Babri ghosts grip Rajasthan district

Tension and fear are palpable even 15 km before the town where police checkposts and barricades have been set up. Traffic on the road to Malpura has been suspended. There are deserted roads and lanes all along the way.

The state BJP has been left rattled by the riots which started after Kailash Mali, husband of Malpura BJP vice-president and said to belong to the RSS, was stabbed to death late in the afternoon yesterday. He was the main accused in the riots sparked by the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992 and was alleged to have been involved in about a dozen killings. About two dozen persons had been killed in that burst of frenzy.

According to Kailash’s relatives, he had been receiving threats for over a year. His enemies had apparently been pursuing him ever since he was released on bail, reportedly over a year ago. His daughter, Saroj, said some men had accosted and threatened her a few days ago. “1992 yaad hai? Sambhal kar rehna,’ they had said,” she recalled.

Yesterday, Kailash had gone to meet some relative in nearby Kekri. Some people waited for his return on the road which passes through a Muslim-dominated locality. As he arrived on his motorcycle, they attacked him, inflicting several stab wounds on his head and rest of the body. Kailash allegedly lay there wounded for about half-an-hour till the police arrived and took him to hospital.

He was referred to Jaipur, allegedly without being given even first aid, according to angry relatives. He died on the way.

According to Saroj, the assailants belonged to a gang which was earlier active in Malpura and had later moved to Mumbai. Kailash’s relatives named two lawyers who they claimed had links with the killers and could give the police information about them.

The attack on Kailash sparked off more violence. Three men working in the fields were slain. A jeep carrying people from Jhalrapatan was attacked as it entered, the vehicle unable to escape because of the poor condition of the road.

The mob beat four persons to death while three others — two women and a child — escaped with their lives as the SHO’s jeep happened to pass that way and the assailants fled as soon as they spotted it. Among those killed, two were minor, teenaged boys.

By 6.30 in the evening, the town was placed under curfew. Twenty persons had been rounded up till this afternoon. The Army had been alerted last night but wasn’t deployed; instead the RAF maintained vigil. Section 144 was clamped in nearby Todaraisingh. Additional forces were despatched to Jhalrapatan to which the occupants of the jeep belonged.

The area has always been sensitive and riot-prone. Every incident creates communal tension here; last time was just a month back when a truck driver was reported to have been killed. Further violence was checked each time. The town had seen full-fledged rioting in 1989 and 1992 during the Ram Janambhoomi agitation.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot held high-level meetings last night and this morning to review the situation. Ministers B D Kalla, Tayyab Hussain and Shanti Dhariwal, home secretary R K Nayar, secretaries to CM Adarsh Kishore and CK Matthew and the DG Police (Admn and Law and Order) Ashok Bhandari attended the meeting.

The three ministers were sent to Malpura today to talk to representatives of both communities and help ease tension. Divisional Commissioner D S Sagar and DIG Jaipur (Rural) SN Jain were camping in Malpura.

The state government has announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh to the next of kin of each of the victims who died in the rioting. The Divisional Commissioner has been asked to inquire into the incident and ascertain the number of persons and circumstances behind it.