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Govt fears violence could spread Friday, August 31, 2001

TIMES NEWS NETWORK
AHMEDABAD: There is something more sinister about the communal violence that the city has witnessed over the past week than what the BJP government is letting on as of now.

But with two persons killed in police firing and the culmination of Ganesh festivities scheduled on Saturday, the administration is all geared up for an escalation and a possible spread of violence.

"We are taking every precaution, not just in Ahmedabad but also in Vadodara and Surat," said additional chief secretary for home V V R Subba Rao. He, however, said there was "no visible pattern" behind the communal trouble witnessed in Ahmedabad so far and that the two flare-ups in Dariapur and Shahpur were "not inter-connected".

Officials said security in Ahmedabad and some other centres had been tightened and Friday could be a crucial indicator of things to come in the next few weeks.

The authorities, at present, seem rather confused about the motive behind the low-intensity violence that is taking place in Ahmedabad and believe it has the potential to spread to other areas and even flare up. Surat is considered particularly sensitive as eight persons were killed in police firing during idol immersion two years back. A massive bandobast has, therefore, been made for the Ganesh Visarjan there.

While a delegation of Muslims led by Congressmen met minister of state for home Haren Pandya on Thursday, protesting against lethal police firing during the clashes, the officials felt the leadership of the minority community was no longer in the hands of the main Opposition party. "This is a hypothesis which has been given to us by the intelligence agencies and we would like the government to interact with a wider representation of the community," Subba Rao said.

The government is aware that new organisations like the Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), Ahmedabad Muslim Youth Association, Lok Jantantrik Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party and others are trying to make their presence felt in the politics of Gujarat which has remained bi-polar so far.

However, the government believes that the current spell of violence may not be related to the coming by-elections to Sabarkantha and Sabarmati because there is not much of a Muslim vote bank in these two constituencies.

The BJP government is, in fact, walking a thin line because even outfits like the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad are not happy with the police handling of the communal situation. President of VHP's Karnavati (Ahmedabad) unit P C Patel says, "We will not tolerate any targeting of our cadres by the police under pressure from the minority community leaders."

News Source : The Times Of India News Service [ Lightning News ]

 

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