Violence erupts in Udaipur after student stabbing incident: Internet suspended, government demolishes accused’s home

On August 16, Rajasthan’s Udaipur, known for its lakes witnessed communal tensions in the city after a Class X student allegedly stabbed his classmate at a government school. The injured student was rushed to a hospital with the aid of fellow students and teachers where his treatment is going on. The minor accused was produced before court and has sent to a juvenile centre and his father was also arrested by the Police for interrogation.

Background of the incident

As per the information available with Sabrang India, on August 16 around at 10.30 AM, a Class X student was stabbed by a fellow student at a government school. District Education Officer Lokesh Bharti said both minors were 15 years old. The incident sparked communal tensions and violence in the city as the student who did the alleged stabbing belongs to the Muslim community. The preliminary inquiry revealed that both the students had some dispute regarding homework in the school and an exchange of remarks took place between both the students prior to the incident.

The District Collector Arvind Kumar Poswal said that the accused has been detained and is being interrogated as to where he brought the weapon from. “The interrogation of the accused has revealed that both had some dispute regarding homework in the school and amid this an exchange of remarks about each other’s family escalated the things to such an extent,” said the Collector. Reported The Free Press Journal

A team of three doctors were brought in from Jaipur to Udaipur to treat and monitor the condition of the injured boy.

“Our priority is treating the boy who was stabbed. On the directions of the Chief Minister (Bhajanlal Sharma), a doctors’ team was brought on a special state plane. His BP, which was at 60 yesterday, has increased to 100. His condition is stable now. Shops have started opening in the city and the law-and-order situation is much better now,” says Udaipur Collector Arvind Poswal.

Right-wing groups triggered communal tensions, stones pelted and vehicles set on fire

On Friday, soon after the stabbing incident, members of several Hindu right-wing outfits gathered in the Madhuban area and started provocative slogans and raised controversial remarks and called for shops in the market area of the city to be shut. As word about the stabbing spread, protests erupted in other areas of the city in late afternoon. More than a dozen vehicles were set ablaze.
Forces were deployed in all areas of the city to keep this in check, most markets in the old city remained closed. Many right-wing organisations shut down shops in various areas. The situation gradually escalated into violence, reported BBC Hindi

An enraged mob vandalised shops and a mall in Chetak Circle area. Fire brigades were rushed in to douse the torched vehicles. Collector Poswal later invoked special provisions from the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita’s (BNS) Section 163, which gives local authorities powers to crack down on nuisance or apprehended danger to maintain law and order. Udaipur ASP Umesh Ojha said more forces had been deployed in nearly all areas of the city to check further trouble.

Internet services suspended and school/colleges closed in city

In Udaipur, after the incident turned communal and violent, the District Administration suspended the internet services for 24-hours in several areas of Udaipur and all government and private schools were ordered to remain shut until further orders. Authorities said that the suspension of internet services will help to prevent and check rumour-mongering and incendiary messages. The district administration has not yet found any religious angle behind the stabbing incident.

Rajasthan government bulldozed rented house of the minor boy accused of stabbing

On August 17, a day after the incident on Saturday, the District Administration demolished the house of a boy who allegedly stabbed his classmate. An order was issued by the district forest authority and Municipal Corporation on Friday and gave the family time till Tuesday i.e. August 20 to vacate their home, but the authorities demolished the house later on Saturday i.e. August 17.

However, the rented house of the minor accused belongs to a Muslim auto driver Rashid Khan.

Khan, 60 years old, watched as bulldozers demolished the house on the orders of the Udaipur district administration and the Rajasthan Forest Department, just a day after the 15-year-old son of a man who lived as a tenant in the house and paid rent to Khan, allegedly stabbed and injured his classmate at a city school over a dispute, reported The Wire

PUCL files letter PIL before Rajasthan High Court against “Illegal Bulldozer Justice”

The Peoples Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Rajasthan has condemned the demolition of the rented house by the Udaipur Municipal Corporation. PUCL has filed a Public Interest Litigation against the illegal demolition by the district administration. PUCL pleads that the advent of Bulldozer Raj in Rajasthan that is contrary to the Indian Constitution and the Indian Judicial system, which is a very dangerous sign for the future.

PUCL has written a letter to the Chief Justice of Rajasthan, urging him to take cognizance over the incident and said that due to the demolition of the rented house, the victim’s family has become homeless and in the present environment no one is ready to give him shelter.

PUCL pleads in PIL that “urgent intervention on the judicial side is extremely quintessential, currently failing which the lawlessness will soon take over and bulldozer justice will take place of the courts of law for dispensing justice. If this is allowed to be continued, we firmly believe that the day is not far when the executive will bulldoze even the courts of law who are passing orders against their government. Hence, apart from your kind intervention in this matter, as an urgent cry for the disposed family we request for your appropriate directions for the rehabilitation of the dispossessed members and in the meanwhile, we request a transitional shelter pending arrangements of appropriate shelter. We demand compensation for the illegal action of demolition undertaken by the state and   strict legal action against the erring officers who ordered for the said illegal demolition. Investigation in the criminal Case be monitored by the Hon’ble court as the Udaipur police and administration have shown their extreme bias against the accused, even prior to the investigation, that fair and just investigation seems a far cry”.

However, the authorities demolished the house on August 17, within 24 hours of the notice being served.

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