MANGALORE, Jan 6: No major violence has been reported in the last four days in Suratkal. But the recent riots claimed seven lives, left several injured and damaged public and private property worth crores of rupees. People in the district blame the official machinery for inefficient handling of the situation.C R Ballal of the Kasturba Medical College said a minor incident was blown out of proportion, resulting in the loss of lives. ``We need peace committees, but they will be effective only if politicians stay out of them,'' Ballal said.Lions' District Governor Shantharam Shetty said the riots were caused by some jobless persons who took great pleasure in instigating violence and used such incidents to their advantage.Kalbhavi Venkata Rao, social worker, said adequate police protection was not available in Bunder, the business hub of Mangalore.Lawyer Sitaram Shetty said, ``Anti-social elements who have no other work'' had triggered the riots. ``I don't think any politicians were involved. Butrowdy elements should be identified and action taken against them,'' he urged.Navin Chandra Suvarna, president of the All-India Billava Union said politics should be kept away from such incidents, otherwise the situation would only worsen. He said permanent taluka-level peace committees consisting of intellectuals should be formed and meet regularly to prevent riots from recurring.Jagadeesh Shenoy, executive director of the New Taj Group of Hotels, said police protection was not available in Bunder and Carstreet areas. ``I feel some political colour is being given to the riots. The Government agencies should, at least now, take concrete measures to prevent the recurrence of such events,'' he said.A judicial department officer said politicians should have kept away from the incidents and the police given a free hand to deal with the situation. If that had been done, the situation could have been controlled much faster, he said.The working class seemed unaware of the gravity of the situation, butstayed indoors for fear of violence. They did not seem to know what a curfew or prohibitory order meant.Janaki, a beedi worker, said she was frightened and so stayed indoors. ``We were afraid that there would be firing or lathi-charge,'' she added.
