The entry of the convict in the 500-year-old Juma Masjid on Sunday under police protection significantly escalates tension in the city
NEW DELHI — The Gujarat chapter of Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) has strongly condemned the “provocative entry” of Bhavesh Patel, alias Muktanand Swami, convicted in the 2007 Ajmer Dargah blast and accused in the 2002 Bharuch mosque bombing, into the historic Juma Masjid in Bharuch under police protection.
Patel’s entry in the 500-year-old Juma Masjid on Sunday under full police protection significantly escalated tension in the city. Patel’s deliberate act, including climbing onto the mosque’s dome, deeply hurt the sentiments of the Muslim community and raised serious questions about the police’s role in facilitating such provocation, it said in a statement on Monday.
APCR also backed the memorandum submitted by local imams, elders, and youth leaders to the District Superintendent of Police, demanding immediate legal action, cancellation of Patel’s bail in pending cases, and withdrawal of state protection, while stressing that the sanctity of religious institutions must be safeguarded from communal provocation.
The memorandum submitted to the police stressed that no risk assessment had been carried out and that, instead of preventing unrest, the police facilitated a convicted offender in creating fear and disturbance within a sensitive religious space. Community leaders warned that such actions embolden anti-social elements and undermine public trust in governance.
“Justice must be immediate and impartial, no one with a record of violence and terrorism should be allowed to disrupt religious sanctity,” APCR stressed, adding that “Law enforcement agencies must be accountable for enabling such acts under the guise of protection.”
“Communal harmony must be safeguarded by holding both state authorities and offenders responsible,” the association asserted after an APCR Gujarat fact-finding team, comprising Ikram Mirza, Advocate Aamir Shaikh, and Aasif Chipa, visited the Bharuch Juma Masjid and met with community leaders to document concerns and press for accountability.
APCR Gujarat urged civil society, human rights organisations, and all citizens committed to constitutional values to demand that the state government take concrete measures to protect mosques, dargahs, and all religious institutions from communal targeting.
“The sanctity of religious spaces must never be compromised, and provocative acts by individuals with a track record of violence must not be shielded by state machinery,” they said.
Patel was convicted for the 2007 Ajmer Dargah blast which killed three people and causing injuries to 15. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2017 by a trial court but granted bail by the Rajasthan High Court in 2018.
Upon release, he adopted the name Swami Muktanand, donned saffron robes, and was reportedly affiliated with RSS/VHP since youth.
