By IANS,
Sangli (Maharashtra): Sangli and Miraj towns in Maharashtra Monday remained under curfew following communal disturbances while arson and violence erupted in Ichalkaranji town ahead of the assembly elections as the opposition blamed the state government for the situation.
District authorities imposed a 24-hour curfew in Ichalkaranji, a town populated by nearly 2.70 lakh, from 5.45 Monday evening, a Kolhapur police control official told IANS.
Citing preliminary information, he said there were reports of “arson, stone-throwing and group clashes”.
There were reports of stone throwing in Satara and Sholapur districts in which some state transport buses were damaged.
Sangli and Miraj, the twin towns around 400 km south of Mumbai, had been tense since Thurday over a Ganeshotsav pandal displaying a picture depicting Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji killing Mughal emperor’s commander Afzal Khan, and a ‘victory rally’.
A clash between two communities forced authorities to clamp curfew on the town Sunday.
State Home Minister Jayant Patil Monday evening appealed to all political parties to exercise restraint and maintain peace in Sangli, Miraj and Ichalkaranji.
Several senior opposition leaders, including state Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) chief Nitin Gadkari and former deputy chief minister Gopinath Munde, slammed the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) alliance for its failure to contain the situation.
The leaders of the newly created ‘third front’ in the state, Republican-Left Democratic Front, also lashed at the government led by Chie Minister Ashok Chavan.
RLDF leader Ashok Dhawle demanded to know why such incidents occur only before the elections.
Monday morning, police prevented Munde from boarding a flight from Mumbai to Kolhapur following an order issued by Kolhapur district collector.
“Police have mishandled the situation in Miraj,” said Munde, a former state home minister. He later left for Sangli by road but was detained at Lonavala in the evening.
Soon after Munde was disallowed from boarding the flight, his supporters staged demonstrations outside the Mumbai airport, forcing police to cane them.
Speaking to mediapersons Monday afternoon, Gadkari alleged that the state government was “solely responsible” for the ugly situation.
“That Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj killed Afzal Khan is a historical fact. The Ganeshotsav mandal in Miraj had put up a decoration depicting this. The government has removed it. There was not a single complaint from the local Muslim community over this,” Gadkari said.
“It appears that the government wants to change the course of history.”
Alleging discrimination, he said that while the government allowed Minister Anees Ahmed to go to Sangli, BJP leader Munde was prevented from doing so.
“The way this government has acted is totally unlawful and undemocratic. The Congress-NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) alliance is only interested in vote bank politics,” he alleged.
While senior Shiv Sena leaders like Neelam Gorhe, Diwakar Raote and Parshuram Uparkar rushed to Sangli and Miraj, Sena chief Bal Thackeray attacked the government in an editorial in Monday morning’s party mouthpiece Saamna daily.
“On one hand, you plan to construct a Chhatrapati Shivaji Memorial in the sea off Mumbai and on the other hand you try to destroy history. In the proposed Chhatrapati Shivaji Memorial in the Arabian Sea, there should be a picture of Shivaji killing Afzal Khan, the same picture which was damaged last week in Miraj,” Thackeray said in the editorial.
Meanwhile, curfew in Sangli was expected to be lifted by 10 a.m. Tuesday and continue till 2 p.m. in Miraj, said Sangli district Superintendent of Police Krishna Prakash.
Since Sunday night, around 10 Ganesh mandals have immersed their Ganesh idols, five days after Anant Chaturdashi (Sep 3). The mandals had not immersed the Ganapati idols to protest the communal disturbances.
Last Wednesday (Sep 2), the eve of Anant Chaturdashi, the last day of the 12-day Ganeshotsav, the trouble began in Miraj, which has a population of 265,000, including around 40,000 Muslims.
A local organisation, Hindu Sanghatana Ganeshotsav Mandal, had put up a large arch depicting Chhatrapati Shivaji killing Afzal Khan.
The organisers allegedly also held a ‘victory rally’ near the arch, depicting all the followers of Chhatrapati Shivaji in saffron and Afzal Khan supporters in green.
Sensing trouble, police summoned about two dozen Muslim community leaders and requested them to ignore the developments.
“But, as it always happens, some miscreants exploited the situation to give it a communal twist, especially in view of the recently concluded Ganesh festival, the ongoing Ramzan month and the ensuing assembly elections,” Krishna Prakash said.
He said he rushed to Miraj that day and was addressing crowds of both communities from the bonnet of his official vehicle when an unidentified youth also climbed atop the jeep and tried to shout him down.
Suddenly, there was a hail of stones from different directions, prompting police to start caning the protesters. Some of the stones are also said to have landed at the Ganesh idol, leading to heightened tensions.
This was followed by violent clashes between members of the two communities that afternoon, in which the poster depicting Chhatrapati Shivaji and Afzal Khan was ripped off by some unidentified people.
About 300 people from both communities have been arrested from Miraj, while 50 protesters were nabbed in Kolhapur.