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Tension as groups clash in Bhopal

By Lalit Shastri

Police personnel standing guard at the entrance of the Hanuman temple and the gate of a graveyard at the Kohe-Fiza area in Bhopal on Tuesday after members of two communities clashed hurling stones at each other . — Photo : A.M. Faruqui

BHOPAL JUNE 10. Tension developed in a particular area of the old city area of Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh today when members of two communities clashed over the sudden putting up of an entrance to a graveyard near a temple.

An old graveyard on the road leading to Karbala here, which has not been used for a long time, suddenly became the bone of contention today when some Hindus protested the "sudden construction" of a new boundary wall and the setting up of the entrance to the graveyard adjacent to the "Hanumankund Mandir", which is not very old. A large number of Muslims came on to the streets and the situation soon became tense.

Police forces were rushed to the area when members belonging to the two communities started throwing stones at each other. They defused the situation but tension still prevailed.

The District Collector later called a meeting attended by members of both the communities and stressed that the status quo should be maintained and nothing done to spoil peace and communal amity.

While those opposing the construction of the new entrance to the graveyard were firm that the location and direction of the gate would have to be changed, the other side was equally firm on not relenting, according to sources.

Bharatiya Janata Party activists, who led the protest, told The Hindu that those responsible for erecting the new boundary wall and entrance to the graveyard were receiving "patronage" from a member of the Digvijay Singh Cabinet.

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