Asansol Imam, Whose Son Died in Ram Navami Clashes, Asks For Peace
“I don’t want any more houses to burn.”
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Imdadul Rashidi, Imam of a mosque in Asansol – whose 16-year-old son Sibtulla died in the communal clashes – appealed for peace in a congregation, The Indian Express reported.
Addressing a crowd in a town at West Bengal’s West Burdwan district on Thursday, 29 March, he said that he would leave the mosque and the town if there was any retaliation for his son’s death, the IE report added.
Sibtulla Rashidi, who appeared for his Class 10 exams in 2018, was reported missing after the clashes on Tuesday, due to the violence that started in Raniganj following Ram Navami processions rippled into Asansol town. His body was recovered late on Wednesday night. He is suspected to have been beaten to death, the English daily added.
“I need to get over my personal loss. People of Asansol are not like this. This is a conspiracy,” Rashidi told the newspaper after burying Sitbulla.
Death Toll Reaches Five: Reports
Days after the communal clashes during a Ram Navami procession in West Bengal’s Raniganj, more instances of spillover incidents of violence were reported in Asansol.
The Times of India reported on Friday, 30 March, that two more persons died in unabated violence in Asansol on Thursday as administration struggled to bring peace.
The statewide toll since Sunday’s clashes now stands at five, TOI reported, with three deaths in West Burdwan and one each from Purulia and North 24-Parganas’ Kankinara.
On Wednesday, the state government had deployed three top police officers to oversee the law and order situation.
Speaking to ANI, Police Commissioner Of Durgapur-Asansol LN Meena said that a total of 60 people have been arrested so far in connection with the violence. She had earlier said that the situation was “under control” in the region.
(With inputs from Indian Expres, Times of India and ANI)
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