Gajapur-Vishalgad Violence Was Premeditated But Failed To Break Communal Harmony: CSSS Report

The Gajapur-Vishalgad violence of July 2024 was a premeditated hate crime orchestrated by political leaders, claimed the fact-finding report by Centre for Study of Society and Secularism (CSSS). The report raised concerns on the failure of action against the perpetrators even after a year and also highlighted that the violence failed to disrupt the communal harmony in Gajapur and the whole of Kolhapur.

On July 14, 2024, around 42 residential houses in Muslalmanwadi in the Gajapur village of Kolhapur were allegedly demolished after a group of miscreants marched to the nearby Vishalgad fort claiming to set it free of encroachments. The march was alleged to turn violent as it attacked the homes of Gajapur’s Muslims and looted them. Around five offences were registered in this matter, including former member of parliament Sambhaji Raje.

As the perpetrators are still either absconding or haven’t been convicted even after a year of the incident, CSSS prepared a fact-finding report about the violence. The report claimed that the violence was a premeditated hate crime and was deliberately diverted to the Muslim settlement, situated 5km away from the fort. It alleged that the motive of the march was never to clear encroachments on the fort but to damage the Muslim residences, even when they had no relation with the encroachments on the fort.

At a press conference organised in Mumbai on Friday, Mithila Raut, the researcher of the report, said, “The miscreants initially took shelter in the residences of the Muslim families to save themselves from heavy rain. They were treated as guests and even served water after which they started attacking the houses in separate groups. This was not a spontaneous act of violence but pre-orchestrated violence.”

According to the report, ‘A New Era of Religious Politics in Vishalgad’, the houses were broken into, damaged and their money as well as gold was looted. While the state government announced Rs25,000 compensation to the victims, the report alleged that it is a meagre amount against their losses and has not been provided to all the deserving families.

The report also accused the police of inaction claiming that no precautions were taken even though they were aware about the threat. It claimed to have accessed video evidence showing that the police were present during the incident but did not interfere with the march to Vishalgad, even when a curfew was imposed. It highlighted that the culprits have not been arrested yet and the issue lacks proper probe by the special investigation team.

Abhay Thipsay, retired justice of the Bombay High Court, said, “The settlement was humiliated for a reason which was not related to it. The attackers said that they were going to set free the fort, which was already in the hands of the government backed by them. The country’s condition has worsened in the last 10 years and looking at incidents like Vishalgad, the country might not have law and order or democracy in the next 10 years.”

The report highlighted that although the incident was communal in nature, it could not disrupt the village or the region’s harmony. It claimed that all the miscreants, except one, were not from the village and other communities in the village sympathised with the Muslim community. According to the director of CSSS Irfan Engineer, the fact-finding team could not find a single Hindu resident who agreed to support the violence.

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