As Indore burns Bhopal caught in blame game

As Indore struggles to return to normalcy and victims8217; families try to come to grips with their losses...

As Indore struggles to return to normalcy and victims8217; families try to come to grips with their losses, the ruling BJP and the main opposition party Congress are engaged in a vicious campaign blaming each other for turning the town into a tinderbox.

The commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh has witnessed several incidents of communal violence over the last couple of years. But it was for the first time since the riots that followed the Babri Masjid demolition that the entire town was brought under curfew again.

Congress leader Digvijay Singh, who was chief minister of the state for ten years, says when a chief minister wants, he can ensure that no communal riot takes place in the state. He promptly blamed the ruling party for the riots.

The Congress felt Chouhan8217;s assertion that 8220;the Jammu and Kashmir Government8217;s decision on the land transfer to the Amarnath shrine board had insulted the majority community8221; only added fuel to the fire and signalled to the administration and police that they were supposed to go soft on elements involved in violence.

No wonder, the state8217;s Director General of Police quote on record that 8220;even God can8217;t predict when a communal situation can be completely brought under control.8221;

The BJP, for its part, blames the riots on the Congress, saying the Students8217; Islamic Movement of India prospered during its 10-year-long reign in the central Indian state. The ruling party is sure that the communal disturbances have been engineered by the proscribed students8217; organisation.

State BJP president Narendra Singh Tomar, despite five deaths on the day the Hindu organisations gave a call for Bharat Bandh, thanked the people of Madhya Pradesh for a successful bandh. He alleged that the Congress sponsored the latest riots to divert attention from the probe initiated by the state government into the activities of SIMI.

Story continues below this ad

State BJP spokesman Umashankar Gupta was not so sure if the SIMI link had already been exhausted and said the Government would expose the role of SIMI and the support it got from the Congress.

Former BJP chief minister Uma Bharati, herself no stranger to communal riots, felt that criminal elements had infiltrated organisations like the Bajrang Dal 8220;in recent times8221; and they can8217;t be controlled once they are unleashed during these situations.

The stage for the war of words was set, it seemed, when BJP8217;s prime ministerial candidate L K Advani8217;s book was released in the state capital last week. Advani had managed the presence of spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Yoga guru Baba Ramdev on the dais. Both criticised the decision to revoke the land transfer to the shrine board.

While Advani himself avoided the mention of Amarnath, he said, while leaving Bhopal, that the UPA Government8217;s decision was 8220;anti-Hindu8221; and that it often succumbed to pressure from fundamentalists from other religions while taking the majority community for granted.