Who was behind Hyderabad riots? Many rumours, no answer

Hyderabad, March 31 : Were the communal riots in Hyderabad pre-planned and if so who was responsible for it? These questions have cropped up in people's minds as wild allegations are being made by a section of leaders within the ruling Congress party.While party leaders from Telangana have pointed fingers at their colleagues from Andhra and Rayalaseema regions, saying it was a conspiracy to weaken the movement for separate statehood, a Congress MP from Andhra has blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Congress MP from Vijayawada L. Rajagopal, who met his party's central leaders in Delhi Tuesday, alleged that riots in Hyderabad were the handiwork of the BJP to prove its existence. He pointed out that riots broke out soon after young BJP legislator Kishan Reddy took over as president of the party's state unit. Chief Minister K. Rosaiah is already facing embarrassment as the opposition is mounting pressure on him to order a probe into the allegations of a couple of Telangana MPs of his own party that the riots were a conspiracy by leaders from Andhra and Rayalaseema to destabilise his government and weaken the Telangana movement. Taking strong note of the developments following protests by Congress leaders from Andhra and Telangana, the central leadership of the Congress party has asked two MPs and a legislator not to go public with their allegations. In the past, squabbling within the Congress party was blamed for riots in the old city of Hyderabad. Rivals of late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy within the Congress had alleged that he was behind the 1990 riots, which claimed over 200 lives. Reddy, however, denied the allegations. Home Minister P. Sabita Indra Reddy said investigations were on to identify the culprits and assured that they would be dealt with firmly. "Special teams have been constituted to probe the violence and identify the guilty. While some rioters have already been arrested, there are others who are yet to be arrested," she said. The home minister evaded a reply to queries about some media reports which quoted intelligence sources as saying that a BJP minister in Karnataka was behind the communal violence. The reports said the minister developed a grouse against the Rosaiah government for taking action against his illegal mining operations in Anantapur district bordering Karnataka. The reports also quoted intelligence sleuths as saying that the minister funded several right-wing outfits in Hyderabad to create trouble. The state leadership of the Congress party has reportedly brought this to the notice of party president Sonia Gandhi.
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