With violence and arson continuing in Vadodara on the third day, the Centre on Wednesday asked the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Gujarat to conduct a comprehensive inquiry to ascertain how the situation slipped out of control in the wake of the demolition of a century-old "dargah" by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation on Monday. ''The state government has to do it and we will see that it is done. This kind of situation can otherwise remain uncontrolled,'' Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil said in New Delhi.
Senior BJP leader L K Advani said he has asked Modi to submit a report on the situation in Vadodara rocked by communal clashes and violence. Advani told reporters that BJP would follow the directions of the court and curb communal violence in Vadodara. "I had spoken to the chief minister and home minister (Amit Shah) of Gujarat over this issue", he said.
''The Gujarat government is requested to control it. We will also see to it that it is controlled. If we don't do it, we will be at fault,'' Patil said, while offering all required assistance to the Narendra Modi [Images] government to restore peace in the troubled areas where the violence has so far claimed nearly six lives.
A home ministry spokesman said the ministry had asked the state authorities to probe whether the district administration had acted appropriately to tackle the escalating violence.
The home minister said Vadodara incidents should not be taken lightly. At the same time there was no need to get scared. However, it was important that the situation should not go out of hand.
Meanwhile, Home Secretary V K Duggal told media persons the Centre was constantly reviewing the situation and was in touch with the state administration.
''The situation is still tense, but under control.'' He said the home ministry had already despatched four companies of the Rapid Action Force and one company of Central Reserve Police Force. Out of this, three companies had already been deployed in sensitive areas.
Duggal said more forces are being kept as stand-by. Pointing out that the situation in Vadodara is very sensitive, he asked the media to ''stay closest to facts'' so that the situation did not escalate.
© Copyright 2008 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.
|