The 2006 Vadodara riots also known as the 2006 Dargah riots occurred on 1 May of that year in the city of

Vadodara Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capita ...

in the state of

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

in India. The riots were caused by the

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

's decision to remove the ''

dargah A dargah ( fa, درگاه ''dargâh'' or ''dargah'', Turkish: ''dergâh'', Hindustani: ''dargah'' दरगाह درگاہ, bn, দরগাহ ''dorgah'') is a shrine or tomb built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often ...

'' (shrine) of Syed Chishti Rashiduddin, a medieval Sufi saint. The shrine was between two and three hundred years old. The incident resulted in six to eight people being killed and forty-two injured, 16 of these were from police shooting.

Background

The ''dargah'' was first mentioned in a municipal survey carried out in 1912, when Vadodara was the princely state of

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...

ruled by

Sayajirao Gaekwad III Sayajirao Gaekwad III (born Shrimant Gopalrao Gaekwad; 11 March 1863 – 6 February 1939) was the Maharaja of Baroda State from 1875 to 1939, and is remembered for reforming much of his state during his rule. He belonged to the royal Ga ...

. The city

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

, Sunil Solanki, had said that the council were removing illegal buildings as part of a road widening programme and that they had already removed 20 temples and three dargahs. On 2 April, the

Gujarat High Court The Gujarat High Court is the High Court of the state of Gujarat. It was established on 1 May 1960 under the ''Bombay Re-organisation Act, 1960'' after the state of Gujarat split from Bombay State. The seat of the court is Ahmedabad. The pre ...

looked into the incidents

suo motu In law, ''sua sponte'' (Latin: "of his, her, its or their own accord") or ''suo motu'' ("on its own motion") describes an act of authority taken without formal prompting from another party. The term is usually applied to actions by a judge taken wi ...

and decided that "encroachments on public roads cannot be tolerated", and that if needed, "anti-socials" who opposed these demolitions should be arrested before the demolition was carried out. The Supreme Court overturned the judgment on 4 April and ordered a temporary stay on demolition of illegal religious structures, due to the situation being volatile." The commissioner for police, Deepak Swaroop, had requested caution on the issue. But Solanki insisted on the programme continuing as the shrine was in the way of development. It is reported that he said "If the police and the corporation will not do it, our boys in the

Bajrang Dal The Bajrang Dal () is a Hindu nationalist militant organisation that forms the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). It is a member of the right-wing Sangh Parivar. The ideology of the organisation is based on Hindutva. It was ...

will do it."

Riots

On the first day it is estimated that eighteen people were injured and thirty-eight placed under arrest. The police have stated that they had at first used tear gas and batons in an attempt to control the crowd, but were left with no option other than to shoot. On 2 May there were incidents of violence between Muslims and Hindus in several areas. On 3 May the State Government requested that the federal government provide additional security personnel. A Muslim man had been burned to death in his car by a 1,500 strong crowd, and cases of arson had been reported. People were also evacuated out of the Ajabdi Mills area as a precaution.

Frontline Front line refers to the forward-most forces on a battlefield. Front line, front lines or variants may also refer to: Books and publications * ''Front Lines'' (novel), young adult historical novel by American author Michael Grant * ''Frontlines ...

wrote of the incident unlike the riots of 2002, this was only a skirmish. There were spontaneous clashes between two communities. There were casualties on both sides, of innocent people just like in 2002 but at much milder scale. The violence of 2002 was a far more widespread and has been opined to be a state-sponsored, planned and systematic targeting of Muslims." The Independent People's Tribunal, an

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

has stated that the police had targeted Muslims during the incident. The home minister for Gujarat, Amit Shah, stated that as a result of the incident paramilitary forces had been deployed and security increased in five of Gujarat's districts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vadodara riots Mass murder in 2006 History of Gujarat (1947–present) Religiously motivated violence in India Anti-Muslim violence in India Attacks on religious buildings and structures in India 2006 riots Riots and civil disorder in India Crime in Gujarat May 2006 events in India 2006 murders in India Massacres in India

Background

Riots

See also

References