CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS DEMAND BAJRANGI’S ARREST
(Express News Service, Ahmedabad, April 25)
As a mark of protest against police inaction in arresting Babu Bajrangi (the word Bajrangi denotes a devotee of Bajrang Dal, a goon outfit of Hindutva fascism), the self-styled messiah of Hindu girls, civil society organizations staged a demonstration in front of the Ellisbridge Police Station in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
Representatives of ANHAD, New Delhi and Sanchetna, Centre for Development, Aman Samuday, Safar took part in the programme. The protest comes in the wake of a kidnapping complaint lodged by one Mausami Shah. Mausami alleged that Bajrangi’s men abducted her from her paramour’s place and forcefully got her to remarry her Hindu husband Rajesh. Earlier, Mausami was advised by the Ellisbridge police inspector Vinay Shukla and Bajrangi at the police station to return to Rajesh with whom she broke up as she had a premarital affair with the Muslim man. Mausami returned to her husband but fled to her paramour’s place later and then was abducted by Bajrangi’s men. Following which, she lodged a complaint with Ahmedabad Police Commissioner.
The Supreme Court had already issued notices to Bajrangi, and the state governments of Gujarat and Maharashtra following similar complaint by some boys from Mumbai who married Gujarati girls and were harassed by Bajrangi’s men as the girls’ parents had sought help from Bajrangi. Apart from several complaints of abduction, Bajrangi is also one of the prime accused of infamous Naroda Patiya massacre during the 2002 post-Godhra riots. Talking to Express Newsline, Shabnam Hasmi from ANHAD said that Bajrangi is operating freely in the state with police connivance. “Mausami is not the only case in point,” said Hashmi, adding that it is sad to see that in spite of having Special Marriage Act facilitating inter-religion marriages, people like Bajrangi infringe upon democratic rights freely and get away with it.
“We demand immediate arrest of Bajrangi and removal of PSI Vinay Shukla,” she added. “People like Babu Bajrangi who arouse so much of terror among a section of society cannot operate alone. It is important to restrict people who support them,” said Sophia Khan from Safar. “While we are fighting for the empowerment of women, Bajrangi and his ilk are pushing the women backwards by their acts, diktats and terrorizing a community. The man needs to be arrested immediately,” she added. (Source, SACW (April 27, 2007)