By TCN News,
New Delhi: A five-member high level delegation of Social Democratic Party of India, (SDPI), under the leadership of its National President Mr. E. Aboobacker visited the violence-hit Gopalgarh and adjoining Andvadi villages in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan. Ten Muslims had been killed and about two dozen were wounded in the communal riot and police firing on September 14th last.
According to SDPI Press release Gopalgarh violence was the latest in the series of communal clashes in last couple of years in Rajasthan despite the fact that Congress party is now ruling the state after defeating Bharatiya Janata Party, (BJP), in the Assembly polls in 2008.
SDPI national president E Aboobacker, along with other members of delegation, speaks to a gathering at Gopalgarh, Rajasthan [Photo Courtesy: /sdpi.in]
The release said that Gopalgarh is not the only place where riots occurred. The country has witnessed a series of riots allegedly engineered by RSS and supported by the state machineries. The Rajasthan state Congress government declared compensation to the victims of relatives but this is not a solution to the issue. Till date perpetrators have not even been booked or cases slapped against them. Suspension of the officials on duty, the only legal action from the government side, is not sufficient to ensure rule of law, the release added.
The SDPI delegation visited the residences of riot victims including the house of Shaheed Moulana Khursheed. He was brutally killed by the rioters and he went on reciting Quran till the last breath. Riot criminals cut his tongue and penis, chopped out his both feet and then they put him on fire. This is the area where most of the killings took place. The team also visited the Eidgah Masjid and Qabrastan (graveyard) where police and rioters killed people, the release stated.
Later, SDPI National President addressed the people of village Andvadi. He said: “Unless and until a section of the Muslim community instills self-confidence and alertness they would become subjugated. Destruction of other section of people should never be an aim. One thing we have to remember, everyone has got the right to live. Intentionally willing to be martyred is better than being killed undefended, he added.
The release stated that Gujarat Chief Minister Mr. Narendra Modi is now under legal scanner. He and his men had allegedly misused the state infrastructure to kill thousands of Muslims in 2002. Mr. Modi might have thought then that things will always remain hidden and under wraps. But now the Chief Minister is having sleepless nights due to courageous intervention of human rights activists and a section of the Rajasthan police officers.
Those police officers who fired against you should be brought before the law. The SDPI will whole-heartedly support the victims and their relatives in fighting for legal rights, Mr. Aboobacker said.
Later, Adv. Vijendra Kumar Kasana, a Gujjar leader and Supreme Court lawyer, said to the villagers that he will be available for legal aid. Hafiz Manzoor Ali Khan, national General Secretary SDPI; Moulana Qari Ismaeel, Mevat district President of SDPI; and Moulana Haneef Alwari, Haryana SDPI Coordinator, also accompanied the delegation.([email protected])