IN the morning of November 19, a CPI(M) group consisting of Hiralal (state secretary), B L Bharti (state secretariat member) and I left for Bahraich to see for ourselves what the situation was after the horrible events of October 7th.  On that day, a ‘Durga Visarjan’ procession was deliberately taken out from the Muslim-dominated area of Maharajganj town.  The major part of the procession passed through without any untoward incident but the last groups of participants stopped in front of the mosque and started playing obscene songs on the DJ which consisted mainly of, what is known in North India, as ‘maa-behen ki gaali’, all the more shocking since they were being played in the course of revering the most powerful Mother Goddess of all.  Despite the provocation, members of the minority community stayed behind closed doors of their homes.  It was then that Ram Gopal Misra climbed onto the roof of Sarfaraz’s house and took down the green flag that was flying there and replaced it with a saffron one.  He hurled obscenities and threats at the terrified family below and threatened the women with rape and worse.  All this has been captured on video.  What has not been filmed, however, is the fact that a pellet gun was fired at Misra and he fell down, bleeding and finally bled to death. 

After this, the attack on Muslim homes and shops started.  Many were ransacked and burnt.  Sarfaraz is a jeweler and his house was completely vandalised.  The police entered the fray and continued the attack.  Sarfaraz along with his brother and father were arrested and sent to jail.  The next day, the attack on Muslims started again when Misra’s body came out of the mortuary.  Even a BJP MLA was attacked and his car stoned.

After this, there were reports of indiscriminate arrests of male Muslims being made, of people fleeing Maharajganj in large numbers etc.  The administration stopped the entry of political leaders of the SP from entering the area.  It was only from videos and interviews on social media and the internet – many of them made by and featuring Hindus – that news of the continuing attacks on Muslims was available. 

Expectedly, the administration served demolition notices not only to Sarfaraz’s family but to more than 40 shopkeepers in the neighbourhood of whom three are Hindus.  This action was challenged in the Lucknow bench of the High Court by Adv. Mohd Kaleem and it was stayed by the Court.  Before the next hearing on November 18, the Supreme Court issued extremely stringent orders regarding ‘bulldozer justice’.  As a result, on the 18th, the Uttar Pradesh PWD department told the court that they were withdrawing their demolition notices.  The court told them that they would have to give this in writing in two weeks’ time.  This is a great victory for all those who have suffered great losses of homes and livelihood by this particular form of BJP law-breaking and it is fortunate that people in Bahraich have also benefitted.

Their sufferings, however, are immense.  The number of arrested Muslims is not known because the police are not releasing any information and, in fact, are not even informing the families of the reasons for the arrests.  17 people have been arrested for the murder of Misra although he received injuries from one firearm according to the post-mortem report released by the police.

It was to obtain first-hand information and to meet victims of State injustice that the CPI(M) delegation tried to visit Bahraich.  We had hardly left Lucknow when I received phone calls from police officers in Bahraich.  They told me categorically that they would not allow us to go to Maharajganj or to meet people in Bahraich town.  We realised that if we insisted on going anyone who came to meet us or tried to speak to us would, in turn, be targeted by the police.  We also realised that the police officers were calling us from the home of Kadri, the secretary of the CPI(M) local committee in Bahraich.  He told us that he was being prevented from leaving his house.

While we were prevented from going to Bahraich by the police, we did speak to several people there on the phone including Adv. Kaleem.  He told us that Muslims are being arrested every day, kept in custody for a few days and then charged with 106/11 (creating disturbance) and then released.  Obviously, there is money changing hands.  Those who cannot pay are sent to jail.

A woman, Mumtaz (name changed), phoned me and told me that on the night of November 8, the police came to her home at night and asked her husband to accompany them to show them the house of a neighbour.  He did so and has not come back yet.  Two days later it was discovered that he is jail.  The police have given the family no information as to what he is being charged with.  This only proved what Adv. Kaleem and others were alleging.

Later in the evening, Kadri informed us that the police had informed him that their Party conference to be held on November 19, was ‘banned’.  The mighty Yogi government seems to be threatened even by what would have been a meeting attended by about 20 people!

The situation in Bahraich is very disturbing.  Joint interventions by members and leaders of secular parties and democratic organisations are the need of the day.