MARGAO
With the Rumdamol Housing Board on the edge again on Sunday and the police not ruling out the possibility of law and order problem in the communally-sensitive area, no intervention has so far come from district and police authorities to bring the warring groups on the table in a bid to restore peace.
If peace at the Rumdamol Housing Board was shattered last Sunday following group clashes between Hindu and Muslim groups over Eid flags, tension rent the air in the Housing Board and in neighbouring Margao this Sunday again after hundreds of Hindu protesters marched to the Housing Board from Margao in what is seen as a show of strength in the area.
Questions are being raised as to why senior district and police officials have so far not called for a joint meeting between the warring religious groups during the last week.
Over a decade ago, when the Housing Board and the commercial capital were rocked by communal clashes, the administration was quick to call a joint meeting of the Hindu and Muslim communities in a bid to maintain peace and amity amongst the two communities and nip the trouble in the bud.
The men-in-uniform at the district headquarters, however, pointed out that the Maina-Curtorim police had last week made an official correspondence to the district authorities via the office of the Margao Sub-divisional Police Officer to call for a meeting of the two communities.
Sources said the police had made a fervent plea to the district authorities to convene an urgent joint meeting of the committee members of Swami Samarth Temple and the committee members of the Al-Madina Masjid, Rumdamol, besides individuals to discuss the issues of both the communities.
Police sources pointed out that attempts are on to instigate people of both the communities by spreading false messages.
Incidentally, while the police had requested a joint meeting between the members of the two religious communities and organizations early last week, tension rent the air again on Sunday.
