During the Ganpati Visarjan procession at Manjusar in Vadodara, a Muslim mob pelted stones at Hindu procession. Many people were injured in the attack and the idol of Lord Ganesha was also damaged. Both parties lodged complaints with the police after the stone pelting. During their operation, the police detained a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker from Savli, Nilesh Parmar, and later sent him to Ahmedabad Central Jail under the Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Act (PASA). Hindu organisations and locals opposed the action, calling it unfair. In the meantime, OpIndia contacted Nilesh Parmar’s family and tried to know their side.
Nilesh Parmar, an RSS volunteer, hails from the village of Gothada in Savli taluka. This village predominantly consists of Muslim residents, with the village sarpanch also being of the Muslim faith. We spoke to his mother, Madhuben Thakorbhai Parmar. Throughout our discussion, Madhuben’s voice exhibited a sense of distress, clearly affected by the recent turn of events involving her son. Throughout our interaction, Madhuben consistently asserted that Nilesh was entirely innocent. She claimed that Nilesh was present at a different location on the day of the incident in question. She said that Nilesh had actually gone out to attend a social gathering.
Nilesh Parmar was not present at the spot: Nilesh’s mother
When OpIndia spoke to Nilesh’s mother Madhuben, she said at the very beginning of the conversation that her 26-year-old son was not guilty in any way. He is an RSS volunteer and always raises his voice for the country, religion and society leading from the front.
Madhuben said, “Our village is Muslim majority and the sarpanch is also a Muslim. There are frequent clashes between Hindus and Muslims in the village and taluka. In such a situation, Nilesh has become a known face among Hindus due to his service work at a young age. Seeing this, the local political leaders started feeling jealous. That’s why he is often being targeted in this way.”
Nilesh’s mother further said, “This is not the first time that my son’s name has been linked to a crime without any reason. Even before this, Nilesh’s name has been wrongly linked in various complaints many times. His name is not mentioned in the primary complaint, then later his name is added to the statements of the accused due to political pressure.”
When we talked about the incident in Manjusar, she said, “Sangeetaben Sanjaybhai Parmar of our family died on the same day and at the same time as the incident in Manjusar. So our entire family, including Nilesh, was engaged in a post-death ritual here. Nilesh was not present at the spot where the commotion took place. His name has been wrongly added to the statement by the police under political pressure.”
My son was, is, and will be in RSS: Nilesh’s Mother
While talking further, Madhuben became emotional remembering her son. She told OpIndia that her son was falsely implicated. She demanded justice for her son. We asked her about her son’s affiliation with RSS. She said, “My son was involved with RSS since childhood, is now in RSS and will continue to be so. While working in the RSS, he has been doing many service works for the local people which he is proud of.”
Frequent harassment by Muslim sarpanch in Muslim-dominated village
OpIndia also spoke to Nilesh’s cousin Kewal Parmar. He also said that his brother had been falsely implicated. Kewal said, “Earlier in 2021, Nilesh had organised a street march of RSS in Gothada village. Even then, it was opposed by the local Muslims and the Muslim sarpanch who said that the RSS yatra should not be taken out in our village. At that time too, Nilesh was harassed a lot.”
Kewal further said, “Nilesh was gradually becoming popular among the local Hindu community and Hindu youths for his service work. In a Muslim-dominated area like Savli, he expanded the scope of the RSS work. Due to this, there were many attempts to implicate him in a false case repeatedly.”
Finally, he said that no matter what happens, he will not give up and will continue to fight on every judicial path to get justice for his brother Nilesh Parmar.
‘An investigation is underway to find out if Nilesh was involved in the Manjusar incident’: PSI, Savli
Earlier, OpIndia had also spoken to the local Savli police station about the incident. The local police confirmed the arrest of Nilesh Parmar. At the same time, PSI Anirudh Kamaliya clarified, “An investigation is currently underway to find out whether Nilesh Parmar was involved in the Manjusar incident. However, Nilesh Parmar has been sent to Sabarmati jail under PASA after his name cropped up in complaints against both sides and his name cropped up in more than three similar offences.”
Muslims pelted stones at Ganesh Visarjan Yatra
On Thursday (28th September), there was an incident of stone pelting during Ganesh Visarjan at Manjusar in Savli taluka of Vadodara. In this incident, some Hindus were injured and the idol of Lord Ganesha was also broken. In this case, the police have registered an FIR against 18 people and the mob of the remaining 30 unidentified people and further investigation is underway. On the other hand, it has been learned through reports that 5 accused of stone-pelting have also been arrested.
वडोदरा के मुंजसर मैं गणेश विसर्जन पर कल किए गए पथराव की तस्वीरें आयी सामने.
— Janak Dave (@dave_janak) September 29, 2023
पथराव करने वाले फ़िलहाल गाँव छोड़कर भाग निकले.
पुलिस ने फ़िलहाल पाँच लोगो को पकड़ा है बाक़ियो को ढूँढा जा रहा है. https://t.co/y7GpjqiOup pic.twitter.com/GHJFnblQCp
The incident took place in Manjusar village of Savli. Videos of this incident have also surfaced on social media. In these videos, it is seen that miscreants wearing face masks threw stones from the roofs of the houses. Islamic posters were also put up in the building from where the stones were thrown. It is learnt that the stone pelters are currently absconding and efforts are on to trace them.
