Vadodara crisis: NCM urges Guj to conduct probe

New Delhi, May 1: The National Commission for Minorities (NCM) today urged the Gujarat Government to conduct a judicial probe into the killing of two people in Vadodara police firing and ascertain if ''excessive use of force'' was unavoidable in the incident.

''The Vadodara incident is an instance of excessive use of force in a situation that could have been handled with tact...The Gujarat Government must conduct a judicial inquiry to ascertain if police firing was unavoidable,'' the Commission said.

Two people were killed and 30 injured as sporadic incidents of violence today rocked the walled city area in Vadodara after a mob clashed with a Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) squad and police teams, while they were carrying out demolition of a dargah in Fatehpura area.

The Commission also urged the state government to ascertain if the classification of the dargah as an ''encroachment'' was correctly done.

A Commission statement said it had urged the Gujarat Government last night to verify the claim of community leaders that the Dargah was a 300-year-old structure and figured in the city records.

''They were also requested to ascertain if there were any encroachments of recent origin at the site. This does not appear to have been done,'' the statement said.

''It stands to reason that a structure that pre-dates a Master Plan cannot be put in the category of encroachment. Nor could it be the policy of the Government to pull down historical structures,'' it added.

Curfew has been clamped in the city police station area. Police fired 28 rounds and lobbed more than 100 teargas shells to bring the situation under control, Police Commissioner Deepak Swaroop told UNI.

''Two people died and six people have sustained bullet injuries in the firing,'' he added.

The mob comprising several hundred people, targetted a vegetable market, shops, cabins and houses belonging to another community.

Justifying the demolition drive, City Mayor Sunil Solanki said the VMC has decided to remove all those religious places, including temples and dargahs, which are located in the middle of the road.

However, those on the roadside will be spared. ''We are carrying out the drive following a directive of the High Court,'' he said.

Mr Solanki said the city administration has already removed 7-8 temples with the consent of local Hindu leaders.

The Mayor claimed the VMC officials had a meeting with the religious leaders before carrying out the drive.

The protestors were opposing the VMC's move to demolish a 100-year-old dargah in Fatehpura police station area, which was encroaching the road near the historic Champaner Gate. They indulged in stone throwing when the VMC squad and police parties came in to execute the demolition.

Though the Dargah was razed by the VMC officials, another dargah in the area could not be removed as tension gripped the city.

UNI

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