By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: Ashok Gehlot government of Rajasthan is facing a crisis of epic nature which started with the Bharatpur communal riot. The latest blow to the state Congress government has come in the form of indictment by the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) which has clearly held the state government responsible for the communal violence.
The NCM report highlighted the “clearly partisan manner” adopted by the local police in dealing with the situation. A team comprising of NCM members K N Daruwalla and Syeda Bilgrami Imam, visited Gopalgarh to find out the truth.
A controversy over an Eidgah land led to communal violence between Gujjars and Meo Muslims but rather than controlling the situation the police allegedly opened fire on Meo Muslims, killing ten of them.
In its preliminary report sent to the Chief Minister Gehlot, NCM has highlighted the “use of excessive force by police” and the fact that police could have prevented the situation from spilling beyond the control, had it acted in a judicious manner.
“There has been a failure of administration. The local administration and the police could have acted earlier to prevent the clashes. It was also possible for the police to have acted with greater discretion,” said Wajahat Habibullah, the NCM chief.
“The police should have immediately taken action against those who assaulted the Imam of the mosque. The police used force greatly in excess. Firing on the mosque should not have been resorted to at all. The police were clearly partisan and did not take on the Gujjars who were equally if not better armed than the Meos,” the report said.
Criticizing the police for its partisan manner, the NCM report asked explanations from the local police that why it allowed the Gujjars to invade the mosque. The police had earlier claimed that Gujjars had invaded the mosque.
The NCM report also highlighted the contribution of Hindutva elements in forcing the police to act in a partisan manner. Quoting Sub-Divisional Magistrate Banwari Lal, the minority panel report said, “there were some Hindutva elements goading the earlier Collector and his team to aggressive action on the (September) 14th evening session at the police station.”
“The members hold the police officers and the DM responsible for the Gopalgarh outrage,” the report concluded.
This strong criticism by the NCM has increased the trouble for Gehlot government which is anyways facing intense criticism from within the party as well as outside for its handling of the communal violence.
A delegation from the central leadership of the Congress party had also criticized the Gehlot led state government for “excessive use of police force.”
Ashok Gehlot and Home Minster Shanti Dhariwal have been summoned by the central leadership of the party where Sonia Gandhi had asked Gehlot to take strong action against those responsible for the riots, which could send a positive message to the Meo community. Meo Muslims are a big vote bank of the Congress party which doesn’t want to risk the anger of the community.