Jaipur: The situation in violence-hit Jodhpur remains peaceful on Wednesday. The curfew in 10 areas of the city continued. The police have registered 13 FIRs and arrested more than 100 people in connection with violence in the city.
In the meantime, the blame game has also started as CM Ashok Gehlot has said that Rajasthan is the target of BJP and that is why the riots are happening, while union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said that If BJP is responsible for Jodhpur violence, then for whom the CM is waiting, arrest and take action.
The administration had imposed a curfew in 10 police circles of Jodhpur city on Tuesday after communal clashes on Monday late at night and Tuesday morning, The situation remained peaceful after the imposition of curfew. Students were allowed to appear for exams on Wednesday morning.
"The situation is under control and peaceful in the city. We have deployed enough police force and officials are patrolling continuously. No unwanted incident has been reported since morning. The police have registered 13 FIRs and arrested more than 100 people in connection with violence in the city," said Navjyoti Gogoi. The Commissioner of police Jodhpur.
Police admit lapses
There are reports that police deployment was not enough and the administration took a long time to impose a curfew. The first incident happened late at night while that second clash took place in the morning but the curfew was imposed in the afternoon and in between miscreants torched bikes and pelted stones in different parts of the city.
The police have admitted that there were some lapses in the security arrangements looking at the intelligence input on festivals. Talking to the media the Police commissioner Navjyoti Gogoi admitted that looking at the mob the deployment of police was not enough but he claimed that the police managed well to control the situation. While ADG law and order Hawa Singh Ghumria said ‘had we been 100 per cent successful, we would have not been sitting here but this is a matter of investigation and we’ll look into it."
The blame game starts
The blame game has also started on Jodhpur violence. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday said that BJP is nervous and their target is Rajasthan and that's why riots are spreading. ‘They (BJP leaders) have instructions from their high command, to defame the Rajasthan government, and make it unstable, said Gehlot while talking to media in Udaipur.
Gehlot said that BJP leaders have been given homework and so they are prolonging everything. The incident happened in Karauli settled in one and half hour, but the media is still running it; Rajgarh (Alwar) incident was of their own (BJP) but is going on to defame Congress. Now in Jodhpur all the union ministers and former ministers, have stepped in because they have been asked from the top, said the CM.
On the incident of Jodhpur, he said that there was no such issue that there should be a riot. We did not allow the riot to happen anywhere, neither in Karauli, Rajgarh, nor in Jodhpur, that is why there was no casualty, and no big incident or accident happened.
Commenting on charges by Gehlot, Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said if the riots are planned and are by BJP and its workers, then why is the police sitting idle.? Arrest the BJP leaders. “If BJP is responsible for Jodhpur violence, then for whom is he waiting, arrest and take action,” he said.
Shekhawat questioned by saying that the CM is not considering incidents of Karauli to Jodhpur as riots but A man walking on the street is stabbed, acid bottles are thrown, women are insulted, shops ransacked, stones are pelted…isn’t this riot? “He (Gehlot) is giving such a definition and waiting for riots to fulfil his political aspirations, to save and retain his chair,” said Shekhawat.
