Fresh violence in riot-hit Aligarh

      Aligarh (UP): Fresh violence broke out in Aligarh city on Saturday after a person was shot, police officials said. The incident was followed by stray cases of stone-pelting even as curfew continued in the town for the third day. Inspector General of Police, Kanpur Zone, Rizwan Ahmed said security has been tightened in the area following the killing of one more person. "A boy was shot at by anti-social elements. He has been taken to the hospital. There are only a few Hindu families living in this area and in view of this we have made arrangements for their security," he said.

     Senior police officials were camping here to monitor the situation. According to an official Rapid Action Force (RAF), Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and civil police had been deployed to control the situation. Riots broke out in the city on Thursday when groups of Hindus and Muslims clashed over prayers at a Hindu temple. The rioting erupted in a crowded neighbourhood of Aligarh, in Uttar Pradesh after Muslims objected to the use of loudspeakers overnight by Hindus, who were celebrating the birthday of the Lord Rama. Over 120 persons had so far been arrested in connection with the communal clashes. Sate government has announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of the deceased and an additional sum of Rs 2.5 lakh compensation was announced by the Centre as well. Meanwhile, the two-member high-level committee comprising principal secretary agriculture Arun Kumar Mishra and DG Police Headquarters SK Rizvi is constituted to probe the reason behind the outbreak of the communal violence. It has been asked to submit report within a week. Taking serious note of violence, UP government has already suspended six officers including DM RK Singh, SSP Ajay Anand, SP City SK Verma, ADM Satya Bhan, Circle Officer MP Singh and an SHO. Minister of state for Home, Sriprakash Jaiswal had said on Friday he favoured a judicial probe into the riots, while the state government had suspended the top police and civil officers of the city.

    The Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Maulana Syed Abdullah Bukhari was this morning prevented from entering Aligarh in the wake of communal violence rocking the city. Bukhari was stopped in Ghaziabad. He said that it was not fair on the part of Government to prevent him from going to Aligarh, as he was only going there to appeal for restoration of peace in the city. Meanwhile, National Commission for Minorities (NCM) member Harcharan Singh Josh will be visiting Aligarh today and will meet district officials, public representatives and community leaders there. The NCM has ordered a on-the-spot inquiry into the communal violence.

     Six people were died in the clash that broke out between two religious groups during Ram Navami celebrations in Dahiwali Gali area on Thursday afternoon, over a dispute pertaining to decoration at a makeshift temple for Ram Navmi. However, communal tension first sparked off Wednesday night, resulting in stone pelting, firing and destruction of public property in the area. The Bharatiya Janata Party has alleged that the violence was a result of the minority appeasement policies of the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government. The Government had announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs.5 lakh each to the kin of the deceased and financial assistance of Rs.1 lakh and Rs.50, 000 each to those injured in the clashes.

      Aligarh, which has a large Muslim population, has seen frequent clashes between Hindus and Muslims in the past. Most-populous state in the country UP has a 17 percent Muslim minority. Eighteen people were killed and dozens were injured last month by bomb blasts, carried out by Islamic militants, in Varanasi. Though communal tensions in the country have eased in the past two years, violence flares easily in crowded towns of the north and the west where the Hindu majority and Muslim minority live side by side.

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