Ahmedabad: Disappearance of Muslim youths following the police arrests are continuing in the Kutch region of Gujarat. 27 year old Majid, a recently married youth, was taken away from his home on 19th July by the police. Since then, his wife Ashiyana has not met him.
There are numerous Muslim youth who go missing after police arrest. Many parents are moving from pillar to post to meet officials seeking release of their wards.
Ashiyana weeps while narrating the happenings on the night of July 19th. The policemen knocked at the door of the house where Majid was having dinner along with his wife and sibling Gulam, his wife and their three kids. When the police caught Majid by his collar, Gulam resisted. He was pounded with kicks. Ashiyana also was brutally attacked. The personnel attacked Gulam's little child also.
Soon after the incident Ashiyana, who is now pregnant, was admitted to GK General Hospital, which was recently taken over by Adani Group. However, the hospital authorities compelled her to leave the hospital. From there she was taken to the police station of Bhuj. There also she was beaten and released later. She spent two nights at a durgah near the station. Gulam shifted to his wife's house.
Ashiyana was entrusted to a local NGO. She filed a detailed complaint with the SP and Collector. Next day, police released an order which said that Majid was an absconding criminal. It said that there were numerous complaints against Majid at different police stations. They claimed that Majid ran away when the police searched his house. Ashiyana filed a habeas corpus petition at the high court. While considering the plea, the police admitted that Majid was arrested. However, they said, Majid was released after Ashiyana intervened in the case. Ashiyana's lawyers say that the police claims are baseless.
Similar incidents are being reported by many Muslim families in the region. The family of Ismail, resident of Dhrobana village, has not seen him since his arrest by the police in 1993. Haji Juma Wali Mohammed Mokha and son Ibrahim were arrested in 1984. There is no word about them since then. Two days after their arrest, police informed the family that their two relatives, Umar Wali Mohammed Mokha and Faqir Mohammed Buda Mokha were killed in an encounter allegedly during smugglilng. The family accuse that the police killed all the four. The police had produced the same witnesses in both the cases.
Muslims constitute 35 percent of the Bhuj's population. However, they are socially backward. They are staring at a bleak future as their dear ones are disappearing one after another right under their eyes.