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Horror tales of Malegaon riots
 A
Milli Council delegation which visited the riot ravaged city of Malegaon
has presented a sorry state of affairs. The two-member committee met a
large number of people affected by the riots and visited tens of villages
near Malegaon affected by the riots that killed more than a dozen Muslims.
The delegation was baffled by losses in city and areas surrounding it. Not
only several mosques and madrasas were destroyed and shops looted, it saw
a well planned conspiracy to destroy Muslim business establishments and
terrorize them.
A press release issued by the delegation after visiting the area says that
in Malegaon Paltan Masjid was ransacked and copies of Qur’an were burnt.
The shops and madrasa surrounding the mosque were also ransacked and set
on fire. A house owned by Abdushshakur Muhammad Yaqub, adjacent to the
mosque was looted and his famous bakery burnt down. Mosque of
Bagh-e-Muhammadi was burnt down with several adjacent rooms. In a
graveyard in its vicinity more than hundred graves were destroyed. The
report says that two hundred houses in the same area were damaged by
hooligans and their residents were terrorized.
Samseekar Mosque was totally destroyed and nothing was left behind. Eleven
shops in the mosque were also burnt down. Diamond Mill Company owned by
Faheem Ahmad and Jawed Ahmad, where there were 200 power looms and
hundreds of workers were employed there was also set on fire. Everything
was destroyed in the fire. When the Council delegation met its owners they
were told that it was done on Friday, 26 October when it is a holiday for
the company. The administration did nothing to save their 200 power looms
and as there was no worker on that day, they could not pose any resistance
either. When a few people tried to reason with hooligans they were
mercilessly beaten and one Haji Khalil Ahmad was killed on the spot
itself. Faheem Ahmad told delegation that the fire continued but neither
police nor the fire brigade came to their rescue.
In Junagarh Road all shops owned by Muslims were reduced to ashes.
National Travels’ office, a famous travel and tour company was also
burnt down. On Mahatma Phule Road Munna Cycle Market was first looted and
then set on fire.
The delegation says that the Mausam Pul area is the nerve centre of the
city, here too Muslims had to face severe destruction with hundreds of
shops burnt down after being looted. Here 150 shops, 30 cars, 22 trucks,
all belonging to Muslims were destroyed by setting them on fire and
ransacking them. In Fruit and Spice Market near Jama Masjid 112 shops were
reduced to ashes by the rioters and police did nothing to save these.
The delegation saw that in rural areas the hooligans tried to destroy
Muslims and their businesses completely. The horrifying tales in Sanana
Camp where some 500 people from 17 villages were camping showed how these
people were targetted by rioters. In Arti village about a hundred houses
and a mosque were burnt down. In villages like Lakhapur, Brahmanpur, Lunir,
Soki, Chaudana, Virgaon, Parina, Karanjhapur, Askhera, Nilkhota and Bagla
hundreds of Muslim homes were looted, ransacked and set on fire. Six
mosques were also destroyed by rampaging rioters in these villages.
The delegation says that there was a conscious effort to destroy Muslims
in surrounding areas of Malegaon economically. Thousands of people were
forced to leave their homes and businesses and tens of people were
murdered.
The press release sums up the losses as. 25 mosques were destroyed in
Malegaon city and nearby villages. 69 homes were burnt in the city and
another 373 in rural areas. 340 shops were set on fire in Malegaon city
and 66 in villages. Small shops (khokhas) destroyed during riots are
estimated to be 388 in city and villages. 27 trucks were set on fire as
well as an equal number of cars besides 26 motorbikes.
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