By IOL South Asia Correspondent

NEW DELHI, July 13 (IslamOnline)- Muslims in Ahmedabad, the capital city of India’s western state of Gujarat, heaved a sigh of relief Friday, July 12, when Jagannath rath yatra (the Lord’s chariot journey) passed off peacefully, winding through Muslim localities that had witnessed the worst pogroms only a couple of months ago.

Fearing an outbreak of another round of anti-Muslim violence, most residents in these localities locked themselves inside their homes after Friday prayers which were advanced by half an hour to avoid confrontation.

Both Muslim leaders and the administration called Muslims confining themselves to their homes during the yatra a “Janata curfew” (voluntary or people's curfew).

However, fearing the worst, thousands of Muslims left their homes and returned to the refugee camps where they had been staying for months. They did not want to take chances.

In a reassertion of goodwill, prominent Muslim leaders of Ahmedabad met temple priests to assure them of the goodwill of Muslims. In a special gesture of peace and goodwill, Muslim leaders accompanied by Hindu priests released 25 pigeons on Thursday, July 11, followed by another 100 on Friday. The 125 released pigeons also signified the 125th year of the yatra.

Unprecedented presence of police and paramilitary forces on the yatra route ensured that peace was kept at all costs. State chief minister Narendra Modi, who is widely seen to be architect of the Gujarat pogrom, triumphantly flagged off the chariot journey in the capital.

The police were taking no chances. Forty paramilitary companies were on duty along with 20,000 policemen. Commandos were providing security to the march. Video cameras and watchtowers were put in place and the police were high alert even in communally non-sensitive areas.

Similar yatras were brought out at 82 places in the state. In Kheda town, the yatra was marked by minor clashes between groups of Muslims and Hindus. The groups threw stones at each other on Friday night after the yatra was over. Policemen reached the spot immediately and fired teargas shells to disperse the mobs.

An indefinite curfew has been imposed in Kheda since last night. Cases of stonethrowing and arson continued today and nearly 100 people from both Hindu and Muslim communities were arrested overnight.

Some shops were set afire by miscreants in the town, which is the headquarter of Kheda district, after group-clashes and stonethrowing, police said.

The situation in Petlad town of neighboring Anand district has been described as under control. Three persons were injured in police firing here last evening following a group clash at the end of a local Rathyatra of Lord Jagannath

Accused of blatant communal prejudice, policemen were anxious to regain some of the lost credibility by impartially enforcing law during the yatra.

Muslim leaders of Gujarat were happy that a repeat of the anti-Muslim pogrom of March-April was averted. They feared that the state could relapse into anarchy and anti-Muslim hysteria any moment, as the political forces behind the pogrom were very much in control.

“Policemen can only do a fire-fighting job, it is the politicians in power who finally decide whether they want a pogrom or peace,” said a Muslim leader on condition of anonymity.

Political leaders and groups that had masterminded the Gujarat pogrom are enjoying complete impunity, preparing to strike again at a time of their choosing, he said.

That the role of the police is strictly limited was evident from the chief minister’s security advisor KPS Gill’s remark that as the yatra (march) was peaceful there was no reason for him to continue in his job. He said that the peaceful yatra meant that people’s confidence in the impartiality of police had been restored.

Gill, whom the media loves to call supercop, was appointed as security advisor to the chief minister.

Gill, who sounded upbeat on Friday at the peaceful conclusion of the yatra, retracted his earlier remark that he was yet to see any signs of remorse on the part of the Gujarati society over the unprecedented scale and intensity of violence in the state.