On September 15, on the last day of the auspicious month of Shravan, a Lord Shiva procession came under brutal attack in the Thasra area in the Kheda district in Gujarat. According to reports, stones were pelted from a Madarsa when the Hindu devotees were taking out the procession from the area. Vijaydasji Maharaj, the organiser of the “Shivji ki savari” yatra, said that the attack appeared to be pre-planned.
The incident reportedly happened at around 3 pm in the afternoon. Police reached the spot and brought the situation under control.
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According to preliminary details, a procession of Lord Shiva takes place every year on the last day of Shravan month in Thasra. This year too, as per the schedule, the procession started at around 1 pm today. The event saw a large number of participants. At around 3 p.m. when the procession reached the city square, stones were hurled at Hindu devotees from a nearby Madarsa. Hindus taking part in processions were forced to abandon the yatra mid-way and flee for their lives. A stampede-like situation developed, with many people running helter-skelter to seek refuge.
In this incident, three police officers were hurt, including two officers and one PSI. However, it is unknown whether any devotees were hurt.
The yatra’s organizer, Mahant Vijaydasji, expressed his concern that the attack was pre-planned.
However, no accused had been arrested till the time this report was published. The police said that they are currently looking into the case further.
According to Kheda district police chief Rajesh Garhia, when the yatra was about to end, unknown people flung bricks and stones, injuring several people, including three police officers. He added that an adequate police force had been deployed in the region and that additional officers had been called in from neighbouring divisions.
According to Rajesh Garhia, the situation has been brought under control, and police presence has been increased in communally sensitive areas. He further stated that any anti-social elements involved in this act would not be spared. A search is currently underway to find the accused.
Stone pelting at Hindu festivals common in Kheda, Gujarat
It may be noted that Kheda is the same area where last year’s Navratri celebration had turned violent after a Muslim mob led by two youths identified as Arif and Zahir pelted stones on the Hindu devotees.
Reports had stated that during Navratri celebrations, Arif and Zahir led a mob and created a ruckus during Navratri celebration. The leaders of the village tried to broker peace but the mob did not back off. They returned and started pelting stones. Local residents of the village said they asked the Navratri celebrations to be called off in the area and said that the Navratri could not be celebrated there.
Prior to this, it was reported how a Muslim teacher in Kheda had made students beat their chests and chant ‘Ya Hussein’ in Muharram-style mourning instead of performing Garba during the Navratri celebration. There have also been reports where Muslim men have tried to enter Navratri venue under fake names. Reports have also emerged where in some areas local Muslims have opposed the celebration of Navratri.
Nuh violence
A similar incident of brutal stone pelting at the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)’s Brij Mandal Jalabhishek shobha yatra in the Muslim-majority region of Nuh in Mewat, Haryana happened recently July this year.
Several videos of the clashes had emerged which showed a mob charging in a hostile way at the yatris raising “Allahu Akbar” slogans and indulging in riotous activities. A home guard was shot dead and about a dozen policemen were injured as a mob in Haryana’s Nuh district tried to stop a Hindu religious procession on the auspicious Shravan Somvar, pelting stones and setting cars on fire.
As the religious procession came under attack in Nuh, Haryana, Hindu devotees had revealed to OpIndia and several other platforms that stones were pelted at them from the rooftops, young Muslim boys and men had taken to the mountainous area and were shooting at them from the peaks, acid bottles were thrown at them and several women were harassed. During the violence, several women and children (ranging anywhere between 2000-2500) had taken shelter at the Temple and were rescued only hours later by the police.
Further, there were others who were brutally murdered in cold blood by the Muslim mob too. OpIndia in its report revealed how one Hindu devotee, Abhishek, was first shot by the Islamists, then, his throat was slit and if that was not enough, the enraged Muslim mob then proceeded to crush his head with a large stone.
It is pertinent to note that OpIndia conducted an investigation where it was revealed that Islamists were planning this violence for at least 2 days before the Nuh procession. The Chief Minister of Haryana, ML Khattar, had also confirmed that the violence was indeed pre-planned and seemed like part of a larger conspiracy.
