[Three Stories from The Hindu]
[1]
http://www.hindu.com/2004/08/11/stories/2004081106960500.htm
Muslim forum sees Gujarat pattern
By Our Special Correspondent
JAIPUR, AUG. 10. The Rajasthan Muslim Forum today accused the State Government of showing communal bias in handling the situation in the violence-hit Sarada village in Udaipur district, from where most of the Muslim families have migrated following an attack by tribals. It alleged that the violence was planned and executed on the “Gujarat pattern”.
A six-member delegation of the Forum, which visited the tribal belt from August 6 to 9, found that Muslims had been terrorised by both police and tribals and police had launched a crackdown on the Muslim residents of Sarada after a visit of the Home Minister, Gulab Chand Kataria, in the last week of July.
The members of the Forum — an apex body of Muslim organisations and institutions — said at a Press conference here that the majority of the 200 Muslim families had shifted to Udaipur, Salumbar, Khairwada and Dungarpur fearing for their safety, as the tribals in the region were “still being provoked” to launch a fresh offensive against the Muslim minority. “Police got an explicit message from the Government on the line of action to be taken after the Udaipur Superintendent of Police, Ravi Prakash Meherda, was removed,” Mohammed Salim, a member of the Forum and president of the State unit of Jamat-e-Islami Hind, said. He alleged that Muslims were harassed by raids on their houses.
Mujahid Ali Naqvi — one of the members of the delegation that visited Sarada — said the 5,000-strong mob of tribals, which had attacked two Muslim localities in the village on July 30, was controlled by police and a bloodshed was prevented. “Yet, it was a successful experiment of communal forces to incite tribals against Muslims on the Gujarat pattern,” he said.
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[2]
http://www.hindu.com/2004/08/11/stories/2004081106970500.htm
Minister's visit fuelled unrest: Gehlot
By Our Special Correspondent
JAIPUR, AUG. 10.The former Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot, has expressed concern over the sense of insecurity among the minorities in Udaipur district’s Sarada town after the recent clashes between tribals and the minorities. There were visible signs of disquiet among the public, which got only aggravated with the visit of the Rajasthan Home Minister, Gulab Chand Kataria, Mr.Gehlot said.
Mr.Gehlot told The Hindu , after a visit to Sarada this weekend, that the partisan behaviour of Mr.Kataria during his trip to the affected areas had led to the local minority population leaving their home and hearth for fear of their safety.
“Mr. Kataria’s visit failed to instil any confidence among the local people. In fact it proved counter-productive,” he pointed out.
Mr.Gehlot expressed his dismay over the way the vested interests could transform a quarrel between two individuals of poor reputation belonging to two different communities into a strife between tribals and Muslims. “One has reasons to fear that the Gujarat pattern is being attempted in these parts of Rajasthan which is adjoining that State,” he observed.
“It is still a mystery who had set fire to a shop initially triggering off the incidents. It is also not clear who beat the drums to collect the crowd of Adivasis who proceeded to attack the minority localities in Sarada town,” Mr.Gehlot pointed out.
Only timely action by the police which opened fire to disperse the frenzied mobs saved many lives on July 27, he said.
However the decision to transfer the Superintendent of Police in the wake of firing not only led to the demoralization of the administration but also deprived the minorities of their confidence in the system, Mr.Gehlot said.
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[3]
http://www.hindu.com/2004/08/11/stories/2004081106841100.htm
Parivar activists stop bus carrying tribal Christians
By Sunny Sebastian
JAIPUR, AUG.10. A group of Sangh Parivar activists on Monday forcibly stopped a Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation bus taking tribal Christians from Banswara to Ajmer near the Chittorgarh railway station alleging that they were being led to a conversion ceremony.
The bus, carrying a group of 28, comprising 10 women, six extension workers and regular passengers on their way to Ajmer, was stopped at Chittorgarh around 2.15 p.m. by the activists. The roadways bus stand at Chittorgarh came virtually under the siege as Sangh workers reached there in large numbers following a call by their leaders.
VHP and the Bajrang Dal men got into the bus and manhandled the passengers, including a tribal priest, Stephen Rawat, who is the director of the Banswara unit of the Udaipur-based Sampoorna Jeevan Vikas Samiti.
Later, following police intervention, the tribals escaped the fury of slogan-shouting men, but had to return to Banswara.
“This is tragic. A bogey of conversion was created to thwart even a no-religious activity. The attempt is to harass and intimidate the minorities so that they are deprived of their place under the sun,” the Bishop of Udaipur Catholic Diocese, Joseph Pathalil, told this correspondent over telephone. It seemed it was all planned in advance, he added.
The scheduled camp at Ajmer was organised by the NGO, Catholic Relief Society (CRS) from August 9–13.
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