The Opposition BJP leaders boycotted a meeting of the peace committee convened by the district administration in Jodhpur on Wednesday following a clash between two communities, even as the curfew imposed in 10 police station limits of the city remained in force for the second consecutive day.
There were no fresh incidents of violence reported from anywhere in the city.
Police have registered 12 first information reports in connection with the violence. They arrested 141 persons both under sections of the Indian Penal Code and Section 151 (arrest to prevent the commission of cognisable offences) of the Criminal Procedure Code. As many as nine policemen were injured in the violence.
“Innocent people arrested”
Religious leaders from both the communities, Education Minister B.D. Kalla, Soorsagar BJP MLA Suryakanta Vyas and other representatives arrived at Circuit House on Wednesday afternoon, but Ms. Vyas and BJP’s office-bearers boycotted the peace committee meeting. Ms. Vyas alleged that the police were arresting innocent persons.
“We are willing to hold talks with all sides... But the government should first arrest the miscreants who put up Eid flags on the [Jalori Gate] circle. They are clearly visible in the CCTV footages,” Ms. Vyas said. The BJP leaders alleged that the police were acting with bias to protect criminal elements.
However, religious leader Mufti Sher Mohammed and Bada Ramdwara’s Mahant Ram Prasad, who were present at the meeting, issued an appeal to both the communities to maintain peace. Five senior police officers from Jaipur are camping in Jodhpur and nearly 1,000 policemen have been deployed in different parts of the city to maintain law and order.
Gehlot blames BJP
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has hit out at the BJP, accusing it of instigating riots in Rajasthan to create instability on the “instructions of [its] high command”. Mr. Gehlot told reporters during his visit to Udaipur to see the preparations for ‘Chintan Shivir’ of the Congress that the BJP was trying to defame the Congress government because it “cannot digest peace”.
Mr. Gehlot, who represents Jodhpur’s Sardarpura constituency in the State Assembly, said there was no serious issue in the city that could have led to rioting. “It is clearly the BJP’s gameplan. The BJP leaders are nervous... Union Ministers and former Ministers have all swooped down on Jodhpur to create trouble,” he said.
