Destruction of Religious and Cultural Shrines of the Minorities
07, Jun 2017
A number of religious sites of the Muslim community were debased and defiled. The map provided herewith outlines the districts/areas in the state wherein religious sites were attacked.
A comprehensive list that enumerates the same along with the damage incurred has been provided as under:Personal Register 16 April-19 Sept 2002
A detailed report by Human Rights Watch in 2002, analyzed the extent of damage to religious sites of the Muslim community. According to the report:
The attackers also destroyed Digraphs, traditional meeting grounds for Hindus and Muslims and razed mosques. In some cases makeshift Hindu temples were erected in their place. In many places saffron flags, the signature flag of Hindu nationalist groups, were dug deep into mosque domes.
(Outlook – “Opinion: Covert Riots And Media” by Barkha Dutt
Genocide—Communalism Combat March April 2002)
Roughly twenty mosques were destroyed in Ahmedabad alone, many on March 1 during Friday prayers. (Bose, “Ethnic Cleansing in Ahmedabad”)
Even historical monuments were not spared. According to the preliminary report of an Indian human rights fact-finding team, the famous 500-year-old masjid in Isanpur, which was an ASI [Archeological Survey of India] monument, was destroyed with the help of cranes and bulldozers. The famous Urdu Poet Wali Gujarati’s dargah was also razed to the ground at Shahibaug in Ahmedabad. While a hanuman [a Hindu god] shrine was built over its debris initially, all that was removed overnight and the plot was [paved] and merged with the adjoining road. No authority claimed any knowledge about the entire episode. It is worth noting here that the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, which is responsible for the maintenance of all these structures, and for the building of roads, is run by the Congress [party] with a near two-thirds majority.
(Bose, “Ethnic Cleansing in Ahmedabad”)
