Shimla residents blame successive govts, MC for chaos

Local residents and shopkeepers blamed successive governments and the Municipal Corporation for the chaos in Sanjauli on Wednesday, alleging that the case related to the mosque in the locality had been going on for 14 years.

Many of them, however, also slammed the protesters for not lodging their protest peacefully. A few also slammed the government for not sending any of the ministers or other senior leaders to talk to the protesters and defuse the situation. “Maybe the situation wouldn’t have flared up so much if a minister or a senior leader had come to talk to the protesters,” said a local.

Some of the shopkeepers running shops for decades at Sanjauli termed the incident as “extremely unfortunate”. “We have been doing business here for more than six decades and have never seen such anarchy and animosity in all these years. It’s extremely unfortunate,” said an elderly shopkeeper.

A few students from Government College, Sanjauli, who were caught in the melee, also regretted the incident. “Protest is fine but they don’t have to be aggressive. Yes, illegal construction is wrong, be it a mosque or any other structure, and such matters should be decided promptly by the authorities,” said Mehak and Alisha, the students of GC, Sanjauli.

Another shopkeeper said the government underestimated the anger simmering among the people over illegal construction in the mosque and the delay in deciding the case. “It’s been nearly 15 years since the case is being heard, and there’s still no certainty as to when it will be decided. If it had been decided by now, all this wouldn’t have happened,” he said.

Another shopkeeper, who was among the protesters, said the protesters just wanted to sit peacefully on a dharna to register their protest. “The government and the administration, however, provoked them by placing barricades on the way and imposing prohibitory orders,” he said.