Muslim families await justice over police firing deaths and demand Maharashtra government make Chandiwal Commission findings public without delay
DHULE — Thirteen years after communal violence shook Dhule in Maharashtra, families of Muslim victims say justice remains out of reach as the Chandiwal Commission report continues to lie unpublished with the Maharashtra government.
The riots began on January 6, 2013, after a small dispute over a hotel bill in the Fish Market area turned violent. Six Muslim youths were killed in police firing, and several others were left disabled. A judicial commission was set up to investigate the violence and the role of the police.
The Chandiwal Commission completed its work within three years and submitted a detailed report to the government, based on statements of victims and eyewitnesses. Even today, the report has not been made public.
Every year on January 6, residents of Dhule gather outside the district collector’s office to demand the report. This year was no different.
Advocate Ashfaq Sheikh, lawyer for Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (Arshad Madani faction), which is fighting the case for riot victims, said legal action has remained stuck only because the report is hidden.
“Cases were filed against policemen responsible for the riots, and the matter reached the high court,” he told Clarion India. “The high court clearly said action would be taken only after the commission report is made public. Since the report is not out, no action has been possible till now.”
He added, “Until the report comes, responsibility for the riots cannot be fixed.”
Mushtaq Sufi, a member of Jamiat’s legal committee, also expressed pain over the long delay. Speaking to Clarion India, he admitted that follow-up slowed after the death of Gulzar Azmi, former state head of the Jamiat legal committee.
“For the last two years, victims have not been in regular contact with us. Because of this, work lost pace,” Sufi said. He asked a direct question to the authorities: “Why is the government not releasing the report? Is it to stop the high court’s order or to save the policemen?”
Families who lost their children say they have been forced to live with silence and denial.
Ahead of the sit-in, Raees Patel, father of Saud Patel who died in police firing, said families will again protest on January 6. “Like every year, we will sit outside the collector’s office to demand the report,” he said. “We will also condemn guilty officers and rioters by not voting, as we have done earlier.”
Speaking with grief and anger, he said, “We want justice. Police fired without mercy on our young children. The government must bring the Chandiwal Commission report before the public and send the guilty to jail.”
On compensation, Raees Patel said the Maharashtra government paid its share, but central compensation remains unpaid. “The Centre approved Rs 4 lakh for each death, but we have not received it,” he said. “The district administration and police have not sent the required report to Delhi.”
In the 2013 violence, six youths — Saud Patel, Yunus Shah, Imran Ali, Asim Sheikh, Rizwan Shah, and Hafiz Asif Iqbal — were killed in police firing. Sheikh Chand and Khalid Ansari were shot in the legs and became disabled for life.
Families allege that no proper cases were registered for deaths caused by police bullets. One father asked, “If our children were not killed in police firing, then whose bullets killed them? The truth will come out only when the report is released.”
Since 2013, five different governments have ruled Maharashtra. Yet, the Chandiwal Commission report remains locked away in government cupboards, while Muslim families in Dhule continue to wait, protest, and ask for answers that should have come years ago.
