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The presence of the police following incidents of stone-throwing and arson on December 28 are representative of an unpleasant change taking place in this small town in Kolhapur district.
Reputed for its export-oriented spinning mills, communal harmony and Hindu-Muslim amity over the past generations, Ichalkaranji is rapidly giving way to growing polarisation on Hindu-Muslim lines. The local residents are most unhappy with this changing character of Ichalkaranji, even as the Hindu-Muslim polarisation is being accentuated with each passing day.
While common citizens are largely a mute witness to these developments, the Saffron brigade comprising the BJP, VHP and the Shiv Sena, is pitted against the Congress minister of state for textiles, Prakash Awade and a Muslim trust which is claiming ownership of the Idgah Maidan. The maidan, measuring two-and-half acres in size, has been lying in a state of neglect all these years.
It has, however, now become a bone of contention between the Hindus and the Muslims. While the Hindu groups maintain that the land is public property and should be available to all communities, the Syed Maqdum Ali Idgah Trust, led by local municipal councillor Badshah Bagwan, has constructed a wall around the maidan and has claimed ownership of the maidan.
State Congress minister Prakash Awade added to this controversy by stating in a news conference in Ichalkaranji last week that the government had handed over the land to the Muslim trust. This declaration by Mr Awade resulted in the roughing up of the minister in Kolhapur on December 30, stone-pelting and arson at Kolhapur on the same day and at Ichalkaranji on December 28. It is now poised to snowball into a major political and communal issue in Maharashtra.’
The controversy, which was simmering for the last one year, reached a flash-point on December 28 when members of the BJP -Shiv Sena-VHP insisted on performing a maha aarti (a religious ceremony) at the grounds, which earlier in the day saw the Muslim community participate in a collective Id namaaz. When the police prevented people from entering the ground and resorted to a mild lathi-charge, some members of the mob indulged in stone-throwing and burned a few vehicles and shops. Ibis was repeated two days later at Kolhapur when a pro-Hindu mob became furious with the presence of Mr Awade at the funeral of a soldier, Ahbijit Suryavanshi, who was killed in action in Kashmir.
“Our position is that the Idgah maidan is public property. We do not want to hurt the sentiments of the Muslims. However, we cannot allow a private Muslim trust to construct a wall around the maidan and prevent access to members of the public,” Shiv Sena leader in the Ichalkaranji Municipal Council, Mishrilal Jaju said. “The maidan should be available to children to play,” he said. Local councillor and president of the Idgah Trust, Badshah Bagwan, told this newspaper that the maidan had been sold by the government to the trust for Rs 500.
“We have the records to prove this claim and we maintain that we own this maidan,” he said.
The construction of the wall around
the maidan with four gates bearing Islamic symbols is being seen as an
attempt to usurp public land. Mr Bagwan is also involved in another controversy
over the Noorani Commercial Complex on land belonging to another Muslim
trust.
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