Thread by @TalhaGulbargavi

#OTD #LongThread🧵
On 18th September 1969 Gujarati Muslims faced most deadly Anti-Muslim violence since the partition of India in 1947 & #1948HyderabadMassacre, ( & until 1989 Bhagalpur pogrom). 16 Dist in Gujarat were shaken by Communal Violence for Two months, Sept & Oct 1969.

On 18 Sept 1969, Muslims gathered in Jamalpur, Ahmedabad for an Urs festival. Whn 2 sadhus of nearby Jagannath temple tried to bring their cows back to the temple compound thru crowded streets, some Muslim women wer injured.

The cows also allegedly damaged some carts. It led to a clash & some Muslim youth attacked 2 sadhus, These injured sadhus came back with more men to retaliate, which made the issue bigger, resulting clashes & stone-pelting broke the temple windows.

Against this, The Hindu temple's mahant held a protest fast, which he broke after receiving an apology from a 15-person Muslim delegation led by A.M. Peerzada. But thereafter, rioters vandalised a dargah (tomb shrine) close to the temple, leading to protests.

Rioters attacked Muslim Religious places which eventually led to a mass breakout of violence. The riots then spread to other areas, notably Vadodara, Mehsana, Nadiad, Anand,& Gondal.

A curfew was imposed on the evening of 19 September, and on the next day, the army was called in to control the violence. By 26 Sept, the violence reduced. some more violent incidents occured during 18–28 October 1969.

Jaganmohan Reddy commission found that During 19–24 Sept 660 people wer killed, 1,074 injured, & over 48,000 lost their property. The Muslim community suffered the majority of losses. Unofficial reports claim as high as 2000 deaths.

As many as 6,123 houses & shops mainly of Muslims were damaged. Out of the 512 deaths reported in the police complaints, 430 were Muslims. Property worth 42 million rupees was destroyed during the riots, with Muslims losing 32 million worth of property.

Jaganmohan Reddy Commission was set up by the Congress Government to investigate the #AntiMuslimViolence, It concluded that the Sanghi RW organizations like #RSS, Hindu Mahasabha & Jan Sangh were involved in the pogrom.

In its report (Publd in 1971) It questioned Police's role in the pogrom. It found 6 Muslim religious places adjoining Police lines or stations being attacked or damaged. Overall, 37 Masjids, 50 dargahs, 6 kabristans (Muslim graveyards) and 3 temples were destroyed

Journalist Ajit Bhattacharjee accused Police of not taking any "firm action for the first 3 days", & said that "this was not a matter of laziness but policy". Congress Govt was reluctant to use force bcz it was afraid of losing Hindu Support to BharatiyaJanaSangh (presently BJP).

Acc to Author & activist Achyut Yagnik, 1969 pogrom was a turning point in Gujarat Hindu-Muslim relations and led to a drop in the tolerance levels, visible in the later massacres of 1992-93 & 2002. After This, the state saw increasing #Muslim #ghettoisation.

Importance:
Gujarat saw 800 instances of communal violence in 1960s. Ahmedabad has long been split along caste and religious lines, but it wasn't until the 1960s that it became a Communally sensitive city

An important factor also mentioned in "Muslims in Indian cities" edited by @jaffrelotc @Laurent_Gayer was the attack on Muslim chawls by their Dalit Hindu neighbours who had maintained peaceful relations with them until this point.

The Gujarat 1969 Anti-muslim Violence is important to understand the different causes of the riots which are a mix of socioeconomic and political factors. especially the engagement of Dalit and Other low-caste communities in violence against Muslims

Particularly in Ahmedabad, During 1961–71, city's population grew rapidly, resulting in the heavy growth of slums in the eastern part of the city as textile mills attracted large number of migrants from state. These parts became Stronghold of RSS & Later the epicentre of tensions

1965 onwards, with emergence of Surat, Many of Ahmedabad's underskilled mill workers were laid off. Seven sizeable mills in Ahmedabad closed costing the jobs of over 17,000 people. Majority of whom were Hindus as the local Muslim labourers were seen to be more skilled.

Dalit workers were in a more precarious position & represented big Chunk of laid-off Hindu workers. This gave emergence to a string of violent fights in the city's slums involving Muslims and Dalit textile workers mostly.

The changing political situation also impacted...

With the Congress fragmenting & splitting into Congress (O) & Congress (I) in 1969. Giving extremist organisations like RSS chance to establish strongholds in the eastern parts of the city. (where slums were located & big chunk of violence occurred)

These Economic Insecurities were then exploited by RSS, BJS & others. RSS head #Golwalkar held a 3 day program in Dec1968, Balraj Madhok BJS gave hate speeches on 14 15 Sept 1969, RSS formed Hindu Dharma Raksha Samiti organized protests in which anti-Muslim slogans were raised.

The Pattern of Gujarat 1969 then became a template where the economic insecurities of Communities were weaponised against Muslims and massacres were instituted, resulting in massive economic distress for Muslims. throwing them out of Mainstream.

this "death by thousand cuts" policy against Muslims has resulted in making Muslims severely impoverished and difficult for them to rise along with the speed of development of Other communities. Even today this pattern is used by the Sanghparivar

How these economic insecurities are weaponised and how Muslim businesses are demolished can also be understood from this speech of @aimim_national Supremo Late Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi Sahab speech.. Its a Must watch for everyone for many reasons!!

In Conclusion, it can be said that 1969 pogrom saw the collapse of Gandhian consensus over Hindu-Muslim harmony, & in turn, the rise & successful solidification of Hindutva nationalism in Gujarat’s modern politics made Gujarat a Hindutva laboratory and led to where we are today.

Source: Wikipedia, Ahmedabad Mirror & other internet sources.

In Parliament
ButaSingh- Muslims threw stones
Salar- Hw mny ppl in rally?
BS- 10Lakh
Salar- M houses in route?
BS- 15
Salar- Muslims were in homes?
Buta- No All left in fear
Salar- whn all Muslims left, Did Jinns throw stones @ rally?

Listen to this in Salar's trademark style.