The Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram has written to the Chief Ministers (CMs) to maintain a high degree of vigil to check communal incidents in the states. In his letter, Chidambaram asked them to identify areas in towns/wards which are communally sensitive and to maintain constant vigil in those areas.
According to Chidambaram, “In recent weeks, there has been a rise in the number of incidents of communal discord and strife in several states of the country. This is a matter of concern. For example, in the month of August, there were 44 incidents and 10 lives were lost; in the month of September, there were 60 incidents and 16 lives were lost. Besides, a number of people were injured in these incidents”.
An analysis of the incidents shows that the spark was usually a trivial issue such as collision of two motorcycles, dispute over playing of loudspeaker, wordy quarrel over a petty issue, etc. In some cases, it appears that the incident was deliberately provoked by attempting to disturb a religious procession or an attack on a place of worship.
On a few occasions, the Central Government had to rush Central Armed Police Forces to assist the state police authorities in restoring law and order.
In the current month (up to 11th October), there have been 15 incidents which have resulted in six persons being killed and 112 persons being injured. Some of these incidents started with a minor dispute but certain other incidents were deliberately provoked by one group or the other. This shows that there are certain fundamentalist elements who are bent upon escalating communal tensions.
Since the period from now until the end of January, 2012 is marked by a number of religious occasions as well as commemorative dates and public holidays, it is important that state governments maintain a high degree of vigil so that there are no communal incidents. Chidambaram suggested a comprehensive review of the situation in the respective states.