The
Hindu
September 11,
2009
BJP blames Congress for
Sangli riots
Staff Reporter
Party trying to
polarise voters: Munde
MUMBAI: The Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) general secretary Gopinath Munde on Thursday blamed
the Congress for the situation in the riot-hit Ichalkaranji, Miraj and
Sangli.
“The Congress is trying
to polarise voters on communal lines and secure Muslim votes for
itself,” he told journalists at the party office here. “However, this
attempt will fail.”
“Agreement violated”
Mr. Munde lambasted the
ruling alliance for violating the agreement reached at an all-party
meeting on the riots on Tuesday. “The Opposition came out in support
of the government on three occasions: first, after the serial blasts
in local trains in 2006; next, during the terror attacks last
November; and finally now.
“In fact, with the
elections coming up, we needn’t have responded to the Chief Minister’s
call for an all-party meeting. But we kept the State’s peace in mind.
The CM has gone back on all the promises.”
At the all-party meeting,
it was decided that the local people would be allowed to decide
whether the controversial poster depicting Chhatrapati Shivaji killing
the Mughal emperor’s commander Afzal Khan must be displayed. At a
meeting later attended by the local Hindus, Muslims and Ministers, it
was agreed to put up the poster.
“However, when the actual
[Ganeshotsav] immersions started, the police did not allow that
[display of the poster] to happen,” he said. The controversy had
prompted some mandals to put off the immersion ritual.
“Four Ministers, whom I
don’t want to name, said that the SP [Superintendent of Police] did
not pay heed to their orders. One hundred and fifteen mandals were
served notice that if they did not perform immersions, action would be
taken against them. In protest, people have decided to wear black
bands around their arms and perform the immersions.”
He said the government
went back on its promise to release from jail those without any
serious charges against them. “The police released some people, but
arrested them once again later.”
He said the government
had not lifted the orders barring him from entering the riot-affected
districts, though the Chief Minister agreed to do so at the all-party
meeting.
