Skip to main content

Builder-politician nexus in Ahmedabad for land named after Morarji behind tension in minority area: NGO team

Morarji Chowk
By Our Representative
A fact-finding team led by volunteers of the civil rights organization Jan Sangharsh Manch (JSM), Ahmedabad, has said that the recent tension in a Muslim neighbourhood of old Bapunagar area, where the Gujarat Housing Board wants to construct an affordable housing scheme, is the direct result of the nexus between local politicians and builders.
Alleging that the builders have been “eyeing” an open plot of land, Morarji Chowk, for years, a report prepared by a social activist for the team, Mujahid Nafis, said, “Ever since the 2002 Gujarat riots, the Gujarat government has wished to occupy the open space variously for a Gujarat Housing Board scheme or an accommodation for the police personnel.”
Quoting locals, the report said, the land has been used as a playground for children ever since Morarji Desai came here around 1951, apart from social functions and, now, as a parking lot as well. “Even state level football matches were played on this ground. Despite pressures, the local people have fought the efforts by interested parties to acquire the land”, it added.
“We were told by local women how State Reserve Police (SRP) personnel were trying to provoke tension by misbehaving with the local people for a few days. Things turned ugly on June 6, when, following prayers in the mosque opposite the Morarji Chowk, there were efforts to pacify tension”, the report said.
Without recalling the police claim that a mob of around 3,000 people had gathered to torch the nearby police station, the report said, the tension erupted four days before the incident on June 6, when some unidentified persons torched a few motorbikes parked, leading to a tent nearby catching fire.
Following this, on the night of June 6-7, the report said, “Cops entered several houses, and picked up 85 male folk at random. This included 11 adolescents, who were freed following local pressure. The police wanted to know who had torched the motorbikes.”
“The police FIR names of 10 persons who allegedly were involved in torching the motorbikes, apart from an unidentified crowd of 2,500-3000 persons”, the report said, adding, “One of the persons named in the FIR had gone abroad on May 16.”
The issue of construction of a Gujarat Housing Board (GHB) society in the Morarji Chowk is under dispute in the Gujarat High Court, which in May third week stayed the work.
This happened after the petitioners, who had filed a public interest litigation (PIL), stated before the court that construction had started in the free space on May 16, even though the matter was pending before the High Court. The next hearing by Justice AJ Shastri was posted on June 7, the date on which the incident took place.
The GHB maintained during the argument in the court that categorisation of the Morarji Chowk land as playground was a “mistake”.
This was the second attempt by the GHB to use the land for housing scheme. In 1989, residents of the area had moved the Gujarat High Court against such a move. However, the GHB declared that it was not coming up with any construction on the plot, and the petition was disposed of.
The fact-finding team consisted of JSM’s Shamshadbhai Pathan, an advocate, Imtiaz Pathan and Ejaz Ansari, activists Azima and Mujahid Nafees, individuals Kaushar Ali Syed, Ejaz Pathan, Javed Kureshi, Vasif Husain, and independent journalist Kalim Siddiqui.

Comments

TRENDING

Insider plot to kill Deendayal Upadhyay? What RSS pracharak Balraj Madhok said

By Shamsul Islam*  Balraj Madhok's died on May 2, 2016 ending an era of old guards of Hindutva politics. A senior RSS pracharak till his death was paid handsome tributes by the RSS leaders including PM Modi, himself a senior pracharak, for being a "stalwart leader of Jan Sangh. Balraj Madhok ji's ideological commitment was strong and clarity of thought immense. He was selflessly devoted to the nation and society. I had the good fortune of interacting with Balraj Madhok ji on many occasions". The RSS also issued a formal condolence message signed by the Supremo Mohan Bhagwat on behalf of all swayamsevaks, referring to his contribution of commitment to nation and society. He was a leading RSS pracharak on whom his organization relied for initiating prominent Hindutva projects. But today nobody in the RSS-BJP top hierarchy remembers/talks about Madhok as he was an insider chronicler of the immense degeneration which was spreading as an epidemic in the high echelons of th

Central pollution watchdog sees red in Union ministry labelling waste to energy green

By Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran*  “Destructors”, “incinerators” and “waste-to-energy (WTE) incineration” all mean the same thing – indiscriminate burning of garbage! Having a history of about one and a half centuries, WTE incinerators have seen several reboots over the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. 

First-of-its-kind? 'Eco-friendly, low cost' sewage treatment system installed in Gujarat

Counterview Desk Following the installation of the Unconventional Decentralized Multi-Stage Reactor (UDMSR) for sewage treatment, a note on what is claimed to be the  first-of-its-kind technology said, the treated sewage from this system “can be directly utilized for agricultural purposes”, even as proving to be a “saviour in the times of water crisis.”

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah*   The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Indo-Bangla border: Farmers facing 'illegal obstacles' in harvesting, transporting yields

  Counterview Desk  In a representation to the chairperson, National Human Rights Commission, human rights defender Kirity Roy, who is secretary, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha (MASUM), has said that Border Security Force (BSF) personnel are creating "illegal obstacles" for farmers seeking to harvest their ripened yields and transport them to the market in village Jhaukuthi of Cooch Behar district.

'Flawed' argument: Gandhi had minimal role, naval mutinies alone led to Independence

Counterview Desk Reacting to a Counterview  story , "Rewiring history? Bose, not Gandhi, was real Father of Nation: British PM Attlee 'cited'" (January 26, 2016), an avid reader has forwarded  reaction  in the form of a  link , which carries the article "Did Atlee say Gandhi had minimal role in Independence? #FactCheck", published in the site satyagrahis.in. The satyagraha.in article seeks to debunk the view, reported in the Counterview story, taken by retired army officer GD Bakshi in his book, “Bose: An Indian Samurai”, which claims that Gandhiji had a minimal role to play in India's freedom struggle, and that it was Netaji who played the crucial role. We reproduce the satyagraha.in article here. Text: Nowadays it is said by many MK Gandhi critics that Clement Atlee made a statement in which he said Gandhi has ‘minimal’ role in India's independence and gave credit to naval mutinies and with this statement, they concluded the whole freedom struggle.

Wasteland, a colonial legacy, being used to 'give away' vast tracts to Ratnagiri refinery

By Fouziya Tehzeeb* William D’Souza, a 55-year old farmer from Kuthethur, Mangalore, was busy mixing cattle feed when we arrived at his doorsteps. Around 25 km from the bustling city of Mangalore, Kuthethur is a lush green village with thick vegetation. On the way to William’s house the idyllic view gets blocked by the flares and smoke arising from the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL).

CAA disregards India's inclusive plural ethos, 'betrays' ideals of freedom struggle: PUCL

Counterview Desk    "Outraged" at the move of the Central government to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (CAA 2019) weeks before the election, the top rights group, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), has demanded that the law be repealed. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Invincible, Modi 'taller' than BJP, RSS: An opportunity for Congress beyond 2024?

By NS Venkataraman*  With the announcement of poll schedule for the 2024 parliamentary election, there is palpable excitement and expectation amongst the countrymen  about the shape of things to happen in India after the  results of the election would be announced. There is also speculation abroad about the future course of developments in India.