Newsreport on inquiry report re Curchorem-Sanvordem Goa riots

(Herald - Goa
March 20, 2007)

Probe indicts none, says riots pre-planned

BY HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, MARCH 20 – The Magisterial inquiry which went into the Curchorem-Sanvordem communal riots in early March last year, has concluded that “it is intuitively and logically reasonable to presume” that there was a pre-planned and pre-conceived orientation to the communal riots but in the absence of any tangible evidence, it is not possible to identify or pinpoint the actual persons or organisations responsible for it.

The inquiry report submitted by the North Goa District Collector and District Magistrate Nikhil Kumar was made public by the government on Tuesday.
Going through the issue in detail, the Magistrate said the violence that occurred on March 3-4 was in the nature of an eruption which was precipitated due to the building up of continuous tension and strain between the two communities – Hindus and Muslims — over the past many months.
In December 2005, there was resentment among the majority community over the construction/renovation of an alleged illegal structure used as madrasa in Guddemol village situated in a government property.
The pressure-cooker scenario continued to exacerbate culminating in the demolition of the illegal structure on March 1. The subsequent proposed peace march by the Muslim community and spiteful rumour mongering about influx of armed outsiders of the Muslim community from Bhatkal, etc, resulted in violence, loot and arson on March 3-4, the report said.
The State government had asked the District Magistrate to conduct the inquiry by an order dated May 10 after the communal riots in Cuchorem-Sanvordem on March 3-4, 2006 had caused a scar on Goa’s communal harmony.
The report also highlights the failure of the police, village panchayat, and other authorities in nipping such situations in the bud before they go out of hand. Remedial measures are also suggested by the Magistrate to prevent such incidents from occurring in future.