CM Chavan to visit violence-hit Dhule

Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan will on Tuesday visit Dhule, where five died and 200 were injured in communal violence last week.

Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan will on Tuesday visit Dhule, where five died and 200 were injured in communal violence last week.

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Chavan’s tour was announced after a delegation of party legislators and minority leaders last week called for his intervention to ensure that such communal violence did not deepen the rift between the Dhule’s communities.

The delegation included Congress’ minority affairs minister Naseem Khan, legislators Amin Patel, Aslam Shaikh, Baba Siddiqui, Madhu Chavan, and well-known director Mahesh Bhatt besides 15 ulemas.

The Congress is of the opinion that unless the government takes proactive measures to punish the guilty, the minority community will feel alienated and this will upset party's strongest vote bank.

“It’s not about politics. It is more about the minority community feeling isolated and targeted by the police in this specific instance of rioting,” said Amin Patel, Congress legislator.

He admitted that there was a feeling that the lowest level of police cadre was communally biased. Besides seeking a judicial probe and compensation for 135 affected families, the delegation has also demanded that Chavan set up a committee of former bureaucrats including prominent citizens, which will interact with police and locals in communally sensitive towns to bridge the gap between them.