Hope various communities will work together: UN spokesperson on Jodhpur communal tensions

A policeman looks on as a man tries to douse a burning motorcycle after clashes broke out between two communities on Eid-ul-Fitr, in Jalori Gate area, in Jodhpur. Pic/PTI

Amid communal tensions in Jodhpur ahead of Eid, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said it is hoped that various communities will work together and the Indian government and security forces will ensure that everyone can go about their activities, including celebrations of the festival, peacefully.

Communal tensions gripped Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's hometown Jodhpur hours before Eid on Tuesday, prompting the authorities to suspend mobile internet services and impose a curfew in 10 police stations areas of the city.

'I think the basic point is our hope that the various communities will work together and that the government and the security forces will ensure that everyone can go about their activities, including their celebratory activities, peacefully,' Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General, said on Tuesday.

Haq was responding to a question on whether the Secretary-General has a response to incidents of violence in Jodhpur coinciding with the festival of Eid. Rajasthan Chief Minister Gehlot on Tuesday described communal tensions in Jodhpur as unfortunate and directed officials to take stern action against those responsible for it.

The tension broke out past midnight over the issue of putting up Islamic flags on the Jalori gate circle, which led to stone pelting in which five policemen were injured, the police control room said. The chief minister said instructions had been issued to the administration to maintain peace and order.

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