Chota Udaipur (Gujarat), Sept 29 : Religious hatred sparked by the 2002 riots in Gujarat refuses to die down.
Muslims in Chota Udaipur village say they have been facing boycott by the Hindus of the area after some upper caste Hindus were arrested for their alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat carnage.
Even people of the Hindu community of the area admit that they decided to shun the Muslims as their testimonies led to the arrests.
“Earlier, peace used to prevail in the village, but later on, as there were arrests of few persons, the villagers got together and decided to boycott the Muslims. It has been decided that no sell or purchase will be done with the Muslim community,” Vikram Rathwa, the deputy village head, said.
“They have decided to boycott Muslims of the village, both economically and socially,” Shabbeer Khatri, a resident, said.
Tejgarh was amongst the hundreds of villages that witnessed bloodletting, and many local Hindu leaders were implicated in over a dozen cases but none have been convicted so far due to lack of evidence.
However, the local administration denied that any boycott was in place.
“No, there is no boycott. People are living just the way they had been in the past. The administration has no information of any Muslims being ostracized by Hindus,” said S S Bariya, Deputy Collector.
Interestingly, social boycott is banned under law with strict penalties for violators.
Source