An insight into Indian Islamophobia
DM Monitoring
Locals alleged that the police responded very late, by which time a lot of damage was done. Mohammed Ansari, whose house was partly burned by petrol bombs and was also pelted with stones, said, “The whole incident started at around 12:30-1:00 pm on May 12. We got the news that some armed people had entered the Muslim area from the Gondalpara mill side, hurling bombs at Muslim houses. I dialled 100 to call the police. Then I tried calling Bhadreswar police, and I informed them about the situation. My brother called the fire brigade.
However, the police came only after 2:30 pm. A lot of damage had been done by then. Also, only about 10-12 police came initially. They (the mob) attacked the police also, pelting stones at them. By the time police reinforcements arrived, it was 4 pm and the damage was already done.”
A small incident escalated into a mob attack
S.K. Shamsuddin, a retired jute mill worker, told us that the trouble actually began on Sunday, May 10 evening, after a minor brawl over the use of a public toilet near the Telinipara ghat. Shamsuddin’s neighbour Rajkumar Roy told us that someone from the minority area had reportedly tested positive for COVID-19. Fearing the spread of the virus, some members of the Hindu community stopped Muslims from using the public toilet, and this led to a small tussle. Another local, Dinesh Shaw, told us that this fight that had started on Sunday evening, ended the same night after police intervention, and nothing happened on Monday.
“No one imagined that because of the coronavirus issue, there would be a riot the following day,” said Shaw. On the day of the violence, Shamsuddin said he tried to stop the armed men rushing towards the Muslim area in Gondalpara, but one of them slapped him hard. “Hindu gwala brothers (milk-sellers) tried a lot to stop them. They helped us a lot. Otherwise, things would have been worse,” he said.
From Gondalpara, we went next to Ferry Ghat street, which forms part of ward 9 of Bhadreswar municipality. To reach it, one has to cross a narrow culvert which connects Dinemardanga junction to the masjid road. We found gas cylinders and a motorcycle lying in the drain beneath the culvert.
We spoke to two SIRB personnel who were sitting on the side of the culvert, both of whom had been on duty for over 11 hours. One of them said, “You (reporter) are checking the site.
You can see whose properties were damaged. So many petrol bombs were used that the road is completely covered with pieces of glass. I guess they used acid too, as liquid from a bottle discoloured a wall.”
His companion said, “We only have lathis (sticks) and some non-lethal weapons. How can we control an armed mob of 500-600 bearing lathis and shields?”
We headed further into the interior lanes of north Telinipara. The lanes bore the scars of violence. People living in the tiny houses here fear for their lives.
We spoke with Biswanath Sikdar while he was reading a newspaper near a medical store, above which he lives. “Telinipara has witnessed small clashes between two communities many times in the past. But this time it was terrible. Both the communities are living in fear now,” Sikdar told The Wire.
M.D. Salim, a Telinipara resident, narrated a horror story.
To be Continued
