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Author: Correspondent
Publication: The Telegraph
Date: May 27, 2007
URL: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070527/asp/nation/story_7835774.asp
Vadodara police are probing whether stray incidents of violence over provocative sketches of Prophet Mohammed were part of a larger conspiracy even as tempers remained high in the textile city caught in a row over "obscene" paintings.
"The whole thing seems to be a larger conspiracy hatched by those who want to disrupt peace and communal harmony in the city," said Vadodara police commissioner P.C. Thakur.
Yesterday, police had to use tear gas and batons on protesters who defied prohibitory orders and tried to take out a procession against the alleged depiction of the prophet. Fifteen people were arrested.
Islam forbids idol worship and the depiction of the prophet in any form.
The sketches had appeared mysteriously earlier this week on the Maharaja Sayajirao University campus, less than a fortnight after an art student of the institute was arrested for "obscene" depiction of gods and goddesses.
A few days later, during a protest against the display of the art student's works, Deepak Shah, a BJP activist and member of the university senate, offered Rs 1 lakh to anyone who could draw an obscene painting of the prophet.
Thakur claimed some minority leaders, including former Congress councillors Aziz Dangewala and Javed Dhupelwala, were behind yesterday's violence. "These are troublemakers who we have identified and they will be arrested soon," the police chief, who has approached a local court seeking permission to book the "conspirators", said.
Furious minority leaders, who accuse the police officer of bias, have decided to court arrest if the two councillors are put behind bars.
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