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Udaipur killing: Gehlot continues outreach in bid to maintain peace
Chief minister Ashok Gehlot held an all-party meeting which condemned the murder and asserted that such acts have no place in a civilised society. The parties, including the opposition BJP, also demanded strict punishment for those involved in the crime, an official statement said.
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday appealed for peace and restraint as stray cases of violence over the gruesome killing of a Udaipur tailor were reported in some parts and curfew was clamped in seven police station areas of the city.
Gehlot also held an all-party meeting which condemned the murder and asserted that such acts have no place in a civilised society. The parties, including the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), also demanded strict punishment for those involved in the crime, an official statement said.
On Tuesday too, the chief minister had reached out to opposition parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to help maintain peace.
“Preliminary probe reveals that the incident has been committed with an objective to spread terror and fear… The police and the administration should ensure law and order in the entire state and take strict action against those trying to create nuisance,” Gehlot told reporters on Wednesday before the all-party meeting.
At the all-party meeting at the chief minister’s residence later in the day, the participants appealed to the people of the state to maintain peace and harmony, saying “acting with patience in such a situation is the right manner”.
The killing in Udaipur is “an attempt to disturb the social harmony of the state”, the official statement said. “We have full faith that the people of Rajasthan will not allow the plans of such anti-social elements to succeed,” it added.
The representatives of all the parties also praised in one voice the government’s timely action in the matter, the statement said.
Among those who attended the meeting were BJP leaders Arun Chaturvedi and Ramlal Sharma, state Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra, Rashtriya Lok Dal MLA Subhash Garg and CPM MLA Balwan Poonia.
“The state should probe all the people who have visited Pakistan in the last few years,” BJP MLA Sharma said, amid initial investigation pointing at links of the two killers with Karachi-based Sunni Islamist organization Dawat-e-Islami, which is associated with the Barelvi pan-Islamic Tehreek-e-Labbaik extremist organization in Pakistan.
“The negligence of the police should be looked into,” Sharma added.
Meanwhile, a senior police officer said steps were being taken to maintain law and order. “Not just additional force and senior police officials have been sent to Udaipur, but a number of religious leaders and administrative heads at the district level have also been asked to appeal to people to maintain peace,” the officer said, seeking anonymity.
