Dhols, cymbols play on, but Gujarat’s garba turns exclusionary

The nine days of Navratri bring no joy to Madhuben Solanki and her family of four. In fact, the sounds of dhols, cymbals, and manjeeras to which people dance with abandon, traumatise her. The Solankis are one of the handful Dalit families of Bhadraniya village in Gujarat’s Anand district, who live in Vankarvas, an area outside the village, reserved for Dalit families only.

The upper caste residents of the village do not venture near Vankarvas and the Dalits are not allowed access to the rest of the village. For generations, the Dalits families of the village have been living with untouchability as fait accompli.

“My son was killed because he forgot he was untouchable for a moment and went to participate in garba like everyone else in the village,” says Madhuben.

This 2022 video shows a Muslim man being thrashed by VHP members.

When the whole state emerges itself into festivities and garba, a folk dance, Madhuben quietly lights a diya to mourn her son who was killed during Navratri seven years ago, in 2017.

“Around 4 am on October 3, 2017, my son Jayesh woke me up. He said he was leaving for work in Vadodara. He used to work as a security guard in the city. Jayesh, being the eldest son, had to drop out of school after class 10 to earn. On his way back from work, he decided to stop by the Someshwar temple in the village to watch garba with his brothers. That was his fault. He, a dalit boy, had entered a garba event organised by the Patels of the village. Jayesh never returned. He was beaten to death,” recalls Madhuben as tears roll down her face.

“The murder of Jayesh Solanki was perhaps the first case of hate crime reported during Navratri in recent times. The incident had shaken the conscience of the state. But over the years, hate crimes during Navratri have become a norm. The garba in Gujarat used to be … yes, used to be, a platform for socio-economic, generational and cultural amalgamation. It used to be the nine-day folk dance festival in honour of Goddess Amba where all caste and religious differences collapsed under one inclusive umbrella of youthful fervour and festivity. That sentiment is long gone,” says Indira Hirway, an Ahmedabad-based author and political analyst.

“The violence and threats by fringe extreme Hindu have been a part of the festival for years but it never dampened the spirit of garba amongst the Gujaratis irrespective of caste or religion. However, it is the involvement of police and politicians on ground that painted the festivity fervours in communal colours in Gujarat. For the past seven or eight years, Navratri has been nothing short of a battleground with this time of year becoming synonymous with hate crimes, communal clashes, caste violence and politics. This is a new face of Navratri we are witnessing,” she added.

Violence continues

Noticeably, this year too Navratri festivities have not been spared from hate crimes either.

A garba event in Sargasan area of Gujarat’s capital city Gandhinagar turned chaotic on the night of October 4, 2024 after members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal clashed with bouncers and police at the venue.

“We had arrived early at around 7 pm at the venue in Gandhinagar. The event hadn’t yet begun so we were having food at the stalls. At around 8 pm, when they put on the music and we hit the dance floor at the centre of the venue we heard a commotion towards the entrance. We couldn’t get out as the dance floor was enclosed with bamboo dividers. We thought it is just a huge group trying to enter the venue. But the voices kept getting louder and soon we could hear a heated argument even though the music was loud,” said Haresh, an eyewitness at the event.

“Later, we learnt that some local Bajrang Dal workers had entered the venue with the intention of applying tilak (a Hindu religious mark) on the foreheads of participants present here. But the private security guards present at the event intervened and prevented them from engaging with the crowd, which is how the commotion started,” he said.

“This is one of the most premium garba events in the twin cities of Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar, so we decided to visit on October 4 when ticket prices are cheaper. We came early as we intended to enjoy to the fullest after paying around Rs 15,000 per ticket. But the whole event quickly turned chaotic after Bajrang Dal members arrived at the scene and we could barely enjoy the night,” added the 22-year-old garba enthusiast.

As per the event managers, the situation quickly escalated into a heated altercation between the security guards and Bajrang Dal members and the local police had to intervene. Later, police resorted to a lathi-charge to control the situation but no one was injured or arrested. Four members of Bajrang Dal were detained by the Gandhinagar police who were released couple of hours later.

In another incident in Ankaleshwar, Baruch district, a controversy erupted at Garden City Garba Mahotsav after the VHP staged a protest and chanted slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’.

The VHP members demanded that artists of other religions should not be invited to perform during the garba celebrations and that the society should not appoint security guards belonging to other religions. The situation could be controlled only after the garba organizers assured that they will not invite any Muslim singer to perform during the Navratri Garba Mahotsav.

Identity seekers

Last year, VHP members in Ahmedabad demanded that everyone entering garba venues in the city should be applied tilak on their foreheads and sprinkled with cow urine as a way of separating the Hindus from the non-Hindus.

“The demand has been made since the year 2015. But we couldn’t implement it at the venues until last year. Last year, our volunteers were vigilant and standing at the entry gates of several garba events. With cooperation from the authorities, we made sure only Hindus entered the garba venues. It is a necessary step to protect our women during the nine days of Navratri. Many non-Hindu men target our women at garba venues and women become victims of love jihad. This year too, we have ensured our women are protected at all cost,” Hitendrasinh Rajput, the Gujarat spokesperson of VHP told The Federal.

Video shows Bajrang Dal members checking adhaar cards at a garba venue in 2023.

“Actually, this year we have demanded that Aadhaar card should be made mandatory for participation in garba and dandiya events to prevent entry of non-Hindus in a bid to stop love jihad. Besides, those who do not have faith in the Hindu religion must not be allowed to participate in the celebrations,” added Rajput.

“Navratri isn’t just a festival for me, it’s a reminder of the precious moments that formed the very foundation of my childhood memories. My sister and I have been participating in garba every year since we were childern. We would go with our friends who were all Hindus. My Muslim identity was never a problem at garba,” says Ayub (name changed), an Ahmedabad-based man who was thrashed by activists of the Bajrang Dal at a garba event in Ahmedabad in 2023.

“The incident took place in Ahmedabad’s Sindhu Bhavan area where my friends and I were visiting that day. We were all taken by surprise at the sudden chant of Jai Shri Ram while we were dancing. All of a sudden, some men clad in saffron kurta and scarfs entered the premises and began shouting at the security guards. They were demanding to know if any Muslim man was allowed to enter. At this point I got scared and one of my friends called out my name to rescue me out of the venue from another gate. One of the saffron-clad men noticed that and approached us and before we could understand anything they began thrashing me,” he said sharing his ordeal.

“Around seven or eight men isolated me from my group and kept thrashing me until the police intervened. Luckily, I did not suffer any major injuries. Later, I got to know no one was arrested. Police merely detained the men for a few hours and let them go,” adds Ayub who hasn’t been to any garba since the ordeal.

“My friends still call me but I don’t feel safe anymore,” he says.

In 2022, there were several incidents of vigilantes interfering at garba venues leading to communal clashes in Kheda, Vadodara, Anand, and Porbandar.

However, one incident shocked the state where police thrashed some Muslim men for entering Garba venue in Kheda.

On October 3, 2022, seven people were injured at a garba event at Undhela village in Kheda after stone was pelted on a crowd of around 150 people playing garba.

Later, on October 4 the same year, the Kheda police rounded up six Muslim men from the garba venue. They were arrested for allegedly pelting stones at the venue. The six men were then brought to the Undhela village square in the broad day light, tied to a pole and brutally beaten with lathis for hours while villagers stood and made videos of the incident.

A year later, the concerned police personnel were suspended for six months after an order from the Supreme Court.

“So much violence and politics has happened in the last few years around the month of Navratri but the government and the police have either been a mute spectator or participants to flare up the situation. For instance, in 2022, the Khelaiyas (professional garba dancers) danced to songs on Ram Mandir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s life, and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s poll promises to Gujarat as the state was bound to go for assembly polls in December that year,” said Mujaheed Nafees, a minority rights activist based in Gujarat.

“The participation of Muslims in Navratri festival has gone down over the years. But the worst recipients have been the artists and workers who are losing employment. Two days back, a garba event managers cancelled a three-day performance of a Muslim folk singer who has been singing garba folk songs for years. He had to leave the state for his safety,” added Nafees.