By Dr. M. Iqbal Siddiqui
Jaipur: The 3rd July nationwide bandh called by BJP and VHP witnessed violence and Hindutva vandalism in several parts of the country, particularly Indore where seven people were killed in riots that followed. In Rajasthan, Jodhpur and Ajmer saw the protesters attacking Ajmer Dargah pilgrims.
While Rajasthan as a whole remained peaceful, in Jodhpur BJP activists entered Muslim localities and shouted slogans against Muslims. In Ajmer, glasses of the vehicles of some pilgrims were broken by the VHP activists at Baradari and Ram Prasad Ghat and at a few places they made the pilgrims run for safety while at some places they attacked them and beat them up.
In Jaipur it was a bit more violent. The BJP-VHP activists were freely roaming on the main roads wielding swords and weapons. Women activists remained no lesser than their male counterparts as they also came out to forcibly close the markets frightening the shopkeepers with swords in their hands and shouting slogans against the J&K government.
At some places there were minor clashes between the activists and the shopkeepers. Almost all markets remained closed, not in favour of the bandh but due to the terror of the BJP-VHP activists. The police remained passive, save at a few places where they had to apply some degree of force to stop the hooligans from violence. This indicates utilization of government resources for the party benefits.
The whole episode can be seen in context of the forthcoming assembly and probably, parliamentary elections. BJP had otherwise no issue at hand that might boost up their election campaign. The Ram Mandir issue has almost lost its charm and in order to polarize the Hindu votes hate-mongering is the crucial weapon of the Sangh Parivar.
(The writer is media cell incharge of Rajasthan Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and can be contacted at [email protected])
[Photos of Jaipur bandh, courtsey of the JIH, Rajasthan]