The saga of Islamic atrocities in Ahmedabad

Lord Kartikeya the son of the divine couple himself was moved
to visit this place, when he heard accounts of the spiritual depth and beauty of
this city and its citizens. The grand wise sages, the SaptaRishis too came to
visit the city and stayed at a spot where Sabarmati merged with six other rivers
in a place called the Saptasangam meaning “The Union of Seven Rivers”. It was
here that young Lord Krishna rested on his way to the famous Shiva temple of
Siddhanath for his “Mundan” (tonsure) ceremony. It was here that the Pandavas
rested on their way to the “Swayamvara” competition near the ancient
Trinetreshwar Mahadeva Temple of Panchal Pradesh. That was where the heroic
Arjuna of the Mahabharata won the competition that won Draupadi for the
Pandavas. Such was the resplendent and sacred heritage of this ancient city
known as Ashaval, Rajnagar or Karnavati.

Today that city is called
Ahmedabad.

Karnavati’s name was changed to “Ahmedabad” in honor of a
monster by the name of Sultan Ahmed Shah who came to rob and desecrate this
beautiful city in 1411. Overnight the thousands of books and manuscripts which
spoke of the wondrous Karnavati were burnt to ashes and it’s identity desecrated
to Ahmedabad – “City of Ahmed” in an obscene gesture of assertion of power.
Sultan Ahmed Shah, the devout Muslim that he was, swore to destroy all traces of
“Kafir” (Non Muslim) worship in the land, for the sake of Allah. In Islam it is
the religious duty of every Muslim to destroy any place which promotes
“Ignorance” meaning any religion other than Islam. In 1414, Ahmed Shah appointed
officers to break the idols and strip the riches off every Hindu temple in the
vicinity.

In 1415, Sultan Ahmed Shah himself went to Siddhapur to break
the Shiva shrine of Rudramahalaya of Siddharaj. The broken pieces were buried
underfoot at the entrance and the vast and beautiful Temple was converted into a
Mosque. The ancient Bhadrakali Temple at the heart of Karnavati, was desecrated
also completely. Idols of the Devi were crushed and broken and buried under the
doorstep. Tantric patterns which decorated the friezes and pillars were chipped
off. The golden ceiling which was lined with rubies, emeralds, sapphires,
diamonds and jade was stripped completely. The Sanctum Sanctorum where throne
pedestals once held images of the benevolent and glorious goddess, was converted
into a graveyard. The thrones of the Goddess were used as gravestones. One of
the rising spires of the roof was broken off as it was completely covered with
carvings of various Shaktis. And since that day the Bhadrakali temple of
Karnavati was changed to the Jama Masjid of Ahmedabad.

The walled
fortresses and palaces, the Hindu towers which were engineering marvels that
shook, the local specialty of incredibly intricate carving skill, the
artisanship of stone cutting, the vast Baolis where accountants sat amidst the
breeze cooled by the sweet waters of the well, all of these were snatched and
converted to Mosques and Muslim palaces for the pleasure of the Sultan’s court.
Thousands of the Hindu citizens of Karnavati were massacred or enslaved. Rani
Sipri and Rupmati both of who were local princesses were forcibly kidnapped,
raped and thrown into Harems. To this day their temple palaces are known by
their names, but sadly referred to as Mosques. Muslims soon filled the entire
walled fortress area of the city which used to be called “Bhadra” in reference
to BhadraKali. The disillusioned Hindus of Ahmedabad had no choice but to
reconcile themselves to living with their neighbors.

But soon the Hindus
found that they could no longer practise their own faith peacefully within the
very city which had been created and nurtured by their hard work. The history of
Ahmedabad is riddled with instances of Islamic intolerance forcing the Hindus to
defend themselves.

In 1713 , the Hindus of “Ahmedabad” were celebrating
Holi, when suddenly they were rudely startled by the agonized sounds of Cows
being slaughtered in a deliberate attempt to insult and denigrate the sacred
festival by Muslims. Bloody Riots soon erupted when hundreds of innocent Hindus
were slaughtered by the Muslims.

In 1892, Muslims deliberately led their
Moharram procession through the Hindu quarters of “Ahmedabad”, in the process
splattering the blood of sacrificed animals all over the shocked Hindus. As the
outraged Hindus protested, the Muslims attacked women and children and forcibly
rubbed the blood onto their faces while thrusting pieces of meat down their
throats.

In September of 1927, Hindus were singing Bhajans in the Temple
during Janamashtmi. Suddenly Muslims began pouring out of Jama Masjid and
shouting against the Hindus for interrupting the Namaz. Rocks and glass bottles
were thrown at the Hindus in the temple as passerby’s throats were slashed. The
result was a full scale communal riot.

In 1941 the Muslims of “Ahmedabad”
set fire to the entire Maneckchowk bazaar, because a Hindu businessman was not
willing to lower his prices under threat of extortion from local Muslims.
Chemicals were poured all over the Bazaar in what was obviously a planned
operation and then set ablaze. Many Hindu families were burnt alive and hundreds
rendered homeless in addition to an incredible amount of loss of
property.

In 1946 the Muslim league gave a call for liberation from
India. Thousands of Muslims poured out into the streets in order to teach the
Hindus a lesson. “Ahmedabad” burned for three days, as shops were plundered,
women’s throats slashed, men mutilated and Temples looted and destroyed by
rampaging Muslim mobs.

In 1953 Ganesh Chaturthi happened to coincide with
Moharram. When Hindus took out processions, they were splattered with blood from
animal sacrifices and told to go home or face the consequences. They were
blocked from taking processions through the Muslim areas of the city. Naturally
the enraged Hindus retaliated.

In 1963 a Hindu girl was raped and badly
mutilated by four Muslims in Junagarh. When Hindus demanded that the culprits be
punished, the Muslims threatened them with dire consequences. Angered Hindus
tried to catch the criminals to take them to the police, in response the Muslims
erupted in large scale rioting. The violence spread to other cities all over
Gujarat including “Ahmedabad”.

In 1969 Muslims came out and attacked the
Jagannath Temple during the Rath Yatra festival. The idol was damaged and scores
of Hindus were injured by the marauding Muslim hordes. A priest was also killed
and the angered Hindus retaliated.

Year after Year the Muslim community
of “Ahmedabad” pelts the participants of the Annual Rath Yatra with stones and
rocks. When Hindus retaliate, engineered riots ensue immediately. The obvious
motivation of the Muslims is to provoke and insult the Hindus to make them feel
powerless in their own city. It is largely this repetitive, constant provocation
by the Muslim community, that has made the Hindus of “Ahmedabad” bring BJP to
power. Congress governments over the past decades have not only ignored the
provocation by Muslim elements, but even financed many institutions which are
used to shelter and breed terrorists of this type.

On March 24, 1998 a
huge cache of arms, ammunition and explosives were recovered from Gandhinagar
and Dariyapur locality of Ahmedabad. The weapons were supplied by Pakistan’s ISI
to the Muslim gangs which lived in Changez Pol and Sadar areas of Ahmedabad. The
complicity of the Muslim community with the ISI’s designs was confirmed when
protests by Muslims followed the arrest of Latif and Razzaq Abdul Wahab
gangmembers.

On October 13, 1998, a plot to assassinate Union Home
Minister Shri L.K. Advani and Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel, was foiled when
the Muslim culprit was caught. The culprit Abu Kasem alias Ajmal related that
his orders came from Pakistan’s ISI and that he had been sheltered in the home
of a well known Muslim businessman of “Ahemedabad” city. The weapons and
explosives for the attempt were being kept in a Mosque by another ISI agent
named Bablu or Usman.

As the Kargil conflict came to an end this July,
many patriotic Amdavadis wanted to express their joy and celebration at the
Victory of the Indian Armed Forces. In addition the ignominious defeat of
Pakistan at the hands of India and later Australia during the World Cup Cricket
series, 
motivated the citizens to celebrate with even more enthusiasm.
Naturally nationalistic fervor was at an all time high and parades were taken
out to salute the Kargil martyrs as well as to denounce the Pakistanis. Effigies
of Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif were burnt as cries of “Pakistan Hai Hai” and
“Bharat Mata ki Jai” rent the air. It was these celebrations that supposedly
“offended and angered” the Muslims.

What could possibly be offensive
about these celebrations? Any Indian who loves his/her country would add their
voice to the chorus. Should the citizens of India be expected to shout slogans
in support of Pakistan’s Jihadis now?? Instead of joining in as any
nationalistic Indian should, the Muslim community of “Ahmedabad” started
throwing stones at the celebrations. Cries of hatred against “Kafir Hindustan
Murdabad” and “Pakistan Zindabad” filled the air within the walled city, where
Muslims predominate. It was natural for the Hindus to be outraged and infuriated
at this response.

Last week as the Hindus of ‘Ahmedabad” took out their
annual Rath Yatra procession, they were stoned yet again by Muslims. Acid bulbs
were also thrown at the women and children in the procession in order to disrupt
it. It was obvious that the Muslims wanted to retaliate for the Kargil parades.
As the procession wound its way through the walled city, sporadic incidences of
stabbing started happening. On July 21, a Hindu visitor Nageswara Rao was
stabbed in Kalupur. He died the same day. Violence then erupted in the Muslim
areas within the walled city such as Kalupur, Dariapur, Shahpur, Raipur, Karanj
and Shahlam where stone throwing and arson was reported. On July 24, the Muslims
claimed that they had found a boy’s body with stab wounds, as a result they went
on a stabbing spree, killing four Hindus in cold blood.

As Police curfew
was imposed, tensions increased. Hundreds of instances of stabbing, looting,
arson and stone throwing were reported as irate Muslim mobs descended in
hundreds upon innocent passersby. Hindus retaliated with full force. They were
further infuriated by the fact that the Police began arresting the Hindus
instead of the Muslim culprits who were instigating the violence. Over seven
people have been killed and forty injured. Of these five of the dead and almost
all the injured are Hindus.

Even as the Bharati Majlis(a Muslim
Organization) and members of the Congress Party started screaming about the
culpability of “Extremist Hindu elements”, the Police unearthed a
bomb-manufacturing unit inside a closed textile mill in the Saraspur area. As
many as 90 petrol bombs, a huge quantity of raw material and empty shells of
hand grenades were seized from the spot. The Saraspur Police had received
information that following an attack on Jalampur-ni-chawl, Muslims were getting
ready explosives which were to be used to attack Hindus.

The Muslims were
using used soft drinks bottles and liquor for making the bombs. An igniting
strip was to be attached to the tip of the bottle after filling it with the
explosive solution.

How can the Hindu citizens of a city feel safe in
such a hostile environment? They are being deprived of their right to practise
their religion, culture and tradition in their own city and country. The riots
have been deliberately planned to drive out the Hindu residents of “Ahmedabad”
out of fear. The only beneficiaries to such a situation would be the Congress,
Shankarsingh Vaghela and the Muslim elements of “Ahmedabad”.

Even as
cries of denouncement against the “Hindu fundamentalists” fill the air
throughout the “Secular” politics and media of India, it is time for the Hindus
of “Ahmedabad” and innumerable other Indian cities which have been robbed of
their culture, to realize that the problem is NOT temporary. The only way to
defeat these dark forces that threaten to overwhelm democracy is by ensuring
that they don’t come to power.