On January 25, Thursday, Union Minister Giriraj Singh issued a stern warning to the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar over the incident where an unknown miscreant broke a Hanuman idol in the state’s Katihar district. Accusing Bihar’s ruling dispensation of turning a blind eye towards the attack on Hindus and their religious symbols, the Union minister said that the attack on the Hanuman idol is akin to the attempt to annihilate Sanatanis.
The BJP MP from Begusarai further warns Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav that if this issue is not taken seriously and a probe is not launched into the incident then he will have to suffer the consequences.
VIDEO | “Hanuman idols had been destroyed in Bihar’s Katihar. I warn Nitish Kumar that if this issue is not taken seriously, then he will have to suffer the consequences,” says Union Minister @girirajsinghbjp.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 25, 2024
(Source: Third Party) pic.twitter.com/LaAR3ODBOq
According to a report by ABP News Hindi, the idols of Lord Hanuman were vandalised in two different places in Bihar’s Katihar district. The incident happened on Tuesday (January 23) night, a day after the Ayodhya Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha ceremony. The first incident happened in the Manoharpur Ward-16 of Bihar’s Katihar district. In the second incident, the Hanuman idol installed in the temple just below Mahiyarpur railway station was damaged.
After the incident, locals staged a protest by blocking roads and railway tracks. As per ABP News locals were so enraged that they set a railway track on fire and blocked National Highway 31A. Seeing the tension, the administration deployed additional police force in the area and the situation was brought under control. Protestors dispersed only after the police assured prompt action in the case.
Meanwhile, the police began investigating by filing a case against an unknown person based on the written request of the temple committee. SDO Kumar Siddharth said that an investigation is being conducted into the incident and the situation in the area is completely under control.
Notably, since January 22 as many as 18 Hindu processions taken out to celebrate the homecoming of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya have come under vicious attack from Islamists. OpIndia chronicled the list of the attacks unleashed by the Islamists on Hindu processions.