Action Alert: Violence against Muslims in Vadodara, Gujarat

The state of Gujarat, India is again experiencing violence directed at the minority Muslim community. The outbreak of violence was started off by the demolition of a 300 year old historical Muslim shrine. The police shooting at the protesters and the following attacks by mobs have led to a death toll of six with many others seriously injured. One man was burned alive by a Hindu extremist mob of 1500 that had besieged a Muslim neighborhood.

The fast deteriorating situation in Vadodara could very well lead to a repeat of the 2002 Gujarat massacres. Despite a predictable reaction to the destruction of a historical shrine, the Government of Gujarat has been unwilling to take action to curb the violence. The rapidly spreading attacks indicate that the Gujarat Government machinery is complicit in accommodating the mass violence and attacks on Muslims in the city. There have been multiple reports alleging police excesses on the Muslim community members, including arrests of male Muslim members from their houses. Most of those killed or injured in the police firing belonged to the minority community.

Narendra Modi’s government has been widely accused by Indian and International human rights organizations of an active involvement in the massacre and ethnic cleansing of Muslims during the 2002 violence in Gujarat.


ACTION(S) REQUESTED:

IMC-USA urges all concerned to immediately call or write to the office of the Prime Minister of India, with the following demands:

1. The Central Government of India should take immediate action to protect the lives and property of all the people in Gujarat, particularly the minority Muslim community.

2. The Central Government take action against the Gujarat Government to prevent it from spreading organized violence against the minority communities.

3. The Central Government actively intervene and deploy the army to quell the ongoing violence.

4. An inquiry be called into the police action in firing and killing protesters at the shrine demolition


Please call/fax/write to:

  Prime Minister Manmohan Singh:
    Phone: 91-11-2301-2312, 91-11-2301-8939
      Fax: 91-11-2301-9545, 91-11-2301-6857
    Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address), .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

  Smt Sonia Gandhi:
  Phone: 91-11-2301-9080, 91-11-2301-4481
      Fax: 91-11-2301-8651
    Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

  Home Minister Shivraj Patil:
  Phone: 91-11-2309-2462, 91-11-2379-4842
      Fax: 91-11-2379-4833, 91-11-2309-3750, 91-11-2309-4221
    Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Indian Muslim Council USA