Trouble spreads to villages around Malegaon

By Mahesh Vijapurkar

MUMBAI, OCT. 29. Malegaon was somewhat under control - tense but quiet, with one major case of arson being reported today. But communal trouble spread to villages around the town, with sources speaking of ``fears that it could go out of hand''.

Maharashtra has requisitioned four more Army columns, thus doubling the presence of the men in olive. The new arrivals would be sent to the rural areas. Reports speak of people fleeing some villages.

With the deployment of the Army, and increased presence of State Reserve Police - they number seven companies - the local police has begun to go around picking up suspects from both communities. This has brought in its wake complaints of innocents also coming into the police dragnet.

A district administration official said: ``The situation is relatively better in Malegaon. Our focus of attention has shifted to the villages, mostly within about 30 km. of Malegaon where the only violence is by way of arson. People are getting scared.''

Locals who recall the 1992 riots before and after the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6, speak of a new dimension to the rioting now. It was almost one-sided then but the two communities now are keyed up enough to retaliate, even on the basis of copious rumours.

A local politician told The Hindu over telephone from Malegaon: ``The wave of rumours is worse. Anybody says anything, adds spice to it and fear spreads quicker than fire.'' People who move for security of their own community, carry the baggage of fear and rumours, tensing up others in the bargain.

From Friday Malegaon has been under curfew but even during its enforcement, violence had broken out; three were shot down yesterday by police personnel and today, a godown was set afire.

There are reports of a small temple in Malegaon and another darga 30 km. towards Dhule being desecrated but the official worry is over the trouble spreading to the rural areas.

Police counsel

The Maharashtra Minorities Commission Chairman, Mr. Mohomad Amin Khandwani, has criticised the distribution of anti-American handbills by people coming out of a mosque in Malegaon. The anti- war rally held a week earlier by the Janata Dal chief, Mr. Nihal Ahmed, was ``foolish'' as it vitiated the atmosphere there. The manner in which the police handled the situation was also ``unacceptable''.

``How could a rally in Malegaon help check the war in Afghanistan?'' he asked. ``Do the people who distributed the handbills urging people not to buy anything from the U.S. or made and sold by MNCs realise that there can be a retaliation against Indians overseas ?''

Mr. Ahmed, who was an MLA from Malegaon for more than one term, has told his party leaders that he was not involved in the trouble there. But the rally on October 19 which he held attracted 30,000 people and some had brought pictures of Osama bin Laden. The purpose was not to eulogise the Taliban or Osama but to protest the killings of the innocent. But he blamed miscreants for the attack on the rally. Mr. Ahmed was criticised in the Marathi media for being `Malegaon's Taliban'.

Tomorrow, several leaders of the Janata Dal are gathering at Saswad in Pune - a centre of a communal incident a few weeks ago - for an official ceremony hosted by Mr. Baba Jadhavrao, a Janata Dal Minister. Mr. Ahmed may be asked to explain his position. Mr. Khandwani, NCP leader, said: ``Mr. Ahmed may have been trying to promote his political status.''

Mr. Khandwani has been advised by the Maharashtra Chief Minister, Mr. Vilasrao Deshmukh, and the top police brass not to visit Malegaon till the situation improves. When some members of the Minorities Commission today called on the DGP, Mr. S.C. Malhotra, seeking permission to visit the place, they were told that ``a visit at this moment may be seen as an attempt to appease the minorities.'' The Commission, which held a meeting today, was concerned that a group identified by them ``were going from place to place, creating trouble for the minorities''. Another member of the Commission, Mr. Abraham Mathai, put the number of riots in two years of the present Government at around 40 which is close to Mr. Narayan Rane, ex-Chief Minister's number as well.

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