Author: Statesman News Service
Publication: The Statesman
Date: May 10, 2009
Tension between the Hindu and Muslim communities
continued in Gazole and Ratua block areas, despite police patrolling and promulgation
of Section 144 of the CrPC.
Long-brewing communal tension had been sparked
off recently when a Hindu marriage procession had passed a mosque in Gazole,
prompting a group of Muslims to complain about the noise. Antagonism was heightened
last Friday, leading to a scuffle at a Hindu temple in Gazole during Friday
prayers.
The Malda SP Mr Satyajit Bandyopadhyay today
held a meeting with the political parties at Gazole police station to restore
normalcy there. It was decided that all political leaders would visit the
area tomorrow. Police have arrested nine persons from both communities since
Friday night in connection with rioting, provocation, and attacking police.
However, political leaders alleged that police have not arrested the ringleaders
who had provoked communal tension by forming small armed groups and attempting
to attack other groups. Police did not disclose information concerning any
specific communal encounter since the scuffle on Friday. Malda police have
already set up police camps in the region and the rapid action force (RAF)
is patrolling 24 hours. During the meeting, the political parties have demanded
the setting up of one more police camp in the area. The Malda district magistrate
Mr Sridhar Ghosh has instructed all block development officers to remain in
station and urged the political leaders to prevent people from creating further
trouble. Malda district administration yesterday promulgated Section 144 CrPC
in 10 moujas of Gazole and Ratua blocks, banning groups of more than four
from congregating in public places. The Malda sub-divisional officer Mr Prakash
Pal said: "The prohibitory order will continue until normalcy is restored.
Police picketing and patrolling in the sensitive areas will continue until
further orders."
In the most sensitive areas, people are staying
home, markets remain closed, and shops are shut in the evenings. Farmers,
frightened to leave their homes, are facing problems in harvesting their Boro
paddy cultivation on the banks of the Srimati and Mahananda rivers here. Boro
paddy is cultivated on hundreds of acres of land here on either side of National
Highway-81. It may be noted that tribals had once been in control of several
of the temples in Ratua and Gazole, during a period marked by peaceful coexistence
between the Hindus and Muslims. Now there are very few tribals remaining in
the two blocks. In Gazole, the majority of temples are currently controlled
by persons from Bangladesh.
