New Delhi: Ninety-seven people were arrested after communal tensions heightened in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur, hours before Eid. Authorities have also suspended mobile internet services and imposed a curfew in areas that come under the jurisdiction of 10 police stations across the city.
Three injured people are undergoing treatment at hospitals while 12-15 others have been discharged after primary treatment, the Rajasthan government has said.
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, whose hometown is Jodhpur, has appealed to people to maintain peace and harmony. He also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party’s central leadership of trying to defame the state government.
At midnight on Monday, May 2, a clash broke out over the hoisting of a flag on the statue of a freedom fighter, Balmukund Bissa, near the city’s Jalori Gate, Indian Express has reported. Another flag installed at the statue ahead of Parshuram Jayanti was reported as having gone missing.
The situation was brought under control in the early hours of Tuesday. Police lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the crowd. Five policemen were injured, the police control room said. However, fresh clashes began after prayers at an Eidgah.
Shops, vehicles and houses were pelted with stones near the Jalori gate area. Consequently, mobile internet services were suspended in the area to check the spread of rumours, officials said.
Gehlot in a tweet urged people to maintain peace and called the incident unfortunate in a series of tweets.
“While respecting the tradition of love and brotherhood of Jodhpur, Marwar, I make an appeal to all parties to maintain peace and cooperate in restoring law and order,” he said.
The chief minister said leaders of all political parties should ask their workers to maintain peace and they all should remain united.
Gehlot also chaired a high-level meeting at the Chief Minister’s office to review the situation. He also asked ministers Rajendra Yadav and Subhash Garg, and two officers to go to Jodhpur by helicopter.
Yadav and Garg, along with the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) and the Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) visited the violence-hit area and a hospital.
Yadav told reporters at a press conference that more than 50 people have been arrested and efforts are being made to identify others. More were arrested since then, police said.
“We will hold a meeting with officials to discuss every aspect of the incident. If any officer has not shared the correct information with the government, then the officer will be removed,” he said. The Wire
