Uneasy calm prevails in Asind

By Mohammed Iqbal

JAIPUR, JULY 31. An uneasy calm prevailed today at Asind in Bhilwara district where a 16th Century mosque was demolished by a mob of hoodlums last Friday. Heavy police force was deployed in and around the town, and especially in the Sawai Bhoj complex situated 3 km from the town, to prevent any untoward incident.

The site of the demolished mosque - where a temple of Lord Hanuman has since been erected - continues to be in the control of the Sawai Bhoj Temple Trust. Jeeploads of people belonging to the Gurjar community were arriving at the temple complex on a call reportedly given by the trust.

There was a flurry of activity in the State Capital, both within and outside the Government machinery, since this morning to tackle the repercussions of the episode and prevent any communal backlash. The Inspector-General of Police (Intelligence), Mr. M.K. Devarajan, left for Asind for an on-the-spot assessment.

The district administration, which had convened a meeting of the hurriedly-formed peace committee in Asind on Monday, has referred the demolition issue to the Rajasthan Waqf Board and succeeded in evolving a consensus on the route to the Badia Dargah, situated at a distance from the Sawai Bhoj temple, through the temple complex.

``Since the Waqf Board is the highest body for Waqf properties in the State, the two sides agreed to seek its opinion to work out a mutually acceptable solution,'' the Bhilwara District Collector, Mr. C.P. Vyas, told The Hindu over telephone. He said the Waqf Board had been requested to clarify whether the mosque site could be exchanged with another piece of land under the Waqf Act.

Mr. Vyas said the Gurjar community had assured the administration that its ``panchayat'' would take a suitable decision on the idol installed on a marble platform built at the site of the demolished mosque ``in the best interest of communal harmony.'' The two sides agreed that the way to the Dargah - from where the trouble had originally started - would continue to be through the temple premises.

Though the peace committee is scheduled to meet again in Asind on August 6, it seems the administration will not be able to resolve the issue at the local level. The State Government, which has taken a serious note of the incident, is expected to take a major action for restoring normality to the town.

Despite two criminal cases having been lodged while specifically naming the alleged assailants, police have failed to arrest any of the culprits - who were estimated to be around 300 - so far. Mr. Vyas said police investigations were in progress.

Mr. Rafiq Ahmed, head of the Sheikh Committee in Asind, alleged that the criminals who had demolished the mosque were roaming freely in the town and threatening the members of the minority community. ``It was not the handiwork of the Gurjar community alone. The VHP and RSS activists had joined the hoodlums to guide them on destroying the mosque,'' he said.

The Chairman of the Rajasthan Waqf Board, Mr. Nasir Ali Naqvi, met the Chief Minister, Mr. Ashok Gehlot, here this evening to apprise him of the board's concern over the turn of events. He pointed out that the administration had been utterly negligent in dealing with the situation and concealed for three days its failure to protect the mosque.

``I have specifically told the Chief Minister that the only solution to the issue is immediate removal of the idol from the site and reconstruction of the mosque followed by its restoration to the Waqf Board,'' Mr. Naqvi told this correspondent. He denied having received any communication from the administration seeking the Waqf Board's opinion on exchange of the mosque site.

Mr. Naqvi said the Waqf was always for eternity and the title of a Waqf property, under the Waqf Act, vested in God.

It went without saying that the mosque should be in the legal possession of the Waqf Board despite the discontinuation of prayers in it.

Meanwhile, the Pradesh Congress Committee has constituted a three-member committee to probe the incident. The Rajasthan Minorities Commission will also be sending its member, Mr. Asghar Ali Naqvi, to Asind to confirm the sequence of events.

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