Hindu and Hindu festivals are under attack in Bharat, the country which is home to the maximum Hindus around the world. Today (March 30), Hindus are observing the birth anniversary of Bhagwan Ram, and scores of devotees take out Shobha Yatra commemorating the festival.
However, these processions have been attacked, first at Sambhajinagar where unarmed youths were targeted by a mob of more than 500 people, while they were preparing for the Shobha Yatra. Now, visuals are up from the Vadodara city of Gujrat where miscreants pelted stones at the procession as soon as it crossed the Mosque.
Also, a similar attack was launched against the Ram Navami processions at West Bengal’s Howrah.
See the visuals from the attack in Vadodara first:
#WATCH | Stone-pelting occurred on Thursday during the #RamNavami Shoba Yatra in Gujarat's #Vadodara. According to the police, the situation is now under control.
Click on the 🔗 to know more about the incident: https://t.co/v8JFrqEWwE#Gujarat #ABPLive pic.twitter.com/EBHwXg7Giv
— ABP LIVE (@abplive) March 30, 2023
In the videos, it can be seen clearly that the procession is being attacked with stones as soon as they crossed the mosque. The mosque where the procession was attacked falls under the Fatehpura area.
Ironically, the police administration is trying to cover up the issue by saying, no rucks were created and the situation is under control.
“The situation is under control. The incident took place when the procession reached a mosque and people started gathering at the spot. This is not a communal riot. We dispersed the crowd and the procession also went ahead on its route. All such processions in the city were already given police protection,” the police official Yashpal Jaganiya told reporters.
सिटी थाना क्षेत्र में एक मस्जिद के सामने दो गुटों के बीच टकराव हुआ था लेकिन कोई तोड़-फोड़ नहीं हुई है, मस्जिद के सामने से जब यात्रा निकल रही थी तब कुछ लोग एकत्रित हो गए थे लेकिन उन्हें समझाकर वापस भेज दिया गया। इलाके में शांति है, शोभा यात्रा आगे निकल चुकी है: यशपाल जगनिया, DCP,… pic.twitter.com/d7bXVr4trI
— ANI_HindiNews (@AHindinews) March 30, 2023
Vadodara Bajrang Dal president Ketan Trivedi claimed that the stone-pelting was part of a conspiracy. “This procession is targeted almost every year. Despite knowing that, there was no police deployment in this area. Stones were pelted as part of a pre-planned conspiracy,” he said.
Visuals from the Bengal attack
News agency ANI reported visuals of the attack and rucks from Howrah, West Bengal where miscreants targetted the Ram Navami procession on March 30. Vehicles were torched, several left injured after unidentified attackers barged into the peaceful Ram Navami Shobha Yatra.
#WATCH | West Bengal: Police personnel conduct flag march after ruckus during 'Rama Navami' procession in Howrah where several vehicles were torched. pic.twitter.com/W845mdQQnQ
— ANI (@ANI) March 30, 2023
After taking situation under control the Bengal police took out a flag march in the affected area.
The visuals from the Sambhajinagar attack
Violent clashes broke out between two groups at Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar’s Kiradpura area in Maharashtra on March 29. The attacker targeted unarmed Hindu youths preparing for the Ram Navami procession at Kiradpura Ram mandir. The situation is now under control, but the police claimed a mob of as many as 500 attacked them as well.
Maharashtra | #CCTV footages show men in skullcaps pelting stones, vandalising public property, setting police vehicles on fire outside a #RamMandir in the #Kiradpura area of Chhatrapati #SambhajiNagar on the night of March 29. pic.twitter.com/APBpGzDXA3
— Organiser Weekly (@eOrganiser) March 30, 2023
After 12:30, a minor scuffle broke out between a Hindu and a Muslim boy. Soon, hundreds of mobsters assembled in front of the temple and started pelting stones. The attackers also targeted the police vehicles and they set ablaze as many as nine police vans.
Visuals from the attack are also coming up where miscreants tried removing the ‘toran dwar’ prepared in front of the Ram temple.
To bring the situation under control, police fired teargas shells, and pellets, leaving some of them injured.
Ram Navami processions attacked in the past
In 2022 a procession was attacked in Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone where miscreants even targeted the firefighters installed to control the situation there. The attack in Khargone began after the Shobha Yatra crossed the Mosque located at the Talab Square of the city.
Violent mob in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh pelted stones after a group holding ramnavmi march reached near the mosque with DJ. Curfew in selected areas have been imposed.@CollecterK @khargonepolice1 @PROJSKhargone pic.twitter.com/KYtw7JMv33
— Subhi Vishwakarma (@subhi_karma) April 11, 2022
In Kolar, Karnataka miscreants attacked a Ram Navami procession where as many as eight civilians and 11 police officials were injured. The attackers were well equipped with sticks, stones and petrol bombs.
Violence during Ram Navami celebrations is not a new affair in West Bengal. The past few years have also seen isolated incidents of violence on this occasion, especially in the Howrah region.
In 2022, two incidents of violence during Ram Navami celebration in Bengal’s Howrah and Bankura led to injuries to 20 people, including six police personnel. Over 30 people were arrested following the incidents.
#WATCH | West Bengal: Police personnel conduct flag march after ruckus during 'Rama Navami' procession in Howrah where several vehicles were torched. pic.twitter.com/W845mdQQnQ
— ANI (@ANI) March 30, 2023
Two different attacks were targeted to stop the Ram Navami Shobha Yatra at Lohardaga and Bokaro cities of Jharkhand. In this attack the mob set ablaze vehicle, ransacked shops and houses but they also put Rajdhani express on fire.
आज लोहरदगा में रामनवमी के शांतिपूर्ण शोभायात्रा पर कायरतापूर्ण हमला अत्यंत ही दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण है जिसकी हम भत्सना करते हैं.
हमले में घायलों से एवं वहां उपस्थित उनके परिजनों से रिम्स जाकर मिला.
हम उनके कुशलक्षेम की प्रार्थना करते है और हर सम्भव सहायता के लिए पार्टी उनके साथ हैं. pic.twitter.com/q0lZcnqBWR
— Deepak Prakash (@dprakashbjp) April 10, 2022
In Maharashtra’s Mankhurd area a similar attack was launched against the Hindu procession on ram Navami last year. As many as thirty vehicles were set ablaze.
In Gujrat’s Sabarkanta area miscreants attacked the unarmed Hindu devotees assembled at the Shobha Yatra. The attackers also created rucks by attacking the shops in the Himmatnagar area.
In Joda area of the Keonjhar district of Odisha Muslim locals attacked the Ram Navami processions with stones and glass bottles. The situation was taken under control after heavy police deployment.
