Stirring the communal cauldron in Medak Premium

The small town of Medak near Hyderabad was hit by a bout of violence two days before a religious festival with locals pointing fingers at ‘outsiders’ for stoking the unrest

Broken pieces of glass from windowpanes, smashed furniture, stones, drops of congealed blood, stretchers, and syringes litter the floor of the Medak Orthopaedic Hospital, two days after it was attacked by an enraged mob. This hospital is one of four that suffered severe damage during the communal violence on June 15, two days before Bakrid, an Islamic festival celebrated worldwide.

When the hospital reopened after three days of the violence, traumatised workers were still trying to clean up the mess and make it ready for patients. The ayah carefully collecting glass shards and sweeping the broken equipment tears up. Pointing to her legs, she says, “The men did not allow us to pull the shutter down. They blocked the shutter with wooden logs and repeatedly hit us on our legs. I am not able to walk properly now.”

Saubhagya and Jagan, two other staffers who were among the eight present at the hospital that day, tremble as they recall the haunting events of the evening.

A series of incidents on that fateful day, starting with a quarrel over cattle kept at a madrasa in Indrapuri Colony around 10.30 a.m., culminated in an attack on the Medak Orthopedic Hospital that evening, leaving many injured.

Two hospitals treating the injured from both parties involved in the attack are owned by the same management. Medak Orthopedic Hospital provided first aid to Muslim members, while Russh Hospital attended to members of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) — serving as an example of community harmony amid the chaos.

Medak, a small town with a population of just 46,880, is located about 90 kilometres from Hyderabad. Since the formation of Telangana in 2014, it has been a political hotspot. Local residents hint at a possible connection between the unrest and the new political regime in the constituency — the violence took place less than a fortnight after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) achieved its first victory in the constituency with a 33.9% vote share. Over the past decade, the party’s vote share in the area has more than doubled from 15.4% across three Lok Sabha elections.

Those who ventured out for evening prayers leading up to Bakrid had no idea that they would end up in a hospital after decades of incident-free celebrations. The events of that day have left the population in fear and hospital managements perplexed.