Gopalgarh, September 22: The key to determining the events that led to the death of nine Meo Muslims in clashes in Bharatpur’s Gopalgarh on September 14 could lie with two figures, a Meo and a Gurjjar, both “underground” at the moment.
The Meo is a 47-year-old maulvi called Abdul Rashid, who was allegedly severely assaulted by the Gurjjars the day before the killings, which greatly agitated the Meos.
The Gurjjar is an unidentified man who burst into a meeting of the leaders of the two communities at Gopalgarh police station, screaming that Meos had shot and killed several Gurjjars in the main village square.
According to the Meos, the land dispute that government officials have repeatedly mentioned as lying at the heart of the unrest and firing, wasn’t the real issue.
Rather, it was the attack on Maulvi Rashid on September 13 night that inflamed the Meos. This is not disputed even by the Gurjjars and police in Gopalgarh.
What followed was mayhem that was exacerbated by poor policing, said many who saw the incident at close quarters, including several police officers themselves.
Senior police officers said that the district collector, who has since been transferred out, gave the police orders to fire. “About a dozen policemen got into a Vajra (the specially-built riot control vehicle police use) and made straight for the masjid, which they believed was the source of the trouble, and opened fire,” said a senior police officer.
“Since the road in front of the masjid is narrow, the Vajra drove on for a few kilometres before it could turn, and then came back and fired again at the masjid, before heading back to the police station.”
-Agencies