By Amit Kumar, Twocircles.net
Chhapra: Communal tensions gripped Chhapra district in Bihar and several shops, all belonging to Muslims, were damaged after protests over an allegedly derogatory photo uploaded by a Muslim boy turned violent.
On Friday afternoon, members of the local Bajrang Dal unit ransacked and burnt down the house of a boy in the village of Maker, 10 kms from Chhapra town, after they were informed that the boy, who currently lives in Bangalore, had allegedly uploaded derogatory images of Hindu gods on his Facebook account.
By evening, the protests by Bajrang Dal had reached Chhapra town. By 7 pm, a group of 200 men including ex-MLA Udit Rai, marched on to the streets of the town calling for a Bandh on Saturday. The mob also asked people to join the march at the Nagar Palika Chowk for the march. During this entire time, locals allege that the police remained silent spectators.
On Saturday, almost all in the district decided to observe the Bandh, including Muslims, in order to avoid any communal tension. Ghaus Mohammed, who owns a shoe store in Hathua Market, told Twocircles.net he had decided to stay back home on the day. “All shops, including the ones owned by Muslims, remained shut the entire day as no one wanted to take a risk,” he says. However, in the minority-dominant area of Khanua, some shops opened after the first few hours of the bandh. “Some tea shops, along with sweet shops, opened up and this irked the Bajrang Dal protesters. Within the next few minutes, there were clashes followed by the protesters throwing crude bombs and firing bullets. This left almost a dozen people with minor injuries, and several shops severly damaged in the area.
However, the vandalism on the part of the mob, which numbered around 2,000, did not stop. Over the next hour or so, they attacked and looted several shops, all belonging to Muslims, in the areas of Hathua, Tinkunia and Sahebganj.
The Jama Masjid in the region of Tinkunia was also vandallised; with the mosque door burnt down along with vehicles inside the compound. In the surrounding areas, over 10 shops owned by Muslim men were vandalised and looted, say the locals.
Ghaus Mohammed, whose shop was also severely vandalised, said he had suffered a loss of Rs 45,000.
The mobs also did not spare the shop of local RJD president Balagul Mobin, said Ghaus.
The police, say the locals, remained mute spectators during the entire period.
