It didnt require the intervention of the police or the government to restore normalcy in Kavthepiran village in Sangli,where a Muslim religious place was damaged during the riot. Interestingly,this village,governed by women,had received the central governments best village award in 2006. The gram panchayat of Kavthepiran village,which is run by women,has decided to repair the damaged Muslim religious places and try to get life back to normal. The women have a major say,as not many houses here are owned by men. Our Muslim sisters played an equal role in getting the award for our village. There are over 100 Muslim houses in the village and some had started leaving the village after the riots. But we stopped them. All women from the village visited the Muslim houses and assured to protect them. The gram panchayat has decided to repair the damaged masjid as well, said the village sarpanch Nita Bhosale. Wrestler Bhimrao Mane,former sarpanch,who played a major role in getting the award for Kavthepiran,said,I was shocked to see riots in my village. Someone circulated CDs of Miraj riots in our village. Apparently there was news of some Muslims forcing a Hindu girl to consume poison at Manerajouri. This spread anger among some youths who launched an attack on Muslims. I was away and rushed to the village on knowing about it. But the damage was done, said Mane. District superintendent Krishna Prakash came to our village with a huge force but we asked him to leave. We wanted to settle the matter on our own, he added. What has happened is the past. Hindus have been inviting us during all their festivals for many years. We panicked during the riot. But we still have faith in our Hindu neighbours,said Shabbir Pathan,one of those who never thought of leaving the village. We dont believe in police at all. When the riots broke out,we had turned to our Hindu friends for help, said Sikandar Indamdar,another villager. Maharashtra Police targets YouTube over riot clips MUMBAI: THE Maharashtra Police has approached the Central government to get Internet video site YouTube to stop showing clips of the communal trouble in Miraj and Sangli,fearing that they could provoke fresh tension. According to senior police officials,since the video streaming sites server is based outside India,the state police have to communicate through the Central government. The notice sent via the Central government wants the videos showing three to seven-minute grabs of riots posted by onlookers at Sangli,taken off the site. The process was initiated on Monday after police found the uploaded videos communally sensitive,sources said. A senior police official privy to the report sent to the Centre said,The videos posted are all selective showing only one side of the riot with videos of police beating Hindus. There are slogans which are anti-minority with historical facts twisted to suit ones needs. It clearly shows that the medium is being used to further the agenda of a select group of people who are continuing to post videos at regular intervals. A spokesperson of Google,which owns YouTube,said,As a matter of policy we dont comment on individual videos on YouTube. When a video is brought to our attention that violates YouTube community guidelines and terms of use,our trained staff will examine and remove the video accordingly. However,the spokesperson did not comment on whether the company had been asked to remove clips relating to communal trouble in Maharashtra. ENS
