Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Tejasvi Surya and the party’s Rajasthan chief, Satish Poonia, along with other party members were stopped on Wednesday from visiting the violence-hit Karauli.
They were stopped at the Dausa-Karauli border but kept demanding that they be allowed to meet victims of the April 2 violence, which broke out after a bike rally being carried out to mark the Hindu new year was pelted with stones.
Once stopped by the police, Tejasvi said, “Section 144 is not in place at where we are now. It’s our constitutional right to go to Karauli. This dictatorial govt is snatching our rights, which is why we are protesting.” Later, he said that misgovernance has gripped Rajasthan and rioters have been roaming free.
As the protesters kept demanding that they be allowed to meet the victims and raised anti-government slogans, police were told to get into a bus and taken away from the spot.
Karauli SP Shailendra said the protesters were not arrested.
Heavy police force was deployed along the Karauli-Dausa border.
According to police, due to a curfew in Karauli, BJP leaders were stopped from going there.
When Surya reached the Karauli border along with BJYM workers, police put up barricades and stopped them.
What happened at Karauli?
The violence followed after a fight had broken out between two communities in Karauli, on April 2, when at least 35 people were injured and shops and houses of around 80 people were burnt and destroyed.
According to media reports, some bike-borne people on the occasion of Hindu New Year, were passing through a Muslim-populated area and passed some provocative slogans. They were soon met with stone-pelting from nearby houses.
What Tejasvi said?
Tejasvi Surya called the Congress the "modern-day Muslim League" and accused it of committing atrocities against Hindus after he and his party leaders were stopped from visiting violence-hit Karauli in Rajasthan.
Surya, who is also the chief of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, the BJP’s youth wing, later at a press conference said they oppose the "appeasement policy" of the ruling Congress in Rajasthan.
He said, "This is Rajasthan and not Afghanistan. The state government should stop giving second-grade treatment to Hindus. I condemn the anti-Hindu and anti-India policy of the state."
Today’s Congress is the "modern-day Muslim League", he said.
"The way Indian Muslim League was dividing Hindus and committing atrocities against them, today Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and Ashok Gehlot are continuing the same tradition," Surya alleged.
"The atrocities against the Hindus in the state are increasing. Here, victims are prosecuted and the guilty are set free," he alleged.
Surya said on this occasion, "The whole state wants to see the truth of what happened in Karauli. We want to go to Karauli peacefully. The Yuva Morcha wants to go peacefully so why are they stopping us."
Violence across states following Ram Navami celebration
Incidents of violence were reported across various states following the Ram Navami processions.
Police lobbed tear gas shells to disperse a mob after fresh violence broke out in Gujarat’s Himmatnagar and Khambat cities on Monday night when two groups threw stones at each other. The violence was triggered hours after Rapid Action Force and police carried out a flag march in Himmatnagar following violence during a Ram Navami procession.
At least 10 houses were set ablaze in Madhya Pradesh and more than two dozen people were injured in clashes that erupted during Ram Navami processions in various areas of Khargone. A curfew has been imposed in the entire Khargone following the clashes.
Tensions have been prevailing in Jharkhand’s Lohardaga district after incidents of stone-pelting were reported from Hirahi-Hendlaso village on Sunday following Ram Navami procession.
Two armed Ram Navami processions were cited in West Bengal’s Barrackpore, despite prohibitions on the display of weapons. State police have said that legal action would be initiated against using weaponry during the procession.
(with inputs from agencies)
