“For some political forces Shivaji, Phule, Shahu, Dr B R Ambedkar are mere names to repeat ad nauseum for political gains while they are in fact an anathema to them. The real enemies of these great figures and their teachings are currently in office in the state. The ruling alliance led by the BJP in Maharashtra is itself disturbing peace and social tranquillity in the state,” said Subhashini Ali, Polit Bureau member of the CPI(M), while addressing a well attended public meeting at Kolhapur on August 6, 2024. “The people of the state, and especially of Kolhapur in particular, must come forward to protect the legacy of reform and communal harmony  practiced by Shahu Maharaj and teach a fitting lesson to these fissiparous tendencies,” she exhorted the audience further.

Subhashini Ali was speaking in ‘Samajik Salokha Sabha’, public meeting for communal harmony, organised by INDIA constituents at Kolhapur. The meeting was presided over by Uday Narkar, Maharashtra state secretary of CPI(M) while M H Shaikh, Party’s state secretariat member and Convener, Alpasankhyak Hakka Sangharsh Samiti, was the other main speaker. The public meeting was organised in the backdrop of brutal attack by Hindutva mobs on Muslim houses and small businesses in Gajapur, a hamlet near Fort Vishalgad. Those present and also spoke in the meeting included Bharati Powar and Bharat Rasale of Congress, R K Powar and Anil Ghatage of NCP (Saharad Pawar), Vijay Devne of Shiv Sena (UBT), Satishchandra Kamble and Dilip Pawar of CPI, Baburao Kadam and Sambhaji Jagdale of Peasants and Workers Party, Suvarna Talekar of Lal Nishan Party and A B Patil, Kolhapur district secretary of CPI(M). Subhash Jadhav, state committee member of CPI(M), proposed the vote of thanks. The audience mostly comprised of farmers, construction, scheme and textile workers and women organised by the JMS.

Subhashini highlighted the danger of corporate-communal nexus of the ruling dispensations both at the centre and the state. While attacking Manuwad, she explained its specific role in capitalism, which uses the extremely retrograde and hierarchical ideology to enhance corporate profits.  She explained how unemployed youth belonging to the backward and poor sections are being harnessed for spreading hatred against minorities while the children of the upper echelons are sent to greener pastures abroad. She pointed out how the BJP is forcing Manuwad on Indian education system by, on one hand, deleting the preamble to the constitution from the school textbooks and   opposing renaming of Kanpur University after Shahu Maharaj, who did so much for the spread of education among the dalits and women. She paid rich tributes to his pioneering work in founding hostels for various backward castes as well as minorities.  Based on the interaction she had the previous day with the Gajapur violence victims, she explained how the state administration and police were in cahoots with the perpetrators of this violent communal attack. Obviously, this was aimed at polarising the voters on communal lines in view of the forthcoming assembly elections in the state, she said.  

Subhashini Ali’s visit to Kolhapur was occasioned by the brutal and planned attack by Hindutva mobs on Muslims, belonging to this small village surrounded by dense jungle and rugged hills of the Western Ghats. The village is about three kilometres away from the historically strategic fort of Vishalgad.

Gajapur, a village where mostly poor people have lived together for centuries peacefully was rudely jolted by a brutal attack of a Hindutva mob in the morning of July 14. The mob comprising hundreds of young men and some women had gathered to demolish some structures calling them 'encroachment by Muslims' on this age old fort. Actually, they wanted to target a dargah, which has existed since even the time before Shivaji and is an epitome of Hindu Muslim amity. A large number of devotees from Maharashtra and Karnataka, majority of who are Hindus, visit this dargah. Various RSS affiliates have been raking up concocted issues to disturb communal harmony in this part of Maharashtra.

Since unruly mobs gathered to demolish the so-called illegal structures could not reach the intended spot due to difficult terrain as well as police presence and also some resistance by the locals on the fort, they attacked the village of Gajapur, three kilometres away from the fort. Sparing the houses of Hindus, they selectively attacked the properties belonging to Muslims, who are proud to say that they cherish the ideals of communal harmony practised by Shivaji. A few houses, a couple of shops and a restaurant were completely destroyed. The residents, mostly old men and women, ran away taking their tiny children to nearby jungle to save their life as heavy rain pelted them.

It is a matter of grave concern that this violence, targeting Muslims, was perpetrated in the presence of a strong police force supervised by the district superintendent of police himself. Adding insult to injury, after the rioters left, the administration did nothing to clean the damaged houses and other properties nor did it provide any food or shelter to the victims. Grains in their houses, cooking gas cylinders and utensils etc were either looted or thrown all over. They spent the horrific night in whatever shelter they could find in a very heavy downpour.

CPI(M) and INDIA Intervene

Early next morning Uday Narkar and Subhash Jadhav, Party state committee member with senior PWP leader Bharat Patil tried to visit Gajapur and Vishalgad but were prevented by the police and administration at the village border. However, they managed to get some affected persons out and interact with them. Immediately a meeting of the INDIA bloc was arranged in the district centre which was presided by recently elected MP Shahu Maharaj, a descendent of the reformer king Shahu Maharaj. As decided in the meeting, a huge delegation of INDIA visited Gajapur, braving obstructions put by the police, on July 16 and interacted with the victims. The delegation was led by Shahu Maharaj, Satej Patil, former state minister of Congress, Uday Narkar and others. It was only after the constituents of INDIA bloc intervened that the administration was forced to provide some relief to these affected people.

It was in this situation that the CPI(M) district committee in its emergency meeting decided to organise a visit to Gajapur and a public meeting at Kolhapur inviting Polit Bureau member Subhashini Ali and M H Shaikh, district-in-charge member of the state secretariat. Accordingly Subhashini Ali visited violence hit Gajapur and people on August 5 and addressed the public meeting organised by INDIA at Kolhpaur on August 6.  

When Subhashini visited Gajapur, along with Party’s Kolhapur district committee members, the residents thronged to meet her and narrated horrendous stories of the violence and terror created by the Hindutva mobs.  

Even three weeks after the violence was unleashed, the area is almost under curfew and economic activity has come to a standstill. Children cannot attend school and there are some tenth standard students facing uncertain future. Since most of the stock of foodgrains was looted or destroyed they need adequate quantity of rations. The police have, after the tragic events, curtailed movement of the residents which is making life more difficult. Insurance claims of damaged vehicles, two and four wheelers, mostly commercial vehicles, are yet to be settled.

The mosque is badly damaged in the planned attack in which, to the residents' astonishment, some young women too participated. The nearby Muslim graveyard too was attacked. The mob was not local and came from different cities, several from Pune, an RSS stronghold. Sadly, some Hindu neighbours were seen pointing the houses belonging to Muslims. The state government, after strong protests, has announced a paltry sum of Rs 1.49 crore as compensation which is not even a quarter of the actual damages. Rations are not adequate and stoppage of business activity on the fort has deprived them of their livelihood. Especially, about a hundred houses of dalits, most of who work on the fort, are also badly affected due to lack of work.

After the visit, Subhashini Ali led a delegation of INDIA block parties to meet the district collector of Kolhapur and forcefully asked to provide immediate relief to the victims of this well planned communal horror. The administration assured to give all immediate relief. She also stressed the need for the administration to be more proactive in order to instill confidence among the residents of Gajapur. One measure she suggested was that the administration could pave way for devotees to visit the dargah by offering a chaddar to normalise the situation. The administration’s partial attitude, and possibly pressure from its political bosses, she pointed out, has emboldened the Hindutva forces. After the incident at Vishalgad, these very forces have opened another controversial issue at one more fort. This time it is Lohgad fort in Pune district.

Obviously, Vishalgad violence by Hindutva goons was not the first of its kind. Exactly a year ago, on June 6 Kolhpaur had witnessed organised attacks on Muslims, which was reported in the People’s Democracy then. It was followed by similar incident in the nearby Satara district on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections. Nor is it going to be the last. The BJP’s poll campaign has begun in right earnest.