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Religious differences receded to the backburner in the walled city area of Ahmedabad on Monday, where local shop owners kept their shutters down to support the statewide bandh in protest against the Sant Asaram Bapu Ashram.
Life came to a standstill in Jamalpur, Gandhi Road, Ratan Pol, Manek Chowk, Kalupur, Khadia, Panch Kuva and Dariapur in the area. The response was, however, mixed in the more "developed" parts of the city like Satellite, Ashram Road and Maninagar.
Yusuf Shaikh from Jamalpur, who deals in air-conditioners, said he had not seen such a groundswell of support for a non-community cause in the area before. "This is unprecedented. Generally, people in the walled city remain untouched by the problems in the new western Ahmedabad. But this time, they voluntarily closed their shops in support of the families (who lost their children) residing in Nirnaynagar," he said.
Shaikh further said: "A child has no religion or caste. People have observed the bandh to send a clear message that anybody involved in it will have to face the collective wrath of the people irrespective of their area and religion."
Many incidents of stone pelting and burning of effigies of Asaram Bapu were reported from areas like Shahpur, Bapunagar and Gomtipur. Gomtipur, a Muslim-dominated area, wore a deserted look, while in Bapunagar, a mob ransacked an extension centre of the Asaram Ashram at Hardas Nagar and burnt the stationery kept there.
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