On 30th March 2023, Ram Navami processions in Vadodara were attacked by local Islamists. Two Shobha Yatra processions of Lord Ram were attacked in a single day while passing through a Muslim-dominated area. After the attack near the mosque in Panjrigar Mohalla, a Muslim-dominated area of Fatehpura, in the morning, heavy stone pelting took place in another area in the evening.
The Home Ministry has also sprung into action and ordered a strict probe after two incidents of attacks on Ram Navami processions in Vadodara. Vadodara police have also carried out an operation throughout the night and identified the miscreants. While some of the miscreants were arrested, a search is on for the others.
Of the two attacks, the attack in Fatehpura that took place in the morning was more violent, and stones were hurled at the procession during that attack. OpIndia contacted Vadodara city Bajrang Dal coordinator Ketanbhai Trivedi regarding the incident. He was present throughout the procession and also handled all the arrangements. He gave all the details as well as expressed suspicion that the attack was preplanned.
The incident took place on the road from Bhootdi Jhampa to Panjrigar Mohalla in Fatehpura. Ketanbhai Trivedi told that the area is sensitive and there have been such incidents in the past as well. This is a Muslim-majority area.
A bike rider crashed into the Ram Navami procession and stone pelting started
Suspecting that the attack was pre-planned, Ketanbhai Trivedi said that when the Ram Navami procession was passing through the area, suddenly a Muslim man brought a bike without a number plate and collided with a car involved in the Ram Navami procession. So the driver of the car saw him and asked him to drive properly. The bike rider became angry and started abusing and within a short time, the crowd had also gathered.
“On one side, the car collided and the youth started arguing, and on the other side stone pelting also started from the roofs and back of the surrounding houses and there was a stampede,” he said. Stones were also pelted toward the idol of Lord Ram but Bajrang Dal workers took precautions and shifted the idol to a safe place.
Was it a premeditated attack?
“During the attack, stones were hurled from the mosque and surrounding houses as well as from the backside of these houses”, he said. “Apart from this, a mob of 20 to 25 people came out of a lane carrying weapons”, he added.
Suspecting it to be a premeditated conspiracy, he said, “The road at the spot where the incident took place was completely clear and no such construction was going on in the vicinity. So where did these stones come from?” He also said that if the incident had taken place in one place, it could have been assumed that a scuffle somehow took place, but the occurrence of such attacks at two to three places in the city only points to a premeditated conspiracy.
Muslim women shielding other Islamists
The Bajrang Dal leader said a mob of 100 to 150 Muslim women turned around and clashed with the police and activists of Hindu organisations. These women came ahead as the miscreants fled to the streets after pelting stones at the procession ensuring a safe passage to the miscreants.
‘How can a Hindu in Ram Navami procession pelt stones?’
He said, “When we go out with the procession of Lord Ram on Ram Navami, we do not go out with stones and why should any Hindu person in the procession throw stones? This is obvious.” In some videos on social media, it is claimed that activists of Hindu organisations have also pelted stones. Countering this, he said, “When there were no stones with us while we were in the processions, how can we pelt stones? What is seen in the videos is stones being pelted from the other side.”
He said that the Vadodara police have taken cognizance of the attacks on the Ram Navami procession and arrested some miscreants. Apart from this, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal will also file a complaint in this matter and demand legal action, he said.
