BHOPAL: After communal riots caused wide-spread damages in Khargone town of Madhya Pradesh,
several Hindu families in the Sanjay Nagar locality, one of the worst-hit areas, have written ‘Ye Makaan Bikau Hai (this house is for sale)’ outside their houses.
One such house owner Rakesh Kale lamented that they have been targets of communal riots at least four times since 1992.
“Every time we rebuild our lives after losing properties in communal violence, another riot happens and we end up becoming the first target. This time again, the rioters from adjoining areas stormed into my house and tried to set it ablaze,” Kale said on Wednesday.
The daily wage labourer’s wife, Kamini, while echoing her husband’s sentiments, said not only their family but other Hindu families (20-25 Hindu families reside in the locality) also were eager to sell their houses and leave.
While Kale said he had written ‘house on sale’ on the wall of his house, Khargone District Collecter Anugraha P claimed that it was the handiwork of “outsiders”. Just a few houses away, Preeti Chandole showed what the rioters did to their house on April 10.
“While I was helping my brother in agriculture field, my mother and little nephew were alone in the house. Both of them fled the house, after which the rioters set ablaze the property inside. This is the third time the house has been attacked and burnt in the last few years. We don’t have any other option, but sell the house,” Preeti said.
Meanwhile, the Madhya Pradesh government on Wednesday posted Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Rohit Kashwani as the in-charge superintendent of police (SP) of the riot-hit Khargone district in place of Siddharth Choudhary, who is on leave and recuperating after getting injured in violence during Ram Navami celebrations.
The 2017-batch IPS officer, currently posted in Dhar as commandant of the 34th battalion of the Special Armed Force, will hold the additional charge of Khargone SP till the incumbent district police chief (Choudhary) resumes duty, additional chief secretary (ACS), home, Dr Rajesh Rajora said.
Choudhary suffered bullet injuries in his left leg while controlling riot in Khargone town, triggered by stone pelting on a Ram Navami procession on Sunday, police sources said.
The police officer is recuperating at home after spending some time in hospital.
Khargone is currently under a curfew.
A delegation of Muslim clerics on Wednesday evening met Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra and raised the issue of alleged targeting of their community after the communal violence in parts of the state, including Khargone city, and the latter assured them that innocent people will not be harassed.
Mishra, a state government spokesperson, assured the clerics that no innocent person will be harassed but asserted the guilty will not be spared and sought the minority community's cooperation in identifying and punishing those trying to disturb peace and harmony.
The meeting comes a day after a group of Muslim clerics submitted a memorandum to Director General of Police (DGP) Sudhir Saxena and alleged community members were selectively targeted by the state administration in the wake of violence in Khargone and also raised other grievances.
The Muslim clerics, led by Qazi-e-Shahar, Bhopal, Syed Mushtaq Ali, submitted a memorandum to the home minister, stating the law and order situation has been deteriorating in the state for sometime now.
Anger prevails in the Muslim community due to "one sided action" by the administration (in violence-hit areas), the memorandum said.
Community members are being put in jail and their shops and houses are being demolished, it said.
In the memorandum, the clerics expressed apprehension of an untoward event in Bhopal as the Bajrang Dal has announced to take out a procession from Itwara to Budhwara areas in the state capital on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti (April 16).
This announcement has caused fear in a section of the community which is observing the month of Ramzan, it said.
The memorandum raised objections over the demolition of houses and shops of riot accused in Khargone, saying an entire family, including children, can't be punished for the unlawful act of one person.
After the meeting, Mishra said, "All the apprehensions raised by the delegation were sorted out. They were also assured that the innocent will not be harassed, but the guilty will not be spared. I also urged them to cooperate in identifying those who disturb communal harmony."
Khargone city, which saw large-scale violence during Ram Navami celebrations, is under a curfew since Sunday.
A stone pelting incident was also reported during a Ram Navami procession in Sendhwa town of Barwani district.
(With PTI Inputs)