Date:07/12/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/12/07/stories/2007120750260100.htm

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Dormant fear among communities

Special Correspondent

Situation is peaceful in Tiptur, says Superintendent of Police

— Photo: Bhagya Prakash K.

One of the victims in hospital in Tiptur on Thursday.

Tiptur: On Thursday, Tiptur looked as normal to a casual eye as any town on any week day, with schools, offices and business establishments running as usual. The communal tensions that had marred the town’s peace the previous two days seemed to have evaporated.

However, enquiries around the town and a visit to the General Hospital, where two victims of violence are admitted, revealed that the fear was only dormant.

Autorickshaw drivers Naseerullah (20) and Mehboob Pasha (19), who have injuries in their heads and bruises all over, alleged that, in two incidents, men, beat them on Tuesday. Later, the autorickshaws were set on fire by the mob. The same day, in another part of the town, a garage belonging to Afroz Pasha was also set on fire. There were stray cases of stone-throwing near a bar.

Trouble began at a cattle shandy at Karadalu near the town earlier in the day where a group of Muslim cattle traders bought cows. They were stopped by Gorakshana Vedike activists who seized a few head of cattle. When supporters of both groups assembled and the situation was fraught with the possibility of a communal flare-up, the police arrived, and a peace committee meeting was held in an effort to bring it under control. However, when the autorickhsaw and the garage were set on fire, Section 144 of the Cr.PC was imposed in the town.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishat and the Bajrang Dal called for a bandh on Wednesday. They were protesting against the arrest of a few Bajrang Dal activists. The Shila Sethu Rathyatra of the Sri Rameshwar Ramasethu Samrakshana Samiti was taken out.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader B.C. Nagesh told The Hindu that they had got “special permission” from the district administration for the procession. He claimed that Hindus were not responsible for any violence. There was looting of Hindu property by Muslims but cases had not been booked, he said.

However, Nasir Khan, a member of the municipal council, alleged: “They were the people who started the violence. They were the people who called for the bandh.”

Tumkur Superintendent of Police P. Harisekaran said that the police had acted swiftly and averted communal tension and the situation was now peaceful. The police were “fair and impartial”, he added.