02-06-2006, 03:59 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Triumph of Dharma </b>
The Pioneer Edit Desk
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan deserves to be congratulated for his firm yet tactful handling of the situation at Bhojshala complex at Dhar last Friday. The complex, maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India, includes both a Saraswati temple and a mosque. Last Friday, according to one Hindu almanac, was Basant Panchami when devotees worship Goddess Saraswati.
The challenge before the administration was how to ensure that Hindus offered prayers and the Muslims performed their special Friday namaz without there being any communal violence of the kind witnessed in the past. In terms of action, it had to ensure that the Hindu devotees, whom the ASI had permitted to offer puja until 12.30 pm and then again from 2.30 pm until evening, left the complex enabling the Muslims to enter and perform namaz. This it managed very well and both yagna by Hindus and namaz by Muslims continued only a few yards apart.
There no doubt was violence when a procession led by the Hindu Jagran Manch tried to enter the complex earlier than the time allotted for performing puja. It was, however, not allowed to snowball by the Government, which had deployed 10,000 police personnel including 16 companies of the Special Armed Forces and two companies of the Rapid Action Force at Bhojshala. Its success was doubtless considerably due to the fact that the police did not use excessive force but dispersed processionists, who were trying to force their way into the shrine, by resorting to teargassing and a lathi charge. A curfew was also imposed in parts of Dhar as soon as the situation threatened to turn ugly and was lifted in the evening.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan kept his promise of observing Raj Dharma, announced prior to last Friday when the situation seemed to be heading towards a violent denouement. He had not only made elaborate police arrangements but also sent the Public Works Department Minister, Mr Kailash Vijayvargiya, who is also the minister in charge of the district, to ensure that law and order was maintained. It is, however, not surprising that the Congress and a section of Muslims have been making critical noises. Both have their vote-banks to nurse. Unfortunately for them, Mr Chauhan's deft handling of the situation has deprived them of an opportunity to make political capital out of human misery.
Not only that, as a Chief Minister owing allegiance to a party that has been accused of being communal and aggressively Hindu, Mr Chauhan has demonstrated that the rights of Muslims are secure under his dispensation. In the process, he has lent further credence to repeatedly articulated BJP claim that it is in the States ruled by it that Muslims are most safe. On the other hand, by failing to notice this and switching to a hostile mode, the Congress has only underlined its own political bankruptcy - as have a section of Muslims leaders. The Centre, which reportedly sought last Friday morning a report on the arrangements made to prevent violence, would do well to lay off. Its interference can only make matters worse.
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The Pioneer Edit Desk
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan deserves to be congratulated for his firm yet tactful handling of the situation at Bhojshala complex at Dhar last Friday. The complex, maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India, includes both a Saraswati temple and a mosque. Last Friday, according to one Hindu almanac, was Basant Panchami when devotees worship Goddess Saraswati.
The challenge before the administration was how to ensure that Hindus offered prayers and the Muslims performed their special Friday namaz without there being any communal violence of the kind witnessed in the past. In terms of action, it had to ensure that the Hindu devotees, whom the ASI had permitted to offer puja until 12.30 pm and then again from 2.30 pm until evening, left the complex enabling the Muslims to enter and perform namaz. This it managed very well and both yagna by Hindus and namaz by Muslims continued only a few yards apart.
There no doubt was violence when a procession led by the Hindu Jagran Manch tried to enter the complex earlier than the time allotted for performing puja. It was, however, not allowed to snowball by the Government, which had deployed 10,000 police personnel including 16 companies of the Special Armed Forces and two companies of the Rapid Action Force at Bhojshala. Its success was doubtless considerably due to the fact that the police did not use excessive force but dispersed processionists, who were trying to force their way into the shrine, by resorting to teargassing and a lathi charge. A curfew was also imposed in parts of Dhar as soon as the situation threatened to turn ugly and was lifted in the evening.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan kept his promise of observing Raj Dharma, announced prior to last Friday when the situation seemed to be heading towards a violent denouement. He had not only made elaborate police arrangements but also sent the Public Works Department Minister, Mr Kailash Vijayvargiya, who is also the minister in charge of the district, to ensure that law and order was maintained. It is, however, not surprising that the Congress and a section of Muslims have been making critical noises. Both have their vote-banks to nurse. Unfortunately for them, Mr Chauhan's deft handling of the situation has deprived them of an opportunity to make political capital out of human misery.
Not only that, as a Chief Minister owing allegiance to a party that has been accused of being communal and aggressively Hindu, Mr Chauhan has demonstrated that the rights of Muslims are secure under his dispensation. In the process, he has lent further credence to repeatedly articulated BJP claim that it is in the States ruled by it that Muslims are most safe. On the other hand, by failing to notice this and switching to a hostile mode, the Congress has only underlined its own political bankruptcy - as have a section of Muslims leaders. The Centre, which reportedly sought last Friday morning a report on the arrangements made to prevent violence, would do well to lay off. Its interference can only make matters worse.
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