IC colony wants its peace

For residents of IC Colony, known for its communal harmony, the action of Bajrang Dal activists came as a rude shock. At a Christmas dance at St Francis parish hall last week, Bajrang Dal men barged in and saw to it that the function was stopped.

Thomas Silveira (name changed), a resident recalls: “I reached the venue of the dance with my date at around 10 pm. We saw a group of people and some policemen standing outside the venue, but didn’t realise what was going on.” The couple wentin and danced for around five minutes, when the music was stopped. Then, after some time, the music was started again. “We took to the dance floor again. But once more, the music stopped. Then, the organisers came on stage and told us that the show had been stopped. I was really surprised and was left wondering if I had come to the wrong place,” he says.

Apparently, Bajrang Dal activists were protesting against the “obscene clothes” worn by those at the dance. But according to an organiser several couples were formally clad in saris and suits. He said the DSEC Ex-students Charitable Association had been organising the get-togethers on December 25 for the last 25 years. “This year too, we got permission to hold a dance till 11 pm,” he says.

The organiser recalls that around 7 pm that day they “were told by the Borivli police that they had been petitioned by the Bajrang Dal, claiming that people wore obscene clothing’ at these dances.” Despite the warning, the organisers went on with the show as“we never thought that this would happen.”

Between 10.15 and 10.30 pm, 40-odd Bajrang Dal activists landed at the venue and started shouting slogans, upsetting the 600-odd couples inside the hall. With no other choice, the organisers had to close down the show before the scheduled time.

Before the residents could recover from Bajrang Dal’s Christmas present, the militant Hindu group was at it again, this time at the new year function. Dal activists again landed up at the venue with police officials in toe, according to a resident. “At first, when the music stopped we thought it was a break. But then, in another 20 minutes, the organisers announced that the show was called off,” says Louella, who was present at the dance.

The entire operation was carried out smoothly. “It was all very quietly done,” says a resident, adding that organisers, Bajrang Dal men and police officials could be seen conferring at the venue. “Someone was chanting Om on the mike. Slogans like nangaraj bandh karowere raised as also some other moralistic crap,” recalls another resident.

The Bajrang Dal’s explanation for disrupting the show is that it was being conducted long after the 11.30 pm deadline, a fact refuted by residents and organisers. Says Shankar Gaikar, chief of the Bajrang Dal, Mumbai unit: “We received a lot of complaints about the high noise levels. They were playing music very loudly. That is why we decided to step in.”

According to Gaikar, the Dal had complained to the police as well. As to why the organisation had to take on the role of law-keeper’, Gaikar says, “When the police does not do its job, we have to act.”

The Bombay Catholic Sabha, an association representing five lakh Catholics, has expressed its concern over the incident. Hansel D’Souza, a representative of the Sabha says, “First of all, the Bajrang Dal has no business to intervene in these functions. And it is not like the time-limit was over; they had all the necessary permissions from the police.”

The Sabha haswritten to the chief minister, deputy chief minister and governor about the incident warning that if such an incident was repeated they “won’t have any other option but to approach the National Human Rights Commission.”