Jodhpur tense after clashes, authorities impose curfew
HT Correspondent
JAIPUR: Communal clashes rocked Rajasthan’s Jodhpur city on Tuesday after an altercation over raising religious flags ahead of Eid celebrations, leaving at least eight people injured and prompting the government to clamp a curfew and suspend mobile internet services.
Police said 97 people have been arrested in connection with the incident, that came a month after similar clashes in Karauli town that left 45 people injured.
Chief minister Ashok Gehlot called for peace in the city, which is also his hometown, even as opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders blamed his government for failing to quell the violence.
“It is an unfortunate incident that a tense atmosphere has prevailed due to the clashes between the two groups at Jalori gate in Jodhpur. The administration has been instructed to maintain peace at all costs,” he said.
The first signs of disturbance came around midnight on Monday from the Jalori Gate area of Jodhpur after members of Hindu and Muslim groups objected to the putting up of religious flags alongside the statue of freedom fighter Balmukund Bissa, said police.
The argument gave way to scuffles and stone pelting, according to police. Four policemen and three people sustained minor injuries as security personnel used teargas shells to disperse the mob and later, barricaded the entire area, police said.
Violence resurfaced on Tuesday morning after the Eid namaz and stone pelting was reported from the area again, forcing the authorities to clamp a curfew in 10 police station areas of Jodhpur, officials said. Mobile internet services were blocked in the early hours of Tuesday in ten localities. The block was extended across the city later.
“Three people are hospitalised and 12-15 others discharged after primary treatment,” Rajasthan minister of state for home, Rajendra Yadav, said. “We will hold a meeting with the officials to discuss every aspect of the incident. If any officer has not shared correct information with the government, then the officer will be removed,” he added.
The communal tension in Jodhpur comes a month after violence hit Karauli, where some miscreants hurled stones on a bike rally crossing a Muslimdominated neighbourhood on April 2 on Nav Samvatsar (Hindu new year).
On Tuesday, Jodhpur deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Rajkumar Choudhary said in an order that the curfew, ordered in areas under 10 police stations in Jodhpur (East), will continue till Wednesday midnight.
Union jal shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who represents Jodhpur in the Lok Sabha, said, “This act is not acceptable. I want to tell all my brothers and sisters of Jodhpur we should not get instigated.”
He accused city police of not taking action against those who created the ruckus. “The police are working under invisible pressure,” he said.
Gehlot held a detailed review and ordered a team of senior officials led by Yadav and minister in-charge of Jodhpur, Subhash Garg, to visit the spot.
BJP state president Satish Poonia wrote to governor Kalraj Mishra and demanded an impartial probe of the incident.