Red
alert in Uttar Pradesh over Mau communal clash
by Girish Kumar
Dubey
Varanasi/Mau
(Uttar Pradesh): A red alert has been sounded in eastern
districts of Uttar Pradesh following communal clashes in the
remote township of Mau. The alert was sounded in view of rumours
of a possible backlash arising in other parts of the state
because of the clashes that have been ongoing since last Thursday.
The state government has ordered the deployment of the Provincial
Armed Constabulary (PAC) and the Rapid Action Force (RAF)
in all sensitive areas and maintain an extra vigil in areas
having a mixed population. "There are around 200 Rapid Action
Force personnels, 2 forces of PAC have been deployed here.
All the officers from other branches have also come here.
Till the time we do not have the situation under control the
curfew will not be relaxed," says Prabhat Kumar, Deputy Inspector
General, Varanasi. Local intelligence units have been activated
and police personnel deployed at public places to prevent
any untoward incident.
Shoot-at-sight
orders were issued over the weekend in Mau town of Uttar Pradesh
after the death toll rose to seven and 22 injured in a fresh
outbreak of sectarian violence. The intensity of the insurgency
can be gauged by the struggle the fire station workers have
to put up with. "The problem that I'm facing is that when
we go and put off the fire at one place, some other part of
the town is on fire," said Girijashankar Yadav, a fire station
officer. Violence broke out in the communally sensitive town
near Varanasi as mobs attacked a school, set ablaze a bus
and private property a day after two people died of bullet
wounds. Curfew has been imposed across the town since Thursday
evening after Hindus and Muslims clashed towards the end of
the Dussehra celebrations. Several long distance trains passing
through this riot-torn town have either been cancelled or
diverted as tension continues to prevail. The trains diverted
to other routes included Gorakhpur-Lokmanya Tilak Express,
Gorakhpur-Howrah Express, Samastipur-New Delhi Laxmi Express,
Lucknow-Chapra Utsarg Express, Muzaffarpur-Delhi Saryu Yamuna
Express, North-Eastern Railway sources said here. Several
other trains connecting this communally-sensitive town with
Gorakhpur, Ballia and Varanasi including Mau-Gorakhpur Passenger,
Shahganj-Mau, Bhatni-Mau have been cancelled, the sources
said. Operation of buses on Gorakhpur-Mau route has also been
suspended, official sources said. Mau, considered eastern
UP's most communally sensitive district, had been divided
into 22 sectors under two additional Deputy Generals and two
Inspector Generals deployed to monitor the situation.
World
events from the New York Times