Vehicles torched amid curfew in MP's Khargone; Muslim clerics meet DGP, raise question over demolitions

In a fresh incident of arson, miscreants torched four vehicles and a garage in the curfew-bound Khargone city of Madhya Pradesh, where nearly 100 people have been arrested since violence during Ram Navami celebrations, police said on Tuesday, while Muslim clerics alleged their community members were selectively targeted by the state administration.

While the curfew is in force in Khargone since Sunday evening, some anti-social elements set ablaze three buses, a car and a garage in the city's Mechanic Nagar area on Monday night, Additional Superintendent of Police Neeraj Chourasia said.

So far, 95 people have been arrested in connection with the violence that started during a Ram Navami procession on Sunday and the law and situation was under control in the city, police officials said.

As an uneasy calm prevailed in the trouble-torn city, a delegation of Muslim clerics on Tuesday met the state DGP in Bhopal and alleged Muslims were selectively targeted by the administration after communal clashes in Khargone and Sendhwa towns on Ram Navami even though members of processions had put up saffron flags on walls of mosques and raised inflammatory slogans.

A stone-pelting incident was also reported during a Ram Navami procession in Sendhwa town of Barwani district.

The clerics alleged the Khargone district administration demolished many houses and properties belonging to members of the minority community in a hurried action without a probe, forcing over 100 Muslim families to migrate from the city.

The Muslim clerics led by Qazi-e-Shahar, Bhopal, Syed Mushtaq Ali, submitted a memorandum to Director General of Police (DGP) Sudhir Saxena. The memorandum alleged, "atrocities are committed on the Muslim community by demolishing their houses and putting them in jails in a clear violation of the law of the land".

“An attempt is being made in MP to create disturbance for quite some time. During the processions taken out on the occasion of Ram Navami festival in Khargone and Sendhwa towns, the members of the processions scaled walls of mosques and put up saffron flags on them besides raising inflammatory slogans,” the memorandum said.

The "provocative" actions of these people resulted in communal violence in which police personnel and rioters targeted the Muslim community by demolishing and torching their houses and shops, it alleged.

The memorandum alleged legislators of the ruling party are issuing provocative statements and urged the DGP to act in time to prevent a repeat of the situation elsewhere in the state.

Prominent Muslim body Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind sought Union Home Minister Amit Shah's intervention over the issue of alleged harassment of the minority community in Khargone and demanded a high-level judicial inquiry into the violence in the city.

The police were still investigating how the trouble started in Khargone city even as several eyewitness accounts emerged. An eyewitness said a Ram Navami procession started from the Talab Chowk area with a DJ music system playing religious songs loudly. When the procession crossed a mosque located nearby, suddenly stones were pelted on the procession which resulted in the flare-up, he said.

Another eyewitness said the procession started late than the scheduled time. While the procession was passing by a mosque, someone hurled stones, he added.

Inspector General, Indore range, Rakesh Gupta said, “It is a matter of investigation how the violence started and from where the stones were hurled first. It will be known once things settle."

Khargone Collector Anugraha P said, “The curfew is continuing in the city. People were given relaxation only for urgent medical needs.” She said the exams of undergraduate and post-graduate courses in Khargone have been postponed in view of the curfew.

An official release said the administration has taken into custody some of those involved in stone-pelting. They are being questioned and their illegal properties, including shops and houses, are being demolished, it added.

MP Home Minister Narottam Mishra spoke to Khargone SP Siddharth Choudhary, who had suffered a bullet injury in the violence on Sunday, and enquired about his health.

Talking to PTI, Choudhary said, “After I got information about the arson and reached the Sanjay Nagar area, a youth holding a sword ran towards me. But, when I chased him and tried to snatch the sword from him, I suffered a thumb injury." "When I chased him again, an associate of the youth shot at me, injuring my left leg. The bullet passed through the calf on the other side. I did not require a surgery, and am recuperating at home,” he added.

Meanwhile, a case was registered on Tuesday in Bhopal against senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh for allegedly promoting religious enmity after he tweeted a picture of a mosque in another state while commenting on communal violence at Khargone.

In a tweet on Monday morning, Singh posted a picture showing some youths hoisting a saffron flag at a mosque, and referred to the violence that broke out during Ram Navami celebrations in Khargone. The former CM deleted the tweet later.

The case against the Rajya Sabha MP was registered by the Crime Branch police station based on a complaint about the tweet, Bhopal police commissioner Makrand Deuskar said.

After Singh deleted the post, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan took to Twitter, saying the Congress leader had tweeted a photo of youths hoisting saffron flag at a religious place which was not from Madhya Pradesh. The tweet is a conspiracy to spread religious frenzy in the state and push the state into the fire of riots which will not be tolerated, Chouhan said. State Home Minister Mishra alleged Singh "wants to fuel communal tension by spreading confusion".

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