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Hindus seek protection

By Our Special Correspondent

AHMEDABAD SEPT. 16. Members of the Hindu community living in the Bapunagar locality in old Ahmedabad claimed to be living in a State of tension and terror due to Muslim militancy. Deposing before the Nanavati-Shah judicial inquiry commission probing the Godhra train carnage and the post-Godhra communal riots in Gujarat, dozens of Hindu residents of the area urged the authorities to take steps to ensure "safety and protection to the Hindus in the area."

A local resident, Jyotsna Patel, told the Commission that "anti-social Muslim elements" had become active in the locality threatening Hindus. The area had become so sensitive that even minor incidents could flare up into riots.

Another local resident, Sudha Patel, alleged that Muslims had started the trouble in Bapunagar the day after the Godhra train carnage. In the morning, a Muslim mob had attacked the Vagharivas, set fire to their hutments, killed their goats and pigeons and even injured a cow. The disturbances continued till about 2.30 p.m. and during the time she had heard slogans raised from the nearby mosque over loudspeakers to "kill Hindus."

The next day, she alleged, a truck-load of Muslims wearing masks had again attacked Hindus, caught hold of a young boy, gouged out his eyes and crushed him under the truck. They beheaded a local "sadhu'' and hanged his head from a tree.

She alleged that Taufiq Khan and his son, Zulfi, among the mob to have butchered the young boy.

Taufiq Khan, however, later denied having being involved in the riots and claimed that on that day he was admitted in the hospital due to illness while his son was away in Lucknow. He described Ms. Patel's claims of having seeing them in the mobs as her imagination and denied there was any "Muslim attack" in Bapunagar.

Another resident, Mahesh Patel, complaining of Muslim activism in the area, alleged that the minorities were systematically weeding out Hindus to take over their property to convert the entire locality into another Muslim stronghold. In all, 122 people in 24 groups appeared before the commission today.

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