Tension was simmering since VHP and Bajrang Dal burnt ISIS flag which had holy verses on it
By TwoCircles.net, Staff Reporter
Jammu: Rajouri town in Jammu and Kashmir was on Tuesday placed under curfew following continued communal tension after burning of the ISIS flag, with some holy verses written on it, by members of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal activists here.
The burning of the flag incident took place on Saturday, following which majority community members gave an ultimatum to the police and local administration to arrest the VHP and Bajrang Dal activists. The curfew was imposed on Tuesday, July 21 to prevent fanning of communal tension.
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The VHP clarified that it had no intention to hurt the sentiments of any community. “We, on the other hand, asked the protesters to demonstrate against ISIS for writing a ‘Kalma’ on its flag. We had only burnt the ISIS flag and we did not know as to what in Persian was written on it,” state VHP patron Dr Ramakant Dubey and provincial president Leela Karan Sharma told a local newspaper.
Local residents under the banner of Muslim Welfare Association and Tehri-e-Ghulama-nae-Mustafa had given an ultimatum to local police till Monday, July 20 for registration of a case and arrest of the culprits.
A peace march was attacked by the local residents amid strict restrictions and complete shutdown that was called by the majority community even as scores of youth from the majority community fought pitched battles with the police demanding the arrest of culprits responsible for ‘hurting their sentiments’.
The youths were intercepted and lathi-charged in Gujjar Mandi area; the clashes left several protesters and policemen injured. As tension continued to mount, the district administration clamped the curfew on Tuesday to contain the tension.
Police and Central Reserve Police Force personnel have been deployed in full strength with riot gears. The district administration called out Army from barracks for a flag march in the town.
Deputy Commissioner, Rajouri, Deepti Uppal, told a local news agency that the Army has been asked to carry out flag march and said, “The situation is now under control.”
Meanwhile, an official from office of Senior Superintendent of Police, (SSP) Rajouri while speaking to TwoCircles.net said that, “Curfew has been imposed in the town to avoid any flare up in communal violence. As of now, there is complete calm in the town. Police officials including SSP Rajouri, Haseeb Mughal, are out on the roads and holding deliberations with the religious leaders to contain the tension.”
Around 15 persons were arrested for defying the curfew.
Earlier in the day, in a press conference, in view of continuing tension, Deputy Chief Minister of state Nirmal Singh had appealed to maintain communal harmony, but ruled out arrest of VHP activists — who have already clarified that it had no intention to hurt the sentiments of Muslims.