PUCL alleges inaction by authorities over ‘boycott of Muslims' in Pune villages
In April and May, gram panchayats of villages like Paud, Pirangut, Kolvan, Suatarwadi passed resolutions banning Muslims from outside from offering namaz in the mosques in their villages.
Posters were also found at these villages, boycotting people from the Muslim community.
In its letter, the PUCL asked how can a local body 'take away the rights of any Indian citizen and one's freedom of religion'.
The letter, by PUCL Pune retired District Judge G.D. Parekh, Vice-President Anwar Rajan, General Secretary Milind Champanerkar, and other members, alleged that three major bakeries established in Paud for decades have been forced to shut down due to this situation and their complaints with the police have not been acted on.
The group also alleged that four scrap shops belonging to Muslims have been forced to shut down with one of the shops even being burnt down by a mob.
PUCL says that groups of locals and 'outsiders' have been threatening people in the villages to not employ any person from the Muslim community in their business. Landlords have also been threatened to not rent out flats to Muslim tenants.
'Only in response to the Nivedan to SP Rural, boards were removed after a few days,' said Champanerkar, alleging that no other action had been taken by the authorities.
In May, desecration of a goddess idol in Paud allegedly by a Muslim youth had added to the tensions.
However, many of the gram sabha resolutions had been passed before this incident, the letter said.
Superintendent of Police Pune (Rural) Sandeep Singh Gill said, 'Some resolutions were passed by some gram sabhas in early May. There are three villages in the jurisdiction of Pune Rural where these kinds of posters had come up — Paud, Urawade and Ghotawade. We had a meeting with the sarpanch and all these boards which had unconstitutional matter on them were removed. Many people have begun their businesses again as well. Now the tension has come down. If there are any specifics, they should come up with a complaint and the departments concerned will take action.'
PUCL has stated that it gave similar representations to Police Commissioner, Pimpri Chinchwad, Vinoy Kumar Choubey, however, there has been no action.
Commissioner Choubey could not be reached for comments despite multiple attempts.
The letter, written on June 30, was also sent to Pune District Collector, Divisional Commissioner, Guardian Minister of Pune Ajit Pawar and Baramati MP Supriya Sule.
Soham is a Correspondent with the Indian Express in Pune.
A journalism graduate, he was a fact-checker before joining the Express. Soham currently covers education and is also interested in civic issues, health, human rights, and politics. ... Read More
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