Title: Participation of tribals in riots surprises many
Author: Sachin Sharma
Publication: The Times of India
Date: Mar 7, 2002 
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?art_ID=3011316

VADODARA: Tribal areas of Vadodara district, which had until recently remained devoid of any major communal tension so far, suddenly seem to have been caught in an inferno. Large mobs in the area are now on a loot and arson spree with the police caught in a piquant situation.

With hundreds of people moving around with bows and arrows, and 'dharias' on the streets, the police found itself grossly short-staffed to handle the situation. The situation was so tense that eventually, an EME column had to be pressed into action to take care of the situation.

Said district superintendent of police Keshav Kumar, "People have gone on a looting spree of empty houses, shops or vehicles moving in the area. They come yelling in large numbers to loot a premise and then set it on fire. Within no time they disappear in the forests or fields in the surrounding areas."

According to Kumar, trees on main connecting roads in the tribal belt had been felled to prevent the entry of police. "Policemen had to remove the trees for a convoy to pass through. Now, we have sought the help of public works department officials and forest officials to get them removed," he said.

EME personnel, who have handled similar situations in the state and outside, said that they had seen rioting in tribal-dominated areas for the first time. "I was in Vadodara during the 1969 riots and have seen similar situations earlier. But the involvement of tribals has come as a surprise. It seems that in most of the cases, abandoned homes and shops were attacked by people from outside the village," an EME officer said.

The EME conducted flag march in several villages in the tribal belt, including Tejgadh, Chhota Udepur, Jabugam, Bodeli and Dabhoi.

According to district police officials, the situation in the northern belt of the district started to worsen after the situation in Panchmahals was tamed by the authorities there. Besides this, sources point out that the intention in most of the cases registered in the area seemed to be that of loot and not killing people of a particular community.

Meanwhile, another major problem being faced by the police is a relatively large population in the area that is coming home for Holi festivities. The festival is very popular among the tribes in Panchmahals and all those staying outside the district return to their homes to celebrate it.

Officials also suspect that with little earning opportunities in the area due to the riots, the tribals are now involved in looting. "Many of them are daily wage earners. With no job to do these days, they might have taken to looting," an official said.

An eyewitness claimed that the police remained a meek spectator as houses were burnt. Senior police officials too admitted that they were informed of such incidents. "However, the police had been outnumbered several times during the initial phases of trouble. In a team of about five to six personnel, only one or two were armed. The officials were obviously under threat and avoided confrontation," an official said.

The police is now reorganising its forces and have come up with a different strategy for patrolling. "We have now instructed the personnel to remain on move continuously and not to allow any person to come out on the roads. Constant movement of police will keep mobs at bay," Kumar said.

The involvement of tribals in cases of rioting and arson, that too after Monday evening came as a surprise to eminent litterateur and tribal activist Ganesh Devi who was in Tejgadh on Tuesday evening to help police to control the situation.

"This is for the first time that Tejgadh has witnessed riots. Tribals, Hindus and Muslims in this area have never clashed before and therefore this comes as a surprise. More so because until Monday evening Tejgadh was peaceful. The sudden attacks and rioting come as a surprise," he said.

According to Devi, tribals are socially vulnerable and while they would not be bothered much by Hinduism and Islam, liquor could play a role in inciting them to violence.

On Tuesday night, several shops were set on fire and on Wednesday morning at about 8 am too I saw a shop on fire," he said. According to him, reports have come in that the police have clamped curfew in the city after 3 pm.