'If Amit Shah Has Courage': Ashok Gehlot Asks for Probe Into Riots in 7 States

The Rajasthan chief minister said that if a panel was formed to probe the clashes, there would be no more riots.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

(Photo: PTI) 

Amid a spate of communal incidents being reported from across the country, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday, 5 May, said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah should form a panel to probe the clashes "if he has the courage".

"Riots occurred in seven states on the pattern of Karauli, which should be probed. If Amit Shah Ji has the courage then he should form a committee headed by a Supreme Court or High Court judge to get into the root cause behind the riots that occurred in seven states after the Karauli incident," Gehlot was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

He added that if such a panel were formed to examine what was fuelling the violence, there would be no riots in the future.

Communal violence erupted in Karauli on 2 April after a bike rally organised on the occasion of the Hindu New Year was allegedly met with stone-pelting, leading to a confrontation between two groups. Shops and vehicles were set ablaze, while over thirty people sustained injuries in the turmoil.

Since this incident, a slew of clashes have been reported between religious communities from across India. On Ram Navami on 10 April, violence was observed in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Goa, Mumbai, and even Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, where several students were injured.

'BJP's Plan To Fuel Riots in Karauli, Jodhpur': Gehlot

Alluding to the unrest in Jodhpur on Monday, the eve of Eid celebrations, Gehlot alleged that it was the BJP's "plan to fuel riots in Karauli, Rajgarh and Jodhpur", as the party was afraid of losing the 2023 Rajasthan Assembly elections.

"The circumstances in the country are very worrisome and everyone is concerned about it. The way politics is being done in the name of religion and caste is dangerous. Some people may find it good, but it is not beneficial for the country," the chief minister was further quoted as saying by PTI.

Clashes had broken out between two communities in Jodhpur on Monday, allegedly after a dispute over religious flags in the Jalori Gate area. Following the incident, mobile internet was suspended in the city and a curfew was imposed across the limits of 10 police stations.

The police on Thursday said that almost 200 people have been arrested in connection with the Jodhpur unrest.

(With inputs from PTI)