AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi has said that those who fled Vadodara and went into hiding after stone-pelting during last week’s Ram Navami processions will be traced, prosecuted and convicted.
The data on past record of such incidents, presented by the government in the Lok Sabha in the winter session, however, do not inspire confidence. Over the past three years, more than 80 riots occurred in
Gujarat, but no one has been convicted.
Stones were thrown at a Ram Navami procession in the Fatehpura area of Gujarat’s Vadodara city on March 30. Home minister Sanghavi visited Vadodara on Tuesday and addressed a press conference. “Those who fled the city and went into hiding after throwing stones will be tracked down and brought back to the city. We will apprehend every such person and take harsh action against them,” he said.
The BJP government has been continuously saying that there has been peace in Gujarat since 2002 and that the government has quelled the riots by taking strict action against rioters.
According to the data presented in the Lok Sabha, there were 39 communal riots in Gujarat in 2018 and 428 rioters were apprehended by the police. While the state saw 22 communal riots in 2019, 179 rioters were arrested.
In 2020, 23 incidents of communal riots broke out and the police arrested 239 people.
In total, there have been 84 incidents of communal violence in the state over the three years between 2018 and 2020, but not a single accused has been punished. The conviction rate is zero. “The BJP government is responsible for the communal riots in Gujarat, so the real culprits are never caught,” Congress spokesperson Hiren Banker said.
“In any communal riot, the government arrests people of a particular community, but they are never found guilty because there is no evidence against them in the court. In reality, the BJP government’s own data demonstrate this,” he added.
Hiren Banker Said “During the Gujarat election, the BJP government made big claims about how safe and secure Gujarat is. Where is the security and who is safe in Gujarat if there have been 84 incidents of communal riots in three years? This should be clarified by the Home Minister.”