Before this, there was trouble closer to Jaipur when Jains and tribals confronted each other over worshipping rights at the Rishabhdev Temple. The temple, about 70 kms from Jaipur, is an important religious place for both Jains and tribals. Though a Supreme Court verdict in January 2006 asked the Rajasthan Devasthan Department to hand over the temple to Jains, the state government posted a small police force outside the temple and let the issue simmer. On February 7, the police was taken by surprise by the tribals who launched themselves through the nearby Bilak hills and tried to storm the temple. The police panicked and lobbed tear gas shells in which several protesters were injured. The way the situation was handled resulted in a tense stand-off between Jains and tribals that continues even now.

On July 22 the same year, in the wake of the rape of a Sikh girl, allegedly by the son of the Mewat Board chairman, a Shiv Sena-VHP sponsored bandh threatened to turn the issue into a communal flare-up. The Sikh and Jat blogs are full of comments from people who clearly resented the perceived support of the government to the bandh called by the Sena and VHP.

“These were not stray incidents that suddenly flared up one day and cooled down the next. The issues were deliberately kept simmering by the government until they spiralled out of control and the communities were at each other’s throats. Emissaries would be sent who would only end up antagonising each other,” says Rajiv Gupta, sociologist at Rajasthan University, Jaipur.

... contd.