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After the Rs 25.33 lakh-fine slapped on upper caste residents of five villages in Rajgarh for oppressing those from the SC/ST community, the Digvijay Singh government has now begun the process of imposing a similar fine at other places in the state. Those responsible for fomenting communal tension in Dhar, over the Bhojshala issue, and at Ganj Basoda in Raisen, where cowhide and carcasses were allegedly found in a Muslim home, could face such a fine.
The chief minister hasn’t yet named the organisations or groups of people on whom this “community fine” will be imposed but the district collectors of Dhar and Raisen are expected to issue orders soon. Both places had seen communal strife in January.
While Dhar in west Madhya Pradesh witnessed communal tension over a disputed 11th century-monument, where a mosque and a temple co-exist since before Independence, Ganj Basoda in Raisen saw the burning of dozens of Muslim shops after certain Hindu groups claimed the discovery of cow skeletons from the house of a butcher.
The Dhar monument, in possession of the ASI, has been a bone of contention between Muslims – who term it as Kamaal Maula Masjid after the Muslim saint Kamaaluddin Chisti whose dargah adjoins it – and Hindus, who describe it as a Bhojshala and Saraswati mandir. Though it is well known that VHP and Hindu Jagaran Manch leaders had rallied around the Bhojshala issue, Mr Digvijay Singh has been playing safe till now.
The Opposition BJP, however, has taken serious exception to the government’s “over-zealousness on enforcing medieval and feudal laws” by imposing a community fine for offences committed by a handful of people with vested interests. But senior BJP leaders also say it is too early to comment on the move.
Criticising the concept, BJP’s chief ministerial candidate Miss Uma Bharati said “imposition of community fines only reflects the government’s divisive policies. The CM is out to create a Jehanabad- type situation in Madhya Pradesh”.
The BJP’s fact-finding team which
visited five villages in Rajgarh district said villagers preferred “death
to paying community fines”. Opposition leader Mr Babulal Gaur, said “instead
of holding district officials responsible for violence, the government
is looking for a scapegoat in innocent people”.
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