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Trouble-makers have no religion: Chauhan

BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan told the Assembly on Thursday that his Government did not discriminate people on the basis of religion in maintaining law and order. He said those indulging in violence could neither be a Hindu nor a Muslim.

The Chief Minister was speaking at the end of a debate on admissibility of an adjournment motion over recent clashes between groups belonging to different communities on Monday over a dispute on a piece of land near a place of worship at Kukshi, a small town in Dhar district of western Madhya Pradesh.

When the Chief Minister was allowed by the Speaker to intervene, the Opposition members started protesting. Led by the Leader of the Opposition, Jamuna Devi, they staged a walkout.

The Chief Minister pointed out discrepancies in what had been stated earlier by some Congress MLAs. For example, he said, it was pointed out by Sajjan Singh Verma of the Congress that the land in question had been allotted to a private club, whereas another Congress member, Satyadev Katare, had said that the land belonged to the Kukshi Panchayat. He said the land belonged to the panchayat and his Government would not spare anyone found guilty of spreading violence.

The Opposition members were unanimous in pointing out that those linked with the BJP were behind the Kukshi violence. They also alleged that the police were siding with the culprits and everything was being done to protect them. It was also pointed out that the guilty were being spared while the innocent people belonging to the minority community had been arrested.

Ms Jamuna Devi told the House that Kukshi had never witnessed such violence. She said that immediately after trouble broke she had informed the Chief Minister, the Director-General of Police and the Inspector-General of Police but due to lack of timely action the situation went out of control and many people were injured and shops belonging to a particular community were set on fire.

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Trouble-makers have no religion: Chauhan

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