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Firing, violence by police denied

-The Hindu

 

Tension persists in Gopalgarh town of Rajasthan despite relaxation in curfew

Amid the continuing tension in Gopalgarh town of Bharatpur district despite relaxation in curfew, the Rajasthan Government on Sunday categorically denied that the police had resorted to indiscriminate firing at the Jama Masjid or joined the violent crowd of Gujjars in lynching and burning alive the people praying in the mosque this past Wednesday.

The denial issued through the State's topmost administrative and police officers depicted the anxiety of the ruling Congress to control the damage caused by the emerging evidence suggesting that the policemen deployed to control a clash between Meo Muslims and Gujjars had sprayed bullets on the mosque and entered inside along with the latter and stabbed a number of worshippers.

Chief Secretary S. Ahmed and Director-General of Police Harish Chandra Meena affirmed at a crowded press conference at the State Secretariat here that there was no truth in the reports of firing and violence by the police at the mosque claiming the lives of eight persons. “Police only fired in the air to disperse the [rioting] crowds belonging to both the communities,” said Mr. Ahmed.

Mr. Ahmed said none of the 21 persons injured in the violence had received wounds from the bullets fired by the police: “Both the sides were carrying firearms which caused injuries through pellets in cross-firing, besides the wounds caused by blunt and sharp-edged weapons. Shots [fired] by the police never produce pellets. Their guns shoot long and intact bullets.” The Chief Secretary said the autopsy of two of the eight deceased – Ruqmuddin and Iqbal Khan – had revealed injuries by sharp weapons, inflammable material and pellets. A team of doctors from Sawai Man Singh Hospital here was conducting the post-mortem of six other bodies at Bharatpur Government Hospital on Sunday evening. Both Mr. Ahmed and Mr. Meena said the post-mortem would reveal the actual cause of death of the six persons. They said no arrests had been made in connection with the violence so far as the State Government's first priority was restoration of normality and preventing the spread of violence to other areas.Though the curfew in the eastern Rajasthan town was relaxed for five hours for the second consecutive day on Sunday, the shops remained closed and the roads and lanes were deserted. Almost nobody ventured out of home in a continuing atmosphere of terror, insecurity and fear of the police.

While Mr. Ahmed said nobody from the two communities was reported missing or untraceable, senior police officers accompanying Mr. Meena said the firing by the policemen on the ground or from the “Vajra” armoured vehicle of police was “only towards the sky”. “The claim about bullet marks on the mosque walls can only be confirmed by ballistic experts,” said ADG (Law and Order) Navdeep Singh.

Reacting sharply to the State Government's claim, the Rajasthan Muslim Forum said the “brutality of police action” had been proved by the probe of civil rights groups and the accounts provided by the victims. “The Government itself has admitted that 219 rounds were fired. Were they all fired towards the sky?” asked Forum convenor Qari Moinuddin.

Mr. Moinuddin said the ruling Congress was “spreading the canard” of neutrality of police by bringing forward the Government officers, because it was “politically unable” to counter the charge of allowing anti-minority violence after a series of communal incidents witnessed across the State during the past two years. The Forum will be sending its fact-finding team to Gopalgarh on Monday. “If it was a case of cross-firing between the two communities as claimed by the State Government, why did only Meos die in the violence? Moreover, the casualties occurred inside the Jama Masjid,” said Irada Society president Mohammed Hasan, who is also a member of the Muslim Forum.

Rajya Sabha MP and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind leader Maulana Mahmood Madani, who was prevented from visiting the troubled area on Friday, has also demanded removal of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in view of his “consistent failure” in maintaining law and order resulting in violence against minorities. Mr. Madani was stopped near Pahari town on his way to Gopalgarh.