In Jammu’s Mendhar, Muslims and Hindus grieve for each other-17/09/2010

17/09/2010

In Jammu’s Mendhar, Muslims and Hindus grieve for each other

Ari (Mendhar): Trekking up to 5 km, nearly 4,000 Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs from all over Ari today streamed into the house of Mohammad Arshad, the 28-year-old who was among the three people shot by police here yesterday when it opened fire on a demonstration against the alleged burning of a Koran in the US.



The village of nearly 10,000 people, a fifth of them Hindus and with a small minority of Sikhs, has never seen communal discord. The death of Arshad at what was a joint, peaceful demonstration has left Ari, located 6 km from Mendhar town, angry and seeking answers.

"Azhar was not Mohammad Azam's son... he was my son," says Kiran Devi, the retired headmistress of a government school in the area who had taught him. "In Arshad, I have lost my own son."



Two other villages mourning their dead, Guldh and Chattral, are raising questions on police theories on why it opened fire. Alamdar Hussain Shah, who was buried in Guldh, had just come home on leave from Saudi Arabia. Shamim Ahmed, the third person to die in the firing, belonged to Chattral.

Nearly 60 children of Shah's close relatives study at St Francis High School, the same school that the protesters were allegedly going to set ablaze, according to the police.



The school isn't even a Christian missionary institution as claimed by the police but run by a local Muslim, Mohammad Khursheed. It has nearly 1,000 students on its rolls, nearly 250 of them Hindus. Pointing out that some of his teachers were Christians from Kerala, Khursheed says they never were under any threat from protesters. "No one had ever threatened us, as all the children are locals," he says.

"Why would people attack a school where their own wards study? Why did the protesters, who went on a rampage after the unprovoked police firing, not attack the school situated nearby?" asks Raj Kumar, who works as a tailor.



Officials in the civil administration too seem to have their doubts, with no duty magistrate having signed the order so far that would have been required for policemen to open fire. "Rather Sub Divisional Magistrate Mukhtar Chowdhary, who was accompanying the protesters at that time, was seen asking the cops not to open fire," says local Congress leader Kaleem Khan.

The police have already booked SDPO, Mendhar, Vivek Gupta and his four bodyguards for murder. The SDPO and the Mendhar Police Station SHO, Farooq Shah, have been attached while a magisterial inquiry will be conducted by Poonch Deputy Commissioner Kuldeep Khajuria.



Blaming Gupta and his bodyguards, National Conference MLC Rashid Qureshi says Ari villagers just wanted to take out a joint procession on the alleged Koran burning in view of their tradition of communal harmony and had informed the SDM in advance, with the route of their procession fixed.

On Thursday, as the procession moved towards a dak bungalow, Gupta along with the accompanying policemen suddenly stopped them from proceeding further. As the protesters resisted, the SDPO fell down and, an eyewitness said, in a fit of anger, opened fire. His bodyguards followed next.



Angry protesters then sat with the bodies on the road, demanding that senior officials come and explain to them what had happened. As no one turned up for nearly two hours to talk to them, they went on a rampage, torching government offices and residential quarters, and setting official vehicles afire, before curfew was imposed.

The protesters initially demanded that the three be buried at the site of the Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) office in Mendhar town and that a memorial be built for them there.



Kulbir Singh and Jasbir Singh, both ex-servicemen, say the police action may be a conspiracy to wedge a rift between communities and the government should hold a judicial or CBI inquiry. "Arshad was a good-mannered and simple village boy who had returned from Saudi Arabia following the ill health of his father five years ago. He started a small shop to help his family, including mother and two unmarried sisters," says Vakil Singh, a fellow villager.

Former Ari sarpanch Mohammad Din Poswal points out that Hindus, Muslims and the nearly 50 Sikhs have been living in the area in harmony for generations. "We all held the Indian tricolour high even during peak militancy. However, if someone tomorrow feels alienated in view of such a coldblooded murder of innocent youth by some policemen, who will be responsible?" he asks.

Source: The Indian Express