Khargone Violence: Jamiat Seeks A High-Level Judicial Inquiry

Prominent Muslim body Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind on Monday sought Home Minister Amit Shah’s intervention over the issue of alleged harassment of the minority community in Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone and demanded a high-level judicial inquiry into the violence there.

Jamiat said its chief Maulana Mahmood Madani has written a letter to Shah flagging the issue of “harassment” of Muslims, saying their properties were being razed in a “selective manner”.

The letter comes in the wake of Khargone district administration on Monday starting demolition of at least 50 “illegal” structures of people accused of pelting stones at a Ram Navami procession.

The state government has said damage caused to public and private properties during the violence will be recovered from rioters. More than 80 people have been arrested after stones hurled at a Ram Navami procession triggered large-scale arson, officials said

Madani expressed deep anguish over the communal violence in several parts of the country coinciding with the Ram Navami festival, a Jamiat statement said. He condemned the violence and subsequent demolition of the houses and shops of the accused, especially in Khargone, it said.

Madani alleged that “rioters” have made a set pattern of going to Muslim localities and chanting hateful slogans as well as carrying out highly provocative acts.

In his letter to Shah, Madani drew the attention of the Union Home Minister to the communal violence in Khargone and said it was very unfortunate that after the outbreak of violence, the local administration is set on “harassing” the minority community.

Madani demanded a time-bound high-level judicial inquiry into the Khargone violence.

“I also request you to prosecute all those who instigated the violence during the procession that caused this entire incident to happen…I would also request you to pay attention to the discriminatory modus operandi of the law-enforcement agencies,” Madani said.

There must be an immediate halt to the demolition of the properties as it is believed that many innocent and poor are wrongly being caught in the drive, he said. “I hope that your good office will intervene in the matter adequately, which will restore the faith of the minority community,” Madani wrote in the letter.