Villagers of Guha village of Maharashtra’s Ahmadnagar have been protesting for more than 82 days in front of the Rahuri Tehsil office. The issue in contention is about the Hazrat Ramzan Shah Baba or the Kanobha Dargah in Guha.Historically, the Dargah at Guha has stood as a testament to the blending of Sufi and Nath traditions, with local Muslim Mujawar families shouldering the responsibility of its management. However, the tranquility of this syncretic space has been under attack.The catalyst for the current conflict can be traced back to the events of December last year, when a Ram Kalash Yatra procession led to the unauthorised placement of a Hindu idol within the dargah premises. Despite appeals to authorities and legal interventions, the mob placed the idol of Kanifnath inside the Dargah. Since then, the premises of the Hazrat Ramzan Shah Baba has been sealed by the local police.The villagers are protesting to reinstate the status quo of the Dargah.History of the conflict: Dargah or temple?The genesis of the conflict lies in the struggle for control over the dargah, which holds significant historical and cultural significance for both Hindus and Muslims. While the dargah has been traditionally managed by Muslim families, attempts by certain Hindu citizens to assert dominance and undermine the joint religious traditions of Guha have intensified in recent years.“It’s been one and a half years that some organisations started claiming that the dargah is a temple. With the political support of former MLA Shivaji Kardile, extremist elements have been poaching the villagers to speak against the Dargah which has been standing at the same spot for more than 500 years,” said Imran Sheikh, a villager from Guha whose ancestral family has been taking care of the said Dargah.Historically, the shrine has a syncretic tradition. Locally, it is known as Kanifnath Kanhoba. The annual festival too is determined as per the Hindu calendar.In Saba Naqvi’s book, In Good Faith, there is a chapter on the Ramzan Shah Dargah. She has noted how there has been an attempt by the Shiv Sena to dismiss the Sufi character of the place as the Hindus believe that the mazhaar was originally a mandir. The book also quotes a British Gazetteer which has a mention of shrine being of a “Musalman-Hindu saint”.Saba Naqvi’s book reads:The shrine was originally a mazhaar. Although there is no scholarly study of the shrine, it does find a mention in the Ahmadnagar District Gazetteer compiled by the British: ‘Madhi is a noted place of pilgrimage with a shrine or a dargah of the Musalman-Hindu saint Shah Ramzan Mahi Savar or Kanobha. He is believed to have come to the region in 1350 where he was converted to Islam by one Sadat Ali. After travelling for some years, he came to Madhi in 1380 and died here at the age of ninety.’ The saint is believed to have exercised miraculous powers and the Gazetteer notes that ‘his Musalman name is said to be derived from his having crossed the river Godavari mounted on [the] large fish, Mahi Savar.’As per Imran Sheikh, many Hindus, especially from “lower castes and tribes” come to the shrine to pray.What happened in December 2023?Guha is a small village with a population of nearly 6,000. Muslims comprise less than 500 of the total population of the village. A concentrated campaign to turn the shrine into a temple by Hindu Jan Akrosh Morcha has been in place since November 2023.“Some members of the Hindu Jan Akrosh Morcha started performing bhajans at the dargah. After the Muslims objected, there was a small conflict between the two communities,” said Imran.A communal clash erupted in November leaving four injured. Around 124 individuals have been charged in two FIRs by Ahmednagar police, following complaints from both sides. FIRs have been filed under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including charges related to rioting, causing hurt, and promoting enmity between groups.Following this conflict, the communal tensions rose. The Hindu Jan Akrosh Morcha planned a rally on December 28, 2023. The police requested the Muslims to stay indoors to avoid any further conflict. Muslims adhered to the police’s demands and stayed put.In such a scenario, some people from the Hindu Jan Akrosh rally placed an idol of Lord Kanifnath beside the shrine. This rally was also attended by former MLA Shivaji Kardile. They also placed a donation box and some saffron flags inside the dargah. Footage from a YouTube channel shows that police personnel were present at the spot when the idol was illegally being placed at the dargah.A snapshot of the current scene at the Dargah in Guha, with a continuous presence of armed police for the past 24 hours. Photo: Zeeshan Kaskar.“We were asked to stay home, but the police failed to protect the dargah. They destroyed the CCTV footage that would prove the police’s presence in the area when the idol was being instituted,” said accused Imran Sheikh.Since then, the Muslim villagers have been protesting in front of the Rewari tehsil office. The demands of the Muslim community’s protest include reversing the placement of unauthorised idol, donation box, trumpets, and flags at the Dargah, taking criminal action against local officials, suspending the officers responsible for removing CCTV cameras, and halting unilateral actions by the administration. The protest entered its 82nd day on March 18.Boycott of Muslims and aftermathMaharashtra has been at the centre of hate speech for the past two years. The Wire tracked this spread of communalism in its video series Naf Rath. The conflict in Ahmadnagar is an extension of the communal agenda.The divide between the Hindu and Muslim villagers of Guha underscores the urgent need to address the scourge of communalism.Since the conflict, the Hindu Jan Akrosh Morcha appealed to the villagers to boycott Muslim-owned businesses. Activist and writer Pramod Mujumdar said, “Hindus have been strictly asked not to buy anything from Muslims. If anyone is found doing so, he or she would be charged rupees 2,000.”Mujumdar also said that in the recent years dargahs have been at the receiving end, both from Hindu and Muslim fundamentalists who are opposed to syncretic traditions.“The targeting of dargahs has become rampant across Maharashtra, with at least 18 such incidents reported in recent years. Religious polarisation and the occupation of traditional joint religious sites are part of a coordinated campaign to erase the rich tapestry of religious diversity that has characterised the state for centuries,” Mujumdar said.The silence of the media on these matters raises concerns about bias and collusion with communal forces, perpetuating a narrative of exclusion and division.The peaceful protest by the Muslim citizens of Guha is supported by progressive organisations and individuals, including the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) of Prakash Ambedkar.
