Every Hindu in the world wept with pride and delight on January 22nd during the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha event in Ayodhya, as the community welcomed Lord Ram back to his ancestral house after about 500 years. Islamists, on the other hand, were offended by the historic occasion in Ayodhya and swiftly launched an attack on Hindus who were engrossed in commemorating the return of their god after five centuries.
There have been reports of Islamists attacking Hindu devotees in the districts of Mehsana and Vadodara in Gujarat, Nanded, Mumbai in Maharashtra, and also Solapur. The Islamists at several places attacked Hindus with stones, iron rods, sticks, and bamboo, leaving over a dozen people who participated in rallies to commemorate the return of Lord Ram in Ayodhya injured.
In the incident that has come to the fore from Solapur district of Maharashtra, the police have filed a case against 12 unknown persons for threatening the Hindu community people and also brutally assaulting them on 22nd January. Team OpIndia obtained the FIR in the case in which it has been mentioned that the accused persons belonged to the Muslim community and launched a brutal attack on the Hindu persons as the latter was engaged in the celebration of the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha ceremony.
As per the official complaint, the incident is said to have happened on Monday (22nd January) when the Hindu persons conducted a bike rally in the Solapur district of Maharashtra. The Hindus placed bhagwa flags on their bikes and raised the slogans of ‘Jai Shree Ram’ as they rode through the city. The rally was organized by the Hindvi Pratishthan Mandal whose office is located near the Chandtara Masjid in the city.
As the rally began, the Hindu participants raised the slogans of ‘Jai Shree Ram’ and moved towards the main area of the city. However, around 25-30 Muslim community people, irked by the rally gathered in the Shastri Nagar area and began assaulting the Hindu participants of the rally. The Islamists used iron rods, bamboo sticks, and steel rods to attack the Hindus. They also pelted stones at the rally participants forcing them to flee from the area to save their lives.
Around 6 persons are said to have attained severe injuries and are admitted to the hospital undergoing treatment. The injured persons have been identified as Mahesh Chade, Nimkanthi Swami, Jayram Gawade, Mallikarjun Shendri, Nagesh Hature, and Ganesh Narle. The victim persons have attained severe head injuries and have been admitted to the hospital.
One of the victim persons while talking to OpIndia mentioned that the Muslim community people deliberately launched an attack on Hindu persons. “They knew about the rally and gathered in numbers in the Shastri Nagar area near Harish Sheikh’s shop. As the rally reached there, they began attacking us with stones and rods. We had to leave our bikes and run to save our lives,” Narle said.
Team OpIndia also talked to the members of Sakal Hindu Samaj who confirmed that the Islamists launched an attack on the Hindu persons during a rally that was conducted to celebrate the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha event. The Hindus also stated that the Police initially took no action against the stone pelters, instead detained Hindu participants and beat them for allegedly disturbing communal harmony.
“They (Islamists) launched an attack on rally participants. They pelted stones and also attacked with iron rods. Their action resulted in severe head injuries. Many of the Hindus are admitted to the hospital and are undergoing treatment. We condemn this kind of attack. Later Hindus also retaliated. However, the police who reached the spot took action against the Hindu participants. Instead of taking the injured Hindus to the hospital, they took them to the Sadar Bazaar police station and interrogated them. The Police officers are also said to have beaten the Hindus in the case. However, no action was taken against the other community people,” the statement released by Sakal Hindu Samaj read.
OpIndia tried to contact the Sadar Bazaar Police Station for comment, but the calls remained unanswered. The report will be updated once the information is obtained.
The statement by Sakal Hindu Samaj further mentioned the names of two police officers who are said to have beaten the Hindu community people who participated in the rally. “API Muneer Mulla and ASI Rafiq Inamdaar threatened the injured Hindus and beat them. Instead of registering the complaint against the Muslim community persons who pelted stones, these police officers threatened the Hindus and asked them to go home. This was all to save the stone pelters,” the statement copy obtained by OpIndia read.
#Solapur Violence- 12 #Jihadis booked u/s IPC 307 for sword attack, stabbing, stone pelting. CP Solapur forcefully discharged seriously injured Hindu youths to save Jihadis but HM @Dev_Fadnavis ensured stringet action, police raiding multiple locations n more arrests would be… pic.twitter.com/q1Z1vDdwd9
— Legal Rights Observatory- LRO (@LegalLro) January 26, 2024
However, a Police complaint was lodged at the Sadar Bazaar Police station against unknown persons for brutally attacking Hindus during the bike rally and disturbing the communal harmony. Around 12 persons are said to have been booked under sections 143, 147, 336, 323, and 326 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and section 135 of the Maharashtra Police Act, 1951.
OpIndia has also obtained exclusive images and video of the incident in which the victim Hindus can be seen suffering severe head injuries. In the given case, it is also believed that Islamists celebrated the attack on Hindus on social media by posting videos of the attack.
This is the second incidence of violence against Hindus in Solapur. Recently, on 7th January, the Muslims in the Solapur region ad gathered to threaten the Hindus as they conducted a Sakal Hindu Samaj rally. The said rally was addressed by BJP leaders Nitesh Rane and T Raja Singh.
During the rally, the shopkeepers in the rally concerned area were asked by the police to lower the shutters for precaution. However, some of the Muslim shopkeepers refused to obey the police. Later when the rally reached Muslim dominant area, the shopkeepers complained that some of the participants from the rally pelted stones at the shop.
One of the Muslim shopkeepers also complained in the FIR that stones were pelted at the mosque. However, it was verified by OpIndia that no stones were pelted at any Mosque in Solapur during the rally. OpIndia is in possession of all the legal documents and statements which reveal that no stones were pelted on the Mosque.
In the current given case, 12 persons are said to have been booked under sections 143, 147, 336, 323, and 326 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and section 135 of the Maharashtra Police Act, 1951. Further investigations are underway.
