VASCO
Leaders in Vasco have demanded a free and fair investigation into the clashes between two groups during a procession on the occasion of Ram Navami in Baina on Sunday night, which led to two persons being assaulted and one person sustaining minor injuries in the incident.
Speaking to reporters, Congress Minority Chairman Nazir Khan said Goa is a peaceful State but some miscreants are trying to spoil the harmony and disturb the peace between religions.
"There may have been an incident of stone pelting which I am not aware of but there is no proof of such an incident. The Masjid is 300 metres in a remote area away from the road where the procession was being taken.”
“Someone made a noise of stone pelting and instigated others to rush towards the Masjid and chant slogans and attack our members and this looks to be well planned. We called the police and demanded that while the incident was wrong, we will not retaliate as long as police takes strict action on culprits.”
“We have given them footage of the Masjid CCTV and recordings by our people on mobile phones. If there was a stone pelting incident, police must take strict action on them as well and arrest them. We want that peace be maintained in the area," said Khan.
Vasco BJP MLA Krishna Salkar also demanded a a free and fair police investigation in the incident which could fuel disharmony between two communities.
"I was shocked to be informed that clashes began after stones were being pelted on the Ram Navami procession. I rushed to the spot and even went to the police station. I later spoke to the Police DySP and PI stating that such incidents have never happened and should never happen again.”
“The police must conduct a free and fair investigation and take stringent action on the culprits, because both groups have made complains. The police must verify both complains and initiate action," said Salkar.
THE INCIDENT
Sources said the incident at around 9.15 pm after some members of the Ram Navami procession alleged stone pelting incidents on the procession by some person from atop a house in the Muslim dominated area of Islampur, causing minor injuries to one person.
Some members then tried to chase and nab the person, but allegedly assaulted some person from a minority community.
The assault sparked off verbal clashes between two groups, as the youth who was assaulted denied his role and complained that the attack was a well planned and fabricated.
Some persons then complained that some members in the procession had allegedly entered the Masjid with shoes, while Muslims were offering Namaz and chanted slogans.
After the Ram Navami procession, one member complained he was assaulted by members of the minority community in retaliation to the incident.
Vasco police rushed to the site and diffused the tension, while taking control of the situation and both groups were summoned to the police station for an enquiry into the incident.
By late night, a large number of people from both religious communities from different parts of the State rushed to Baina and many began gathering at the Vasco police station along with political leaders like Vasco BJP MLA Krishna Salkar, Mormugao Congress MLA Sankalp Amonkar and even former minister Jose Philip D'Souza.
