Security personnel in violence-hit Nawada
Nawada:
At 9 am on a Tuesday morning, Nawada, a small town in Bihar 150 kms from Bihar, is eerily quiet.
Shops and schools are closed. The roads, usually packed with morning commuters, are traversed only by police officers, patrolling to enforce a curfew that was first declared on Saturday evening after communal violence erupted.
The most amount of security is at the Baba Ka Dhaba, a small restaurant on the national highway close to Nawada, where an argument over serving non-vegetarian food on Friday, that the owner refused to serve, snowballed into the current crisis. The owner does not want to reveal his name, but tells us he's suffered a hit of at least 3 lakh rupees
Since then, it has become the camping ground for some of Bihar's most senior police officers and bureaucrats. Nawada District Magistrate Adarsh Titarmare today said, "Everything is under control and the bandobast will remain till things calm down."
Two people have died in the last two days. A 16-year-old boy died when the police opened fire on a rioting mob on Saturday evening and a second person died on Sunday night in clashes.
"There seems to be an attempt to create an atmosphere of intolerance. I would like to appeal to all political parties and everyone else to help in maintaining peace," Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Monday.
In the six weeks since Mr Kumar ended a 17-year alliance with the BJP and booted it out of his government, there have been six eruptions of communal violence in the state.
Mr Kumar's party, the Janata Dal United or JDU, relies heavily on the support of Muslim voters. The BJP is popular with upper caste Hindus. Sources in both parties say there are concerns about whether the acrimonious split is causing deep divides.
When he ended his partnership with the BJP, the Chief Minister blamed its decision to promote Narendra Modi to lead its campaign for the national election.
Like other critics of the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Kumar blames Mr Modi for not doing enough to protect hundreds of Muslims from being killed in communal riots in 2002 in his home state.
The BJP, however, has ascribed Mr Kumar's stand to political opportunism.
Shops and schools are closed. The roads, usually packed with morning commuters, are traversed only by police officers, patrolling to enforce a curfew that was first declared on Saturday evening after communal violence erupted.
The most amount of security is at the Baba Ka Dhaba, a small restaurant on the national highway close to Nawada, where an argument over serving non-vegetarian food on Friday, that the owner refused to serve, snowballed into the current crisis. The owner does not want to reveal his name, but tells us he's suffered a hit of at least 3 lakh rupees
Since then, it has become the camping ground for some of Bihar's most senior police officers and bureaucrats. Nawada District Magistrate Adarsh Titarmare today said, "Everything is under control and the bandobast will remain till things calm down."
Two people have died in the last two days. A 16-year-old boy died when the police opened fire on a rioting mob on Saturday evening and a second person died on Sunday night in clashes.
"There seems to be an attempt to create an atmosphere of intolerance. I would like to appeal to all political parties and everyone else to help in maintaining peace," Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Monday.
In the six weeks since Mr Kumar ended a 17-year alliance with the BJP and booted it out of his government, there have been six eruptions of communal violence in the state.
Mr Kumar's party, the Janata Dal United or JDU, relies heavily on the support of Muslim voters. The BJP is popular with upper caste Hindus. Sources in both parties say there are concerns about whether the acrimonious split is causing deep divides.
When he ended his partnership with the BJP, the Chief Minister blamed its decision to promote Narendra Modi to lead its campaign for the national election.
Like other critics of the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Kumar blames Mr Modi for not doing enough to protect hundreds of Muslims from being killed in communal riots in 2002 in his home state.
The BJP, however, has ascribed Mr Kumar's stand to political opportunism.
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