Social groups demand action against the accused student. They also denounced the demolition of his family’s rented house describing the bulldozer action as unconstitutional
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – Several social and Muslim groups have come together to demand action against the outfits which are communalising the August 16 stabbing of a student by his classmate in Rajasthan’s Udaipur district.
The stabbed student succumbed to his injuries in a hospital on Monday.
Several Hindutva outfits had communalised the incident as the accused in the case is a 15-year-old Muslim. Members of these groups also held protests and resorted to violence torching and vandalising properties.
Following the death of the victim, several groups supporting the cause of communal harmony held a meeting at the office of the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) in Jaipur. In a statement, they condemned the stabbing and expressed sympathy with the victim. “The family of the deceased should be given appropriate compensation and may God help them,” reads the statement.
They also called on the state government to intervene in the incident related to violence and the communalisation of the issue by some organisations.
“A probe was demanded to identify the elements who vandalised public properties to give a communal colour to the incident and to disturb peace in the state,” the statement noted.
The social groups which took part in the meeting and signed the statement are the Rajasthan units of Dama Pratirodh Andolan, Muslim Forum, Forum for Democracy and Communal Amity, Jamaat-e-Islam Hind, Rajasthan Nagrik Manch and others.
Demanding action against the accused student, the groups also denounced the demolition of his family’s rented house describing the bulldozer action as “unconstitutional”.
Noting that the house which was demolished belonged to someone else, they urged the government to rebuild the house and deal strongly with those who were triggering riots.
They also denounced the arrest of the father of the accused demanding his immediate release.
Meanwhile, the Rajasthan government has agreed to the family’s demands, which include a speedy trial in the case and compensation of Rs 51 lakh. On Tuesday, thousands of people joined the boy’s funeral procession amid tight security. The government has deployed a huge contingent of police personnel in Udaipur to prevent the situation from worsening.
Earlier, the Udaipur district administration demolished the rented house of the family of the accused. The demolition was carried out after Hindu outfits and BJP leaders demanded that Uttar Pradesh-like bulldozer action be taken in the case. The administration said that the house was demolished because it was found to be illegally built on forest land.
