Hindu traders' shops vandalised and evicted by Muslim mob claiming Waqf ownership; investigation reveals land belongs to PWD

Case ID : b45f597 | Location : Rajkot, Gujarat, India | Date of Incident : Mon, 30 December, 2024
Case ID : b45f597
location Rajkot, Gujarat, India
date 30 December, 2024
Hindu traders' shops vandalised and evicted by Muslim mob claiming Waqf ownership; investigation reveals land belongs to PWD
Attack not resulting in death
Attacked for Hindu identity
Attacked to induce migration from non-Hindu dominated area

Case Summary

Gujarat police arrested nine individuals, including Nawab Mosque trustee Farooqbhai Ibrahimbhai Musani, for vandalising two shops owned by Hindu traders in Rajkot. The accused claimed the shops were Waqf properties based on a Gujarat State Waqf Board order and forcibly evicted the shopowners by breaking locks and throwing merchandise onto the streets. The shops, located in the Old Danapith area, had been leased by Hindu traders for decades. The complainant, Virendrabhai Kalyanjibhai Kotecha, operated a mandap service business from one of the shops for over 50 years. Investigation revealed that the land on which the shops were built was owned by the Public Works Department (PWD), not the Waqf Board. Despite this, the accused claimed authority based on an order from the Gujarat State Waqf Board dated December 19, 2024, instructing the transfer of possession to the mosque. An FIR was filed against the accused under sections 189(3), 190, 329(3), and 351(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2024. The accused bypassed mandatory legal procedures outlined by the Waqf Board, such as issuing three prior notices and conducting evictions in the presence of law enforcement. In addition to the arrests, police recovered evidence, including the Waqf Board order used to justify the eviction. The complainant also revealed that his belongings, which were thrown onto the street during the incident, were still being accounted for.

Why it is Hate Crime ?

This case has been added to the tracker under the prime category of- Attack not resulting in death. Under this, the first sub-category selected is- Attacked for Hindu identity. In several cases, Hindus are attacked merely for their Hindu identity without any perceived provocation. A classic example of this category of religiously motivated hate crime is a murder in 2016. 7 ISIS terrorists were convicted for shooting a school principal in Kanpur because they got ‘triggered’ seeing the Kalava on his wrist and tilak that he had put. In this, the Hindu victim had offered no provocation except for his Hindu religious identity. The motivation for the murder was purely religious, driven by religious supremacy. Such cases where Hindus are targeted merely for their religious identity would be documented as a hate crime under this category. The second sub-category selected is- Attacked to induce migration from non-Hindu dominated area. There have been cases where the Hindus living in an area, often with a majority dwelling belonging to non-Hindus or those harbouring animosity towards the Hindu faith, the Hindu residents experience threats and violence. The violence is employed with the aim of making the Hindus leave the area and relocate, so the area could be turned into an exclusive ghetto for adherents of the non-Hindu faith or those who harbor animosity towards the Hindu faith. In several cases, the aim of exodus is explicit. However, in several cases, the demand for exodus of Hindu residents is not explicit, however, violence by non-Hindu residents leaves the Hindu residents no option but to leave the area, thereby, turning the area into an exclusive ghetto of non-Hindu residents. In such cases, there are instances violence against the Hindu residents explicitly. For example, in the Hauz Qazi case of 2019, the Muslim residents claimed that mob violence against the Hindu residents had been triggered by a parking dispute. However, the violence did turn religious with a temple being desecrated and was directed specifically against the Hindu residents. The Hindu residents of the area were clear that the violence was religiously motivated and one of the motives was to affect an exodus of the Hindu residents. In such cases, even though the perpetrators have not explicitly expressed the aim of affecting exodus, the given circumstances and violence and precedent point to the intention of exodus and therefore would be categorized under this sub-category. Such crimes are religiously motivated and therefore are hate crimes. In this instance. the targeted eviction of Hindu traders, who had operated businesses in the area for decades, underscores a deliberate effort to assert religious dominance by falsely claiming the shops as Waqf property. The involvement of a mosque trustee, Farooqbhai Ibrahimbhai Musani, further amplifies the religious undertones of the act, signalling a concerted attempt to displace Hindus from the area. It is important to note here that the land on which the Hindu shops were built was owned by the Public Works Department (PWD). Despite this, the accused falsely claimed authority to evict only Hindu shopowners, revealing a calculated effort to undermine their presence in the area. The tactics employed here, where the accused selectively targeted Hindu traders under the guise of a Waqf Board order, clearly stem from an intrinsic animosity toward Hindus and a deliberate intent to harass them based on their religious identity and this is why, this case has been included in the tracker.

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Case Status


Arrested

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Perpetrators Details

Perpetrators


Muslim Extremists

Perpetrators Range


From 5 to 10

Perpetrators Gender


male

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