Special Correspondent

Noor Ullah � Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

Bangalore: "So many Ministers and big people come here to give apples and oranges. Their pictures appear in the newspapers. But who really cares for the fate of these innocent people," G.M. Yusuf asked members of Souharda Karnataka who visited the victims of the communal violence in Shivajinagar, on Wednesday.

"Politicians are using this incident to pay lip sympathy and play a blame game," he said.

Mr. Yusuf, a volunteer helping the victims, said that 400 people � Hindus and Muslims � had been rounded up. But only 110 of them had been produced before the court. Many did not know in which jails their relatives were, he said.

Mr. Yusuf said that politicians and other people should instead pay attention to the future of those who had been injured and had lost all their belongings.

The police had entered the houses of innocent people and arrested them at random, he alleged.

"So many people, including minors, have been booked under Section 307 (attempt to murder). What will be the future of the children who have been pushed into jails," he asked.

Noor Ullah (72), with a fractured hand and back injuries, had only one request to make to every visitor: "All my children and grandchildren are in jail. Please release them."

He alleged that the police had barged into the house claiming that some miscreants were hiding there and hit him before taking away his sons and grandsons. The youngest of them is a 13-year-old.

Hameed (23), an autorickshaw driver from Banashankari, was taking a commuter to Ulsoor when trouble broke out.

His autorickshaw was completely damaged and he does not know what his future will be when he comes out of the hospital.

G.K. Govind Rao, actor and member of Souharda Karnataka, said, "The accumulated bitterness in the victims does not forebode well for the future of the country."

The programmes conducted with "ulterior motives," � the rally held at Shivajinagar against the hanging of Saddam Hussein and the Virat Hindu Samajotsava functions being held by the Sangh Parivar � had brought on the situation, he alleged.

The police and the Government had only abetted the situation, he alleged. S.Y. Gurushanth of the Communist Party of India (M) demanded that the real culprits be booked and the false cases lodged against the innocent dropped.

http://www.hindu.com/2007/01/25/stories/2007012509570100.htm