A year after anti-Muslim violence broke out in Gujrat, a court in Patan district has ordered the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against certain Balisana villagers for an alleged economic boycott of Muslims after a communal riot broke out in the village.
The court of Additional Civil Judge and Judicial Magistrate First Class HP Joshi issued an order on July 26 to accept the application of the complainant and register an FIR at the Balisana police station, stating that a cognisable offense appeared to have been committed and legal action should be taken.
According to the petition of July 16 last year, there was a “clash” between two groups, and the group “misused” to “poison the minds of people living in harmony against the Muslims and lead to hostility on religious lines between different communities” in the village.
The accused allegedly circulated visuals with messages against the Muslim community, following which “the shops of many Muslims who were doing business as tenants were vacated.”
Meanwhile, the petitioner claimed that he came across the visuals on social media with such messages, made a CD of the clips, and went to Balisana police station repeatedly to complain, but no action was taken.
“On September 8, 2023, we filed a complaint before the Superintendent of Police, and on September 11, 2023, we also sent one to Balisana police station. After that, they recorded our statement on September 21, but till today there has been no action taken against the accused, and under the above circumstances, we have filed this complaint in your court,” the petition said.
The petitioner, MS Shaikh, described the accused as “politically influential and headstrong” and claimed “fear of harm coming to their families of innocent people” and “from the Muslim community being wrongly implicated in the case.”
The Balisana police station’s report recommended closing the case, noting no further incidents of “fights or assaults.” According to the report, on August 16, 2023, a conflict erupted between the Patel and Muslim communities. The Patels claimed that the Muslim community attacked Hindu youth and attempted to disturb communal harmony. Consequently, the majority of the of the community decided to reclaim the shops they had rented out.
“They did not coerce the people of any community nor forced anyone to vacate the shop, nor did they beat or abuse them, nor did they want to have enmity with the people of the Muslim community, but they did not want to have anything to do with us in case they quarreled with us again,” the police report said.
The petitioner has sought criminal investigation under sections 153(a) and 153(b) of the Indian Penal Code: “Any person, by spoken or written words or by signs or visible signs or otherwise by reason of religion, caste, place of birth, domicile, language, caste or caste, or otherwise, discriminates against different religious, ethnic, or linguistic group; promotes or attempts to promote feelings of enmity, hatred, or enmity between groups, castes, or communities; or commits an act which is prejudicial to harmony between different religious, ethnic, linguistic, or territorial groups, castes, or communities and which disturbs or is likely to disturb public peace.
