Muslims of Chirudih village of Jharkhand are rallying around former central coal minister Shibu Soren, an accused in the 1975 mob killing of 10 people, including nine Muslims of the village.
Soren, chief of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, is awaiting the verdict of the Jharkhand High Court on his plea to quash an arrest warrant issued against him for his alleged role in the Chirudih killing. He resigned from the central cabinet last week in the wake of the issue of the warrant.
The Milli Council, a Muslim body, took out a procession there with banners in support of Soren.
"Shibu Soren is a hero of the Jharkhand movement, not a villain. Guruji (Shibu Soren) is neither absconding nor accused", said Haji Akhtar, district president of the Milli Council.
Soren had been at the head of a movement demanding a separate state of Jharkhand, which in fact came into being in November 2000.
"It is a BJP conspiracy to put Soren in jail. It is basically motivated by the party's defeat in the recent Lok Sabha elections and haunted by the upcoming assembly elections in the state. The cases against Shibu Soren should be withdrawn immediately," said Akhtar.
Muslim leaders are linking the Chirudih incident with the movement for statehood and blaming the BJP for reopening the case after 29 years.
"There is absolutely no problem between Muslims and Santhals (tribals) and we have been living together for centuries. It is the BJP which is trying to create a divide between Santhals and Muslims," said Furkunad Junaid of Chirudih village.
However, family members of the Muslims who died in the 1975 massacre feel differently. They are not convinced by the argument of other community members. They still hope that the accused will be punished.
Shibu Soren had allegedly led a mob to Chirudih that attacked the village and burnt Muslims alive. One of the accused, Lokhendra Soren, had said in his dying statement, "It was Shibu Soren who instigated the mob and asked the mob to kill Muslims by terming them as trouble makers for Santhals".
In that killing, 69 tribals, including Soren, were named as accused.
Muslims may have rallied in favor of Soren, but the Santhals are unhappy. They feel their tribal leader, Soren has sided with the Muslims.
Chirudih village is divided into three parts with the Muslims residing in the central part. The tribals feel that Muslims usurp their land by taking the benefit of four marriages under Islamic law and marrying tribal girls.
The selling of tribal land is banned, but anyone marrying a tribal girl gets legal ownership of the land.
The JMM has softened its stand on
this issue. Soren's soft stand on the issue caused his defeat in the 1998
and 1999 elections at the hands of BJP candidate and former chief minister
Babulal Marandi.