Grave Stones: Kaup and Beyond

The Jamia Masjid at Kaup | Photo: G Vishnu

Kaup: An eerie calm prevails in Kaup, a small township 12 kilometres from Udupi. The Jamia Masjid premises, still littered with glass pieces, broken bottles and stones, seem to echo the screams of the Sunday night of March 15.

The glass windows have been completely destroyed – the deeds of both ‘miscreants’ and the police, mosque insiders claim. Blood stains adorn the walls of the Madrasa on the first floor. The ‘miscreants’ who also gained entry into the mosque have littered the carpets used for praying, and looted some valuables.

“It has just been four months since I opened the shop, yet I gained a lot of success and gained respect in my business circle. But this attack has just shattered everything that I worked for,” said a visibly broken  Farooq. His mobile shop, which lies right next to the Jamia Masjid, was looted by the ‘miscreants’ of  Sunday night. With numerous cell phones and a laptop stolen, and with absolutely no insurance benefits to claim, Farooq’s losses go beyond Rs 2.5 lakhs. He stands to lose more with compensations to his customers.

A marriage van with Muslim men and women heading to Haveri in North Karnataka from Belthangady near Mangalore, made a stop at a petrol bunk near Kaup at around 8:00 pm, only to be attacked by ‘miscreants’ - men holding saffron flags, returning from the Hindu Samajotsava held in Mangalore on Sunday, March 14.

The stones they hurled injured a couple of burkha clad women. The driver of the van – a Hindu – was also assaulted. Seeing an opportunity in the midst of it all, the driver sped away, and expecting safety, drove into the premises of the Jamia Masjid which is right beside the highway. The local residents took the people in the van into the Muslim households near the mosque after consoling them, even as a bus load of people started pelting stones and bottles at the mosque from the outside. The arrival of police was further shocking as the police started firing tear gas shells at the Muslim neighbourhood and the insides of the mosque.

This is a version of the story that the Muslim residents of Kaup are screaming to anyone who cares to listen. The local media has not minced with words while terming the incident as another instance of show of viciousness of one community. For a community which has been failed by almost all the local regional language media institutions, this incident begs basic questioning.

“One leading local newspaper, through words of BJP officials, went on to call this a terrorist activity as well. Take the photos of these terrorists,” says Rajaab Ummar, a Masjid committee member, pointing at the children who study in the Jamia Masjid Madrasa. Ummar was injured by the stones pelted into the mosque. “All the 27 come from very poor families; some of them minors and some of them sole bread earners for their family. Now who should these families go to get a bail or to earn bread?” asked
Mohammed Shamshuddin, a local resident.

The Police

“They fired (tear gas shells) without the slightest consideration for people, that too only at our  (Muslims’) direction,” said Hameed Abdul Qadar, President, Jamia Masjid. “Forgetting that they did it in front of the police; even if we assume that we indulged in pelting-stones and bottles as the local media reported and the police claimed, how is it that arrests have been made only from our side? Is law  different for the 800-1000 people who attacked us?” he asked, out of frustration.

Twenty seven people have been arrested regarding this incident – all of them from inside the mosque. All the 27 arrested have been booked under Sections 363 (obstructing the police), 143 (rioting), 324 (assault) and 307 (attempt to murder) which is non-bailable. After almost a week, not a single arrest has been made of the miscreants from nearly 20 Hindu Samajotsava buses.

“If there is another version to the story, let the locals come ahead and give statements in the (police) station. We can make necessary arrests then,” said Joy Anthony, Sub-inspector, Kaup Police station.

“A complaint was made by the Muslims inside the Mosque against the people in the buses – the Bajrang Dal. They have also complained about some of the nearby shops being looted by the Bajrang Dal people. No arrests have been made as yet in this case, but we are investigating. Since the buses fled after the incident, we’re trying to trace the drivers and other people in the buses,” said Santhosh Kumar, Deputy Superintendant of Police, Udupi. For the police, who have been credited by local media for clearing the traffic amidst the ‘riot’, ‘fled’ seems to be the perfect comedy of errors in terms of the PR disaster this case has become!

Related Incidents

Police sources said that on the same day, some youth from Mulky who were returning home in a car, after a cricket tournament in Brahmavar, were attacked by Hindutva activists. The car had seven Muslims and one Hindu, who all fled in different directions on being chased, only to be saved by Hindu families. In another instance, the Sub-Inspector of Padubidri arrested 10 Bajrang Dal cadres at around 11:00 pm while they were caught tearing up a Hindu religious banner – an act meant to create communal discord. The Home Minister for the state allegedly called the Sub-Inspector and demanded the release of these cadres – who were later brought to book by the intervention of a DIG of the Western range, Gopal Hosur.

On Saturday, March 21, a Muslim auto rickshaw driver in Puttur, who exchanged pleasantries with a Hindu passenger he had just dropped off, was allegedly taken to task for the ‘crime’ of getting ‘friendly’ with her, by a waiter of the hotel where he was eating. The waiter and his friends allegedly roughed up the driver; no case has been filed for this incident.

A hundred year old mosque at Madikal, near Uppunda in Kundapur, was also vandalized on March 15. The door of the mosque was broken open, furniture and sound systems damaged, and the Quran stolen. On Tuesday night (March 17), some miscreants allegedly tried to set fire to the Noorul Islam Madrasa in the Kota polica station limits. The sole door and a window of the Madrasa were found blackened in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, and a half-filled petrol bottle was found nearby. No arrests have been made in either case. 

Two months ago in Sullia, a “ban” had been brought on Muslims girls and women from wearing Burkhas, through brute force and humiliation. The Hindu Samajotsava, said to be organised on March 15 in Mangalore to consolidate the hindu vote bank for BJP, has proven to be a heady intoxication for the burgeoning communal elements.

A senior police official who wished to remain anonymous, while talking of all the ‘clashes’  being reported from Puttur, Sullia, Bantwal and adjoining areas around Mangalore, after the Hindu Samajotsava, said, “All this is politically instigated. People wouldn't do such things suddenly, by themselves. Elections are approaching and there are political motives, but no one will come forward and accept this.” 

Sub edited by: Ruchika Sharma

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