Tension runs high in B'lore city

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Bangalore: The ghost of Saddam Hussein continues to haunt Bangalore. After sporadic protests against the hanging of the former Iraqi ruler on Friday, the city saw more violence on Sunday evening.

What reportedly triggered off the violence was a religious gathering of the Vishva Hindu Parishad in the minority-dominated Shivaji Nagar area on Sunday evening.

The communal trouble began on Friday, when some people taking part in a Muslim rally against the hanging of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, had burnt and removed posters put up by a Hindu group.

On Sunday, rioting began when the Vishva Hindu Parishad was holding a religious gathering in the area. A mob set fire to three buses and damaged many auto rickshaws. The violence then quickly spread to Ulsoor, Indira Nagar and Commercial Street.

Police resorted to lathi-charge, used tear gas and fired in the air to control the crowd. A 12-year-old boy died and several police constables were injured in the violence. The injured have been admitted to Bowring Hospital.

A curfew had been imposed in the city on Sunday evening. But it has been relaxed till 1900 hrs IST on Monday in the Shivaji Nagar and Bharti Nagar areas. Prohibitory orders have been issued under Section 144 in both the areas.

"We have relaxed the curfew as we don't want to cause any inconvenience to the people, but we also have to keep the law and order situation under control," says Bangalore DGP and IGP K R Srinivasan.

The city is limping back to normalcy, with buses and auto-rickshaws plying and people going to work. People are going about their businesses, but shops and schools are still closed in the Bharti Nagar and Shivaji Nagar areas.

Bangalore is normally a peaceful city, but its happy image has been torn apart by the communal violence over the weekend.

COMMUNAL HISTORY
Muslim-majority Shivaji Nagar and Christian- and Anglo-Indian-majority Bharathi Nagar areas in Bangalore have a history of communal violence. These are non-Kannada speaking areas, with the Kannada speaking population pegged at less than 15 per cent.
These areas witnessed major communal disturbance in 1986-87, when a mob attacked the Deccan Herald office here. More than seven people were killed in the violence.
After the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992, these areas again witnessed communal clashes. At least 12 people were killed in police firing.
The Anti-Urdu news riot of 1993 also claimed half a dozen lives here.
The area again witnessed violence during the Cauvery riots in early 90's and later when Dr Rajkumar was kidnapped.
Minor communal clashes are often reported from this area.

And despite the ongoing crisis, the government is maintaining that precautionary measures were in place.

"The situation is under control. The Bharti Nagar area is divided on communal lines and anti-social elements are taking advantage of the situation. There are 40 batallions there so there is no failure on the part of the government. We have alerted the Centre and the Rapid Action Force (RAF) is on its way from Coimbatore and so is another batallion from Hyderabad. We will have a flag march tomorrow. All top Police officers are camping there tonight and the government is committed to maintaining law and order and communal harmony," Karnataka Home Minister M P Prakesh told CNN-IBN.

Directing the police to deal sternly with anti-social elements, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy has appealed to the people to maintain calm and peace as fresh violence broke out in parts of Bangalore on Sunday.

The tension and violence began with a rally, which was held at the Shivajinagar stadium and was led by political leaders - including Congress CK Jaffar Sharief, former Chief Minister N Dharam Singh and SP leader S Bangarappa.

The leaders attacked the US' Iraq policy and the protesters, who had gathered at the rally, burnt the portraits of US President George Bush and shouted slogans against him and the US.

READERSPEAK ON IBNLive.com
	Rahul: I think the politicians played a major role in the violence that happened. Protests against Saddam's execution after so many weeks don't make any sense.
	R R Pandey: It is disheartening to see communal clashes in Bangalore. It's the handwork of few anti-social elements. They should be identified and punished.
	Aaditya Gadgil: I wonder why was the rally held. Saddam was neither an Indian nor an Islamic icon. Then why is his execution making so much turmoil in India? How can such an irrelevant rally be held? People raise so many questions when Hindus organize any rally in India. Are we staying in a secular country?

(With inputs from Shweta Ganesh Kumar, Shwetal Kamlapurkar and Avneet Bhatia)

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