After Karauli rally, devastation and evidence of a plot

Marchers had petrol and heavy tools ready when they began chanting anti-Muslim slogans

Destroyed shops at the Hathwada Bazaar

As India celebrated Ram Navami, a day of celebration of the birth of Lord Ram, his followers took the opportunity to humiliate Muslims and vandalize their places of business and worship. In at least four states, Hindu mobs danced with swords in front of mosques, played Islamophobic songs, and chanted hateful slogans about Muslims while cops stood as mute bystanders. Journalist Hrishi Raj travelled to Karauli and brought us this eye witness report from the ground:
—Rana

On April 12, the ambiance of Karauli, in Rajasthan seemed different, and not just because of the 45°C heat wave. As I entered the district, the eerie post-riot silence of the streets greeted me. The chaos and the vibrant mood of the usually crowded markets was absent, and in its place was armed police at every corner of a city that had suffered the worst communal violence in recent memory. Every ruined shop, everyone interior, waiting for customers, every home—indeed, everyone in the district wanted their story told. 

In Rajasthan’s Karauli on April 2, according to locals, Saheb Singh Gurjar, a local leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a right-wing organization and the ideological fountainhead of the ruling BJP, allegedly organized the rally that ended in visible devastation. The rally was organized to celebrate the Hindu New Year. Gurjar escaped the police and remains on the run. As anti-Muslim sentiment grows in the country, every Hindu festival sees a targeted attack on the Muslim minority in some parts of India. This month, the hostilities started with a meat ban order in certain parts of the national capital during Navratri; it progressed to targeted violence in Muslim-owned shops and the vandalization of mosques in at least 6 states, Rajasthan was one among them.

“They took away everything from us, all that we had. I am sure that they will not let us survive here,” cried Irfan, who owns four shops of readymade garments at Chaudhary Pada near Hindaun Gate. “I am going to sell this shop and set up a small business somewhere else. My life is more important for my family than the wealth.” 

Almost all the Muslims who own shops in the majority-Hindu area had similar stories. Irfan’s shop is not on the main market street—his shop is down a narrow lane, and identifying it is difficult if you don’t know where it is. His four businesses, all in the same narrow roadway, were the only shops targeted in that area. 

Several reports have suggested that the destruction of businesses like Irfan’s was a part of the broader disruption caused when rallygoers began chanting anti-Muslim slogans, but locals tell a different story. When I questioned the locals about the narrative being built by the television media, they pointed out that the rioters had thousands of liters of petrol on hand, which they used to torch the shops—hardly a spontaneous reaction, as was being alleged by the Hindus and mainstream television media that is accused of repeating the version of the state. Several shopkeepers also pointed out that it would be hard to break the steel shutters that protect their stores using stones, sticks, or bare hands. Heavy implements and tools were necessary to do the damage they witnessed. 

I also learned that, on March 29, Hindu and Muslim groups had their annual meeting to choose the parade route; for the first time, no senior police official was present to mediate, and the Hindu faction chose the route where marchers prepared to riot destroyed so many livelihoods.

My reporting suggests that the violence on April 2 was pre-planned. Abrar Ahmed, a local social activist, attended the March 29 meeting and spoke to me about the discussions there. “In the first place, we had objected to why any senior police official was not present in that meeting,” he said. “Secondly, [we asked] why was it being conducted at Town Chowki [a smaller police station] when it was supposed to happen at Kotawali police station, where the senior police officials sit?” Ahmed went on to say that during the meeting, there was disagreement about on the designated route for the rally: The Hindu representatives insisted on taking the rally from a Muslim majority area, and the Muslim representatives objected to this. Ultimately, the police officials sided with the majority group and gave them the route they wanted, though they did not give permission to use a DJ.

As of April 13, at least 37 shops and 10 carts owned or run by Muslims—and 6-7 shops run by Hindus —were either vandalized or burned down. Many of the victims were too scared to even go to the police, and those who did so complained of mistreatment by authorities. 

Irfan is one of them. When we asked Irfan if he had gone to the police seeking help or not, he replied,” I did go to the police station but the response I received was really crude. When I tried telling them about my losses and requested to do an investigation soon, they questioned my identity. ‘Tu Mia hai,Pakistan se aaya hai’ [you are a Muslim, you have come from Pakistan], these are the kind of words they use.” Many complained that their relatives and family members were also being mistreated: Irfan’s 22-year-old brother was called for an inquiry, said. Irfan told me his brother was made to stay at the station for 12 hours at least and was released only after he made hundreds of calls.

“When they came to take my younger brother, they said he was being taken for recognition of the rioters but instead tortured him mentally for hours,” Irfan said. “They also took his iPhone which they have still not returned. It has been 5 days.”

The shops which were supposed to be attacked had been marked a day before the incident itself, locals tell me. Another resident and respected senior citizen of the Wazirpur Gate area, Dak Babu, said he believed this was true. “There were saffron flags put up on all the shops that were owned by the Hindus,” Babu told me. “These shops were possibly marked for a reason. When we saw people coming and putting up flags outside certain Hindu shops, we thought it was because of the festival. But right after the violence, when we saw that those marked shops were left untouched, it made more sense and we were stunned.” 

Everybody who lost their shops in the violence said it felt impossible to recover quickly. Shahina Parvin had a bangle shop in the Burara Bazaar and has a family of 7; inside her shop, she said, was stock worth rupees 600,000 rupees and around 300,000 rupees in cash. ”When one gets an option between saving their life or the source of living, there is not really a choice here,” Parvin said through tears. “We ran for our lives, leaving all that we had. Now we don’t have anything. They would have killed us, too, had we stayed.” Because of the festival, all the shopkeepers had renewed their stock, putting in all their savings. As far as seeking aid from the government goest, Parvin said, ”Nobody has even come to see or enquire about what we have lost. Who will provide for us now? Was it our fault? Where do we go in search of food?” 

The violence has deeply damaged the communal fabric of Karauli. Most of the senior citizens that I interviewed had a common statement to address the nation. Fakhruddin Ahmed runs a garment shop in the area.” This is my country,” he told me. “Where do you want me to go? I cannot go to Pakistan. I was born here and will die here. It is my country as much as it is anybody else’s.” 

Hrishi Raj Anand is an independent journalist, originally from Jharkhand and based in Delhi. He writes on the issues of human rights, hate crime, marginalization, and unemployment.