On Saturday, like any other, Amzad Belim (19) returned from the fields to lunch with his brother Imran (21) in the afternoon, when he heard a group of boys from neighbouring Sunsar marching towards the village shouting “we will kill you all Muslims”. “But after elders of our village calmed them down, they left,” said Amzad. This was first of the three angry groups, mostly comprising the Thakors from Sunsar, that had reached Vagjipara — an extended colony of nearly 1,500 Muslims — at Vadavali on Saturday following a clash between school students In the subsequent violence, Amzad’s father Ibrahimkhan Lalkhan Belim (45) lost his life, 20 were injured, five of them seriously. All were residents of Vagjipara. Nearly 25 vehicles were gutted, homes set afire, cattle taken away and grains burnt.
Counter complaints have been filed by the residents of Vadavali and Sunsar villages with police. One compliant (filed by Manharsinh Zala) cited a Muslim boy from Vadavali “pushing” a girl from Sunsar and the resultant fight between Hindu and Muslim school students as the reason for the violence, the other (filed by Rehmanbhai Alibhai Malek) named the Thakors as the accused. So far, no arrest has been made. Ibrahimkhan is accused number 13 in the list of 14 in the FIR on the basis of Zala’s complaint.
According to his son Amzad, around 30 minutes after the first group of around 10-15 boys returned after being persuaded by the village elders, a mob of 100 youths armed with sticks and sharp-edged weapons reached Vagjipara. His father and other elders again tried to reason with the group. “But the group started hitting us with the weapons ,” said Imran, Amzad’s elder brother. Soon, a police vehicle reached the village with nearly five to six policemen, following which the mob fled, but with a warning that they would return, he said. “Hardly after 30 minutes, an armed mob of over 5,000 people from Sunsar arrived…. We rushed the women and children to the mosque at Vadavali village. Only 15-16 men were left behind ensuring safety of the cattle and our houses,” said Imran.
Before the mob arrived the third time, Ibrahimkhan hid his two sons and his nephews in a room on the first floor at his brother’s house and locked the door from outside. “That was the last time I saw my father. He said he was going out to see if the mob had left,” Amzad said. From inside, Amzad said, he heard four or five gun shots and people shouting for help. He suspected his father was ambushed. “We heard people shouting from outside and trying to break open the door. We had locked the door from inside. Soon, police reached and the mob fled… else we too have been killed,” said Amzad, who studies in an Industrial Training Institute (ITI). On Saturday midnight, police informed the family of Ibrahimkhan’s death. Ibrahimkhan’s wife Naseembano said: “My husband folded his hands and requested them to go back. Was that his only fault? He ensured that his family is safe.”
