Communalism
Right-wing social media users claim these eateries were falsely using “Hindu names”, but a state minister has said their licenses were revoked for failing to meet hygiene standards. Meanwhile, online harassment and targeting continues. https://thewire.in/communalism/gujarat-muslim-owned-dhabas-gsrtc-license
What ensued was a campaign where several rightwing social-media users, and news outlets including Times Now and Zee News Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh, carried reports of Muslims falsely “using Hindu names” to run their hotels, and the cancellation of their licenses owing to the same.
Meanwhile, Gujarat’s minister of transport, Harsh Sanghvi, issued a clarification on X claiming that these hotels’ licences were cancelled owing to hygiene and safety standards.
“GSRTC has permanently stopped buses at 27 hotels due to dirt and unhygienic conditions!
This step has been taken for the convenience and hygiene of our passengers. We have instructed our department to monitor all other bus stops and hotels so that they follow the rules and provide the best services to the passengers,” Sanghvi tweeted.
by Sabah Gurmat
17/02/2025
The expulsion of seven students of Berhampur’s Parala Maharaja Engineering College (PMEC), a premier government-run technical institute of south Odisha, from their hostels for allegedly cooking and eating beef, has caused ripples in the re gion.
https://thewire.in/communalism/beef-odisha-engineering-college-bajrang-dal-expel
The issue snowballed into a controversy after Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad activists lodged a complaint with police alleging that the students in question had cooked and consumed beef in their hostel room on the night of September 11. The expulsion took place the next day even though, so far, there has been no statement from the college authorities clarifying if the meat cooked and consumed by the students was indeed beef. The term “restricted activities” is yet to be explained by the authorities.
Political analysts like Sabita Mohanty believe that saffron hold on the area is likely to get stronger in the wake of incidents like the one that took place in Parla Engineering college. “Such incidents need to be handled carefully without any kind of bias. The college authorities should act only on the merits of the case and not succumb to pressure either from politicians or any group owing allegiance to any philosophy.”
17/09/2024
Historically, the Dargah at Guha has stood as a testament to the blending of Sufi and Nath traditions, with local Muslim Mujawar families shouldering the responsibility of its management. However, the tranquility of this syncretic space has been under attack. https://thewire.in/communalism/maharashtra-how-hindutva-forces-communalised-syncretic-kanobha-dargah-in-ahmadnagar
The catalyst for the current conflict can be traced back to the events of December last year, when a Ram Kalash Yatra procession led to the unauthorised placement of a Hindu idol within the dargah premises. Despite appeals to authoritie
s and legal interventions, the mob placed the idol of Kanifnath inside the Dargah. Since then, the premises of the Hazrat Ramzan Shah Baba has been sealed by the local police.
19/03/2024
A court in Uttar Pradesh, while sentencing 10 Hindu men to life imprisonment for lynching a Muslim goat trader in Hapur in 2018 after fabricated rumours of cow slaughter, significantly also pulled up the state police for lapses and negligence in the investigation of the case and recommended action against the concerned officers.
by Omar Rashid
14/03/2024
A three-part special documentary series on the spread of communal division and hate in Maharashtra.
https://thewire.in/communalism/naf-rath-in-maharashtra-end-of-reason
In this three-part docuseries, we dissect the strands of this political narrative, unveiling the intricate connections that have led a state once broadly characterised by harmonious coexistence to a creeping and ominous amplification of actions, speeches and public articulation of division and hate.
Part I of the series introduces the Sakal Hindu Samaj rallies, the background behind it and the history of communal violence in Maharashtra. It gives an overview of the past three decades of communal violence.
Part II focuses on Kolhapur and Trimbakeshwar. In Kolhapur, on June 6, 2023, the occasion of the 350th anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s coronation, a WhatsApp video extolling Tipu Sultan triggered indignation among certain factions. While a protest march by the ‘Sakal Hindu Samaj’ on June 7 remained peaceful, the following day saw Hindu groups in Kolhapur turning violent, launching stones at various shops run by Muslims. In Nashik’s Trimbakeshwar, a group of Muslim men were stopped at the entry gate of the temple. These men were allegedly concluding a “100-year old tradition”, they claimed. Videos of this event went viral and the mainstream media painted a disturbing and communal picture. An SIT has been constituted to authenticate the claims of members of the Muslim community.
Part III focuses on an organisation, Shiv Pratishthan Hindusthan and its leader, Manohar Kulkarni, alias Sambhaji Bhide.
17/12.2023
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