Bulldozers and war of words run parallel over Khargone violence

Bhopal, April 13 (IANS) Madhya Pradesh administration's bulldozers on illegal buildings and war of words between politicians are running parallel in Madhya Pradesh for the past three days since communal violence broke out in Khargone district.

The police said the situation is under control with heavy deployment of forces. However, curfew is still in place in the area.

Former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and Congress Rajya Sabha MP, Digvijaya Singh, who was in the news after his social media post on the Khargone violence for which he was cornered by the BJP leaders, accelerated his attack on Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, saying that 'communal violence occurs only when the Chief Minister wants'.

Notably, while the entire state BJP unit appears to have united to accuse Digvijaya Singh of 'fuelling' communal tension in the state, the latter continues his counter-attack on the Chouhan-led government.

Singh claimed that the Khargone incident didn't happen all of a sudden, but it was a 'pre-panned' action.

Talking to reporters, Singh directly held Chouhan responsible for the incident. Referring to former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh (1963-1967), late Dwarka Prasad Mishra, Singh said, "He (Mishra) always used to say that communal violence occurs when Chief Minister wants and the administration supports it."

His remarks came in reply to state Home Minister Narottam Mishra's remark about Singh's possible arrest for sharing a photograph showing a group of youth hoisting a saffron flag at a mosque, which later turned out to be a fake.

Mishra said, "MP police may arrest Digvijaya Singh for posting a fake and communally-sensitive tweet."

The state government had on Tuesday constituted a two-member tribunal to recover damages from those involved in the communal violence.

Curfew has been clamped in Khargone since Sunday after stone-pelting during a Ram Navami procession, which triggered arson and torching of vehicles.

Nearly 100 persons have been arrested so far in connection with the violence, while more than 50 buildings have demolished by bulldozers so far.