Hindu mob burns Muslim to death

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060503-045223-6488r

VADODARA, India, May 3 (UPI) -- Security forces have
been sent to a town in western India to quell several
days of interreligious violence that saw a Hindu mob
burn a Muslim to death.

The Indian government Wednesday sent 500 troops to
Vadodara in Gujarat state to maintain order after a
Hindu mob Tuesday night stopped a passing car and set
it on fire, killing the Muslim occupant, the Press
Trust of India reported.

Mobs reportedly set two factories on fire, and there
were incidents of stone throwing and sporadic violence
in parts of the city.

Riots broke out in Vadodara this week as Muslims
protested the demolition of a centuries-old Sufi
shrine as part of a development plan. Six people have
been killed and more than 70 have been injured since
Monday, when the shrine was destroyed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

India troops patrol riot-hit city

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4968402.stm

Troops have marched through the streets of the western
Indian city of Baroda following several days of riots.

Six people have died since Monday after clashes broke
out following the demolition of a Muslim mausoleum.

According to the authorities, the demolition is part
of a campaign against illegal structures.

Baroda is located in Gujarat which has a history of
religious tension and the city's Muslim residents
allege that the police have been slow to react.

"I have no faith in the local police," one resident,
Ismail Davar, said.

"They were standing as spectators when my shoe shop
was gutted last night," he is quoted as saying by
Reuters news agency.

State authorities say they have posted extra security
forces in sensitive areas across the state.

"Security has been beefed up in five sensitive
districts in Gujarat and paramilitary forces have been
deployed in heavy numbers to thwart any possibility of
violence," Amit Shah, Gujarat's home minister, told
the Associated Press.

The Baroda police chief said the city is peaceful for
now.



"Some incidents of stray violence and arson have been
reported in areas where Hindus and Muslims live
together," said police chief Deepak Swaroop.

On Wednesday, the state authorities asked for
additional forces from the federal government.

Earlier, police imposed a fresh curfew on parts of the
city after the charred remains of a body was
discovered.

The victim was allegedly attacked by a mob and burnt
to death.

Police firing

On Monday police opened fire on Muslims protesting
against the demolition of the mausoleum.

They said they had tried to control the crowd with
batons and tear gas before they were forced to open
fire.

At least 18 people were injured and 38 arrested.

Local residents say the mausoleum was a Sufi shrine
which was at least 200 years old.

But the authorities have rejected allegations that
police were acting against the Muslim community.

"This is not the only incident of an anti-encroachment
demolition," Mr Swaroop told the Associated Press.

"Many temples have also been pulled down, and no
particular religious structures were targeted.

"Local Muslims were informed well in advance and they
had agreed to the shrine being removed," he said.

Gujarat has a history of religious tension - in 2002
more than 1,000 people, mostly Muslim, were killed in
riots which broke out after a fire in a train claimed
the lives of 59 Hindus.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pramod Mahajan
Ruthless Hindu nationalist politician
Published: 04 May 2006

http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article361792.ece

Pramod Mahajan, politician: born Mahbubnagar, India 30
October 1949; Minister for Information and
Broadcasting 1998-99, for Parliamentary Affairs and
Information Technology 1999-2001, for Communications
2001-03; married 1972 Rekha Hamine (one son, one
daughter); died Bombay, India 3 May 2005.

Pramod Mahajan, a manipulative and ruthless
politician, was one of the principal strategists of
India's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, the
BJP, occupying several ministerial posts during its
six-year rule, which ended abruptly in 2004 due mainly
to his flawed strategies.

Bitter BJP cadres held the flamboyant but articulate
party general secretary, known for his extravagant and
openly profligate life style, responsible for their
surprising electoral rout, in which they lost out to
the Congress Party-led coalition. They blamed
Mahajan's arrogant campaign slogan of "India shining"
for this defeat as it cynically ignored the reality of
over 600 million eligible voters who lived either
below or close to the poverty line and benefited not
at all from the fanciful economic boom under BJP rule.

Senior BJP leaders, jealous of Majahan's meteoric rise
to power, also accused him of moving the grass-roots
party from a culture of austerity to a "five-star"
culture, out of touch with the reality of a largely
rural, illiterate and poverty-ridden country.

But, to his credit, Mahajan was the first to accept
moral responsibility for the party's shocking defeat.
And, while other BJP leaders were flabbergasted - even
tongue-tied - at the turn of fortune, Mahajan appeared
unflappable on television, openly admitting that he
had got it horribly wrong.

Through a combination of cold- blooded charm and
political adroitness, Mahajan had recently managed to
claw his way back to the top of the party once again.
And, when shot by his jealous and malcontent younger
brother last month, he had seemed to be emerging
victorious in the bitter internecine struggle with
other BJP "technocrat" leaders and had been widely
expected to take over the floundering party's reins
ahead of the 2009 general elections.

Mahajan, however, was a closet extremist, having
joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the RSS or the
National Voluntary Corps, India's most powerful,
well-knit and highly organised Hindu revivalist
organisation, at the age of 21. The RSS is the
spiritual mentor of the BJP and lists the former prime
minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, his deputy L.K. Advani
and several erstwhile ministers as its members.

Its founding principle is to defend Hinduism by
keeping it "pure" from outside influences like Islam
and, to some extent, Christianity. During its tenure,
the BJP presided over a pogrom of Muslims in Gujarat
state four years ago and attacks on churches,
missionary schools and Christian-run institutions and
their personnel were commonplace. Such activities were
stoutly defended by Mahajan in his capacity as senior
party leader.

The RSS daily imparts basic military drill to its
cadres and involves them in ideological discussions in
hundreds of neighbourhoods across India. The assassins
of Mahatma Gandhi were educated in such a school and
murdered him because of his secular outlook and policy
of appeasement towards India's minority Muslim
community.

Mahajan was born into a lower- middle-class Hindu
family in Mahbubnagar in 1949 in southern Andhra
Pradesh state and migrated soon after with his family
to the small town of Ambajogal in western Maharashtra
province, of which the port city of Bombay is the
capital. He graduated locally, majoring in Physics,
and after attaining a postgraduate degree in political
science and a diploma in journalism in the mid-1970s,
he joined the RSS's magazine Tarun Bharat as a
sub-editor.

Like thousands of other opposition members Mahajan
opposed the state of emergency imposed by the Congress
Party prime minister Indira Gandhi in mid-1975 when
her continuance in office was threatened, and he was
jailed until it was lifted some 19 months later.

In 1979 Mahajan was part of a select batch of RSS
cadres co-opted into the newly formed BJP to help
boost its political fortunes and, given his
organisational flair, he never looked back. He played
a major role in propelling the BJP to federal power by
helping the party leader Lal Kishen Advani organise an
extended journey across the length of India in 1990 as
part of a vicious campaign to build a temple to the
Hindu god Lord Rama on the exact spot where a
16th-century mosque stood. The mosque was demolished
by Hindu fanatics in 1992. But, because of Advani's
journey, the BJP successfully pandered to Hindu
sentiments which, in turn, translated into votes for
the BJP. The party assumed power in 1998 and remained
in office for six years.

Mahajan was appointed information and broadcasting
minister in December 1998, and in quick succession
moved to the ministries of parliamentary affairs and
information technology. He was finally given the
communications portfolio in 2001, which he left under
a cloud two years later. His questionable proximity to
leading Indian industrialists at a time when India was
in the throes of a mobile phone revolution heaped
opprobrium on the party, adding hugely to its
reputation as a corrupt administration.

Thereafter Mahajan was appointed party general
secretary and given charge of the BJP's disastrous
2004 electoral campaign. Although an accomplished
political strategist, Mahajan rarely contested or won
elections himself, entering parliament mostly through
the Rajya Sabha, the indirectly elected Upper House.
But even those who had reservations about his
political integrity never doubted his political acumen
and divisive commitment to Hindu hegemony.

Kuldip Singh
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

More articles on Gujarat at:
http://www.islamawareness.net/Persecution/Gujarat/