'Change in venue resulted in clash during Tipu Jayanti'

Wakf Board district unit president Abdul Rehman said that the change of venue from Gandhi Maidan to Town Hall resulted in confusion  and in turn, it led to the clash during Tipu Jayanti celebration in the town recently.

Addressing media persons in the town on Monday, he said the district administration had sent invitations to all mosques in the district to take part in the Tipu Jayanti programme.
Accordingly, 3,000 people had come to attend the programme. The district administration has erred by organising the programme at Town Hall which is not big enough to accommodate thousands of people, he claimed.

Also, the vehicles of the people were stopped by the police near APMC Ground and Gandhi Maidan. When the people walked towards the Town Hall, it looked like a procession. Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and BJP workers were staging protests on the roads. This added to the confusion and the situation turned worse and resulted in violence, he claimed.

Rehman said stones were also thrown at him when he was arriving to take part in the programme. He said he pacified the people who were with him  at that time.
“The allegation by BJP leaders that I took part in violent activities is baseless.If they have evidence, let them prove it,” he challenged.

Those who are responsible for the clash should be arrested and punished. But the innocent should not be troubled, Rehman said.

He requested the government to provide compensation to those who are wounded during the clashes.

Many vehicles were also damaged and the compensation should be paid to the vehicle owners, he said.

He said it is true that a complaint was submitted to the Congress high command by the Wakf Committee and that the Congress leaders from the district did not come forward to protect the interests of minorities during the clashes which broke out during Tipu Jayanti celebration. But the complaint was not against the District Congress Committee (DCC) president B T Pradeep, he clarified.

Hamza, Hanif, Nasira, Khalid and Moyid were among those present in the press conference.