osama bin Laden. However the riots took place a full week later and were sparked by what should have been an innocuous incident. Activists were handing out “swadeshi” leaflets outside a mosque that urged “Be Indian, Buy Indian.” There were police outside the mosque, as the police presence in the town had been strengthened after the previous week’s rally. The leaflets had an English banner but the text was in Urdu, which none of the police could read. Assuming the content was subversive, the police attempted to confiscate the leaflets and roughed up the youths who were distributing. The crowd grew agitated, a lathi charge ensued, and…
In the meantime, police reinforcements seemed to have arrived and they conducted a lathi-charge. The mob started running and in the melee, a Navratrostav pandal on the way was damaged - unintentionally, we were told. After the lathi-charge, the Muslims began throwing stones at the police. Some Muslims allege that as soon as the Navratrotsav pandal was damaged, the leaders of the newly-formed organisation Jaanta Raja, who were watching the scene from across the Mosam River in the Hindu-dominated Sangameshwar area, started burning Muslim shops. This was around 3.30 p.m. We visited the area and the Hindus confirmed that the seven shops located on the land owned by a mosque, including the Munna cycle shop owned by a Muslim, were damaged at around 3.30 p.m.
Read this detailed investigative report for the play-by-play. It is highly illuminating, an attempted reconstruction of the sequence of events that illustrates the role of real or perceived slights, retaliation, incompetence or manipulation by politicians, the pernicious and powerful effect or rumors, and so on.
The violence, involving mobs of up to 10,000 people descending on various villages, extended to the townships outside Malegaon to an unprecedented degree, including places that had never in memory experienced this sort of conflict.
One key finding, beyond the back and forth recriminations between the communities, is that the police did very little if anything to stop the violence. The report says that the proportion of Muslims policing this majority-Muslim town was extremely low, a fact illustrated by the confusion over the Urdu leaflet that triggered the whole thing.
Again, read the report for a fascinating if morbid reconstruction along with interviews with people on all sides, local politicians, and police. For a shorter treatment, I found this article from Frontline.
I hope that this provides helpful context; if anyone has a fuller perspective (for instance, anyone here ever been to Malegaon?) please pass it along. I’m sure that there will be different views and analysis to be carried out as more information on today’s events becomes clear. For now, we deplore today’s violence and mourn the senseless loss of life.
