Sami Ahmad
PATNA—Eighteen bookshelves containing 300 copies of the Holy Quran and 250 rare manuscripts of historic Madrasa Azizia were set ablaze in Rama Navami violence at Biharsharif, the district headquarters of Nalanda, some seventy kilometers south of Bihar’s capital Patna on March 31.
A seventeen-year-old Gulshan Kumar lost his life to an astray gunshot in the crossfire. There are other tragedies whose scars will take a long time to heal.
As the city returns to tearful normalcy, it is time to document what it lost in the dreadful hours of the uncontrolled frenzy of slogan-shouting and arson by the processionists of the Ram Navami Shobha Yatra.
It was alleged that the administration was inactive and the police were not alert enough to stop this spree of violence.
A team of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Bihar unit, led by its state chief Maulana Rizwan Ahmad Islahi believes that it will take a long time to compensate for the sufferings of Biharsharif. The team opined that even more concerning tragedy is that severe damage has been done to the years-long social bonhomie.
The team met a few of the victims of this Ram Navami violence.
In-charge principal of Madarsa Azizia Maulana Mohammad Shakir Qasmi told this team that the miscreants set the premises of the Madarsa on fire with petrol bombs. The library caught fire and around 4500 books was burnt. There were documents of the students and other necessary papers of the Madrasa were also burnt. There is huge damage caused to the building and properties of this more than one hundred years old Madrasa. Registered with Bihar state Sunni waqf board, this Madarsa saw cracks in the walls.
Historian Mohammad Umar Ashraf says that Madrasa Azizia was built in 1896 by a widow called Bibi Soghra who was the owner of a huge amount of land.
This Madrasa was established in the name of Bibi Soghra’s husband Abdul Aziz in her lifetime. She donated all the land which is called Soghra Waqf Estate. She died in 1909. He says that many teachers of this Madrasa took part in the freedom struggle.
The Shahi Masjid of Murarpur saw a planned attack by a big number of miscreants. The Imam of the Masjid Maulana Shahabuddin said the miscreants barged into the courtyard by damaging the main gate. The
miscreants damaged both minarets of the mosque. The mosque was heavily stoned which caused damage to the Wazu Khana.
Gulshan Kumar, son of Ravindra Prasad who is a mason by profession, succumbed to the gunshot he received during the violence.
Though his brother Vikas Kumar alleged, as mentioned in a BBC Hindi report, that the bullet was fired from a mosque, but the district magistrate said that there is no proof of this allegation as there is no CCTV camera in the Paharpura-Dargah area. Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar talked to the bereaved family and provided Rs. five lakhs as a relief to the family.
The owner of ‘Chunnu dry fruits’ situated in the Shahi Masjid premises said they had stocked up a lot of stuff like Lachcha and Siwai in view of the upcoming Eid celebration. It was set on fire by the miscreants causing loss running into lakhs of rupees.
The owner of Biryani Plaza, situated in the Masjid premises, Mohammad Sameer informed that he suffered a loss of about
Rs. 20 lakhs in the arson. Naved Akhtar and Nehal Akhtar of Azizia Super Market told the JIH team that the miscreants put their
shoe store on fire and the entire shop turned into ashes. There were fresh stocks for the upcoming Eid festival. They have suffered a loss of more than Rs. 20 lakhs in this man-made tragedy.
The fruits and dry fruits shop of Mohammad Altaf and Mahtab Alam at Bharao Par was burnt by the miscreants. The miscreants looted around Rs. 60,000 in cash before setting the shop on fire. Just
above, Dilli Biryani suffered a loss of Rs. 10 lakhs in this fire.
City Palace marriage hall of Kanta Par Mohalla was set ablaze by the miscreants. Incidentally, the owner of this hall Sultan Ansari, is the president of the ruling Janata Dal (United)’s district minority cell. He told the JIH team there were bookings for marriage scheduled after Eid and he is clueless about what to do as the hall is a tomb of ashes now.
According to a report by journalist Imran Khan for Newsclick, Ansari said he had suffered a loss of around Rs 70 lakhs. He alleged that the mob which attacked his marriage hall was shouting Jai Sri Ram. “When I rushed towards them to request not to damage the hall, the mob attacked me and a few locals advised me to leave as they could have killed me”, said the report. He also alleged that a nearby marriage hall owned by a Hindu was spared by the mob.
The tragic part of this incident is that the hall is situated very near to Laheri police station and his frenetic phone calls for help to the officers were not answered in time.
Mohammad Murtaza Rayeen’s transport godown was set ablaze by the mob after sprinkling petrol. His three buses and a pick-up van were burnt by the rioters. He also alleged that his buses were targeted
selectively. He alleged that his pleas to the police went unanswered. He said that had the administration acted on time, the mob could have been dispersed easily.
The damage to Digital Duniya, a store of electronic goods, is a tragedy of a different kind. It was looted and the looters have been captured in the CCTV footage. It is owned by a functionary of BJP Hyder Azam.
Soghra College, run by Soghra Waqf Estate, too was not spared by the miscreants. It was stoned and the power generator of the college was burnt. The miscreants tried to damage the mosque situated in the
college campus.
Pramila complex, adjacent to Soghra colleges, was also burnt by miscreants. The JIH team consoled the sufferers of this arson as the pipe and water tank and stationery godown were set on fire. The properties were owned by the Hindus.
In Khasganj, the JIH team met the wife of Professor Shakeel Ansari. She told the team that Professor Shakeel was fired upon by the miscreants when he was coming back after offering Isha (late night) prayers. The bullet hit him in the jaws and he is undergoing treatment at Patna Medical College and Hospital.
The JIH team demanded an impartial inquiry into the violence. It asked to register FIR against those miscreants who are still not named. It also demanded to free the innocents who are wrongly framed. It demanded monetary compensation for the loss of properties. It also demanded to arrange repair work for
the damage to religious places and their buildings.
JIH Bihar chief Maulana Rizwan Ahmad Islahi appealed to people to work for a better and cordial environment and show respect to each other.
Imarat-e-Shariah, the most influential Muslim body of Bihar and Jharkhand, in a statement, alleged that the Ram Navami violence was a big failure of the police, local administration and intelligence. It alleged that the police remained mute spectators while the rioters run amok and the properties of Muslims were looted and burnt.
A joint letter by several Muslim religious organisations were written to chief minister Nitish Kumar. This letter signed by Imarat and others demanded severe action against the erring officials along with the rioters.
The letter also asked for compensation to those who had suffered losses.
Meanwhile, Sarva Dharm Manch, a collective of all religious leaders of different faiths, expressed its anguish over the violence and appealed to all to maintain communal harmony and brotherhood.
A joint statement issued by Mahanth Vijay Shankar Giri of Bari Pattan Devi, Patna, Sardar Tirlok Singh of Sanatani Sikh Sabha, Patna Sahib, Father James of Arch Bishop House, Patna, Father Jose of Bihar Dalit Vikas Samiti, Vijay Kumar Jain of Jain Mandir, Mithapur, Patna, Bhante Upali of Gautam Buddha Vihar and Jamat-e-Islami Hind Bihar chief Maulana Rizwan Ahmad Islahi said that Bihar had been an abode of peace for the centuries and the violence at Biharsharif and Sasaram was very tragic. It said that they might have differences but that should not lead to hatred and violence. “We should not target each other’s life and property”, exerted the Manch leaders.
Sarva Dharm Manch advised the government to make the police force more sensitive and take action against the culprits.
