Bangalore: In a report submitted to the Government, Karnataka State Minorities Commission has sought a judicial probe into the recent communal riots in Mangalore and said that coastal districts should be declared communally-disturbed and provided special security.

Commission chairman K.S. Mohammed Masood told presspersons here on Friday that the police had played a communal role in the recent riots and a CoD enquiry would not serve any purpose.

The district administration and the police had failed to take action even though communal forces had openly declared they would create a "Godhra-like situation" in the coastal areas.

Squads of the Rapid Action Force should be stationed in Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada and Udupi districts to ensure immediate action in case of communal disturbances in future, said Mr. Masood. He said there was not a single administrative or police officer from minority communities in these districts.

He had recommended that 15 per cent of police force should be drawn from the Muslim community.

The commission had suggested a series of measures to rehabilitate those affected by the riots, including a compensation of Rs. 5 lakh to families of all deceased and interest-free loans to those who had suffered losses.

Schemes only on paper

Mr. Mansoor pointed out that even deputy commissioners of some districts were unaware of the Government programmes for minorities, and therefore a number of these schemes had remained only on paper.

A number of Urdu schools and madrasas were in a bad condition, despite 30 per cent of funds under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan being allocated to minority institutions.

The commission had recommended that a university or any other institution in Karnataka be named after Tipu Sultan.

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