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| Chib's Poonch meeting stirs up hornet's nest, raises tempers of one and all | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Sept 16: When moulanas of Poonch, led by Mufti Farooq of Jamia Masjid, had eased the tension at Mandi where thousands today gathered to denounce the act of disrespect to Islam and the Quran in the US, an emergent meeting by medical education minister R S Chib tended to hinder rather than serve the purpose.
Those, who Tuesday appreciated the role of the district administration in controlling a violent anti-US mob in Poonch, made a complete volte-face in the Chib's meeting today.
In the meeting, NC's own men were opposed to the way the civil and police administration had handled the situation in Poonch Monday.
In protest against the Monday's police firing in Poonch, Muslims today gathered in Mandi town and held a strong demonstration. They also demanded immediate release of the youth who were apprehended by police after the Monday violence.
As Poonch and Mendhar towns were already under curfew and tension prevailed in the air in the district's Muslim dominated belts, the administration approached moulanas and sought their assistance to help them defuse the situation at Mandi.
The moulanas agreed after about eight to 10 arrested youth were released unconditionally. They then went to Mandi and addressed the protesters.
Official sources said they asked the people to maintain peace and cancel their proposed march to Poonch town which was under strict curfew.
The moulanas said if they tried to defy the curfew restrictions, a clash was sure to take place between them and police, which in turn was likely to bring miseries to their own kith and kin.
Sources said when the released youth were produced before them, tempers cooled down, and the protesters dispersed peacefully and returned homes at about 12.30 pm.
The matter had been sorted out when Chib, accompanied by another minister Shabir Khan, arrived in Poonch town at about 2 pm to take stock of the situation.
Their arrival, however, stirred up a hornet's nest. Almost 48 hours prior to their coming, deputy commissioner Kuldeep Khajuria and SSP Manmohan Singh had mouled the public opinion against the violence by protesters. In a meeting with the prominent Poonch citizens, their role to stop the situation from taking a communal shape was highly appreciated.
However, the meeting called by Chib and Shabir proved counter-productive with the same set of people getting angry and turning against the government.
NC leader Pir Syed Nissar said though he belonged to the ruling party, he was sorry to say that "nothing of the sort of government existed in the state".
He said the district administration had done a wrong thing by opening fire on peaceful anti-US protesters in Poonch on Monday.
Nissar said the government ought to immediately order a probe into the incident and withdraw all the cases registered against the protesters.
The moulanas also emphasised the need for a probe into the incident.
Other speakers demanded action against police officers, including DSP (DR) Rajinder Singh, followed by their transfers, alleging that they had ordered the cops to open fire on Monday.
"If the administration anticipated an attack on a church and a Christ school on the Idgah road, why didn't they raised barriers on the road to block their movement?' they asked.
Sources said Chib assured the meeting to do the justice in the case. "I have already asked the administration to hold a probe into the incident," he added.
Sources said the points, which were raised by the people in Chib's meeting, existed nowhere in the district administration's meeting.
His meeting almost led to the reversal of the locals' opinion about the administration, the sources added. |
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