 |
|
A scene from recent clashes in Gujarat
|
By
IOL South Asia correspondent
NEW
DELHI, November 14 (IslamOnline) - Tension prevails in the village of
Dasad in the Mehsana district of Gujarat after two people died and 20
were injured in communal violence Tuesday, November 12. Tension
continues in the area as well as in other parts of Gujarat.
Violence
broke out in the wake of a rumor that “Muslims had come armed with
sticks to beat Hindus” at a temple where people had gathered for
celebration.
According
to another version, a dog started running around the Ghogh Maharaj
temple, which created a lot of confusion. Hindu and Muslim crowds
began pelting each other with stones. Some fired guns as well.
Upon
arriving on the scene, police fired ten rounds of ammunition, lobbed
17 tear gas shells and 12 gas grenades to quell the mob, police chief
of Mehsana district, AK Sharma, said.
The
two dead came one each from the Hindu and Muslim community, Sharma
said, adding the “situation is tense, but under control.” An
agency report said “at least 16 people from the majority (Hindu)
community had been taken to Unjha health center while six from
minority (Muslim) community are undergoing treatment in Mehsana
hospital.”
Ironically,
this village had remained quiet during the two-month long anti-Muslim
pogrom in Gujarat earlier this year. Taking the village as a safe
haven, some persecuted Muslims from neighboring villages had migrated
to this village.
Now
these Muslims are being accused of having altered the delicate
“social balance” and caused the riots.
“Ever
since these families moved in there have been problems. We even got a
request to have these families out of here. A whisper campaign to that
effect had already begun, and I think the violence was triggered by
that,” Sharma said.
Gujarat
is still on the edge of a precipice, and State Chief Minister Narendra
Modi has been trying his best to keep it there, right on the precipice
of a communal abyss.
North
and Central Gujarat are the most vulnerable, ready to explode at the
slightest provocation. Modi keeps the tension alive with his
insinuations against Muslims and Christians during his several public
meetings every day in the course of his Gaurav yatra (pride march)
through towns and villages of the state, which started in stages last
month.
Chief
of State Congress Party, Shankarsinh Vaghela, said that what Modi has
been calling a pride march is, in fact, a “march of shame” - the
abiding shame of a chief minister orchestrating a pogrom and being
proud of it.
Liberals,
leftists and common Indians agree with Vaghela.
He
has been attacking the chief of Congress, the largest and most
influential party in the country as an “Italian” Christian. He
does not spare even the Pope. He ridicules Muslims and secularists as
“sons” of Pakistan’s Gen. Musharraf, who is, according to the
BJP, India’s top enemy.
Modi
crossed all limits of decency and political propriety when he called
the powerful Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India, James
Lyngdoh, a “crypto-Italian”, Italian being a term of ridicule. It
also has Christian connotations, an anathema to the hard-line Hindu
nationalists.
Fortunately,
Lyngdoh dismissed Modi’s rant as “despicable menial gossip.”
Lyngdoh, born a Christian, is an atheist and a tribal from north-east
India, not an “Italian” as Modi insinuates, playing on his
Christian name.
What
Modi has been doing is a serious criminal offence under the secular
laws of India. However, the law has so far not been allowed to take
its normal course.
Increasingly
there are important people in India who are demanding action against
Modi for inciting civil strife.
Former
chief minister of Bihar state Laloo Yadav (whose wife is the current
chief minister of that state) has requested the Chief Election
Commissioner (CEC) to debar Modi from contesting the coming election
for violating the electoral code.
Election
law demands that nobody inciting hatred against another community
would be allowed to contest an election.
Yadav
said Tuesday, November 12, in the capital of Bihar, Patna, “Modi is
indulging in making inflammatory statements detrimental to peace and
communal harmony in the riot-hit state. The EC should debar him from
contesting elections for violating the model code of conduct.”
The
CEC is looking closely at his antics. He may initiate action if he
thinks Modi has to be reined in.
Yadav
also demanded that “Modi should be put behind the bars immediately
for disturbing peace.”
