By Special Correspondent, TwoCircles.net,
Ahmedabad: A delegation of the state unit of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) on Wednesday held separate as well as joint meetings with the representatives of the Muslims and the Dalit Hindus in Andej village, 30 kmsfrom here, and tried to defuse tension prevailing for the last 15 days in this Muslim dominated village.
The Muslim-Dalit tension was a consequence of an alleged theft of cement sheets allegedly by a dalit youth-Manubhai Shenwa.
Iqbal Mirza and Ikram Mirza, who were part of the delegation, tried to convince both dalits and Musims to sort out the differences among themselves without any confrontation. Mirza reminded the Muslims about the teachings of the Prophet Muhammed (PBUH) pertaining to the rights of the neighbors.
“As followers of the Last Prophet, it is incumbent upon Muslims to ensure that their neighbours felt safe and secure from them,” Iqbal Mirza told Muslims in presence of Dalits and the local police personels. He urged the local Muslim leaders to bear the expenses on the treatment of a dalit youth who sustained a fracture in his left hand during a scuffle between Muslims and Dalit on July 2.
The JIH delegation told Muslims to lift boycott on the dalit families they had imposed after the scuffle. For the 15 days, the local Muslim shopkeepers had refused to sell anything to Dalits and Muslim transporters did not allow Dalits to travel in their tempos and jeeps.
The Muslims led by Umar Vaghela, husband of the village sarpanch Fatu Rehmu told the JIH delegation that they had already decided to withdraw the boycott but some people were trying to create trouble. He promised the JIH delegation that he would arrange for the medical treatment of the dalit youth and compensate him for whatever expenses he had so far incurred on his treatment.
Local Muslims are converts from the upper caste Hindus belonging to Kshatriya and Rajput communities. Apart from being land owners, they also control the local business, particularly transport.