In India, Durga Puja is celebrated with much fanfare. From nine days of fasting to nine nights of dancing and celebrating the divine to mark the victory of good over evil, the Navratri is a festival close to all.
While the Hindus celebrated the divinity, some Muslims were busy perpetrating violence on the devotees and desecrating their faith. In this article, we will highlight how in just two days, eight incidents of violence, stone-pelting on procession as well as breaking of idols of Maa Durga. Not only that, pieces of meat were also thrown on the route of the procession. Many devotees fast during the nine days of Navratri and give up on consumption of meat and alcohol.
Balrampur: Durga Puja procession was attacked amidst ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ sloganeering, 8 arrested
In a video that had gone viral on social media, a Durga Puja procession can be seen getting attacked by heavy stone-pelting. The police had confirmed that eight people were arrested so far. A devotee who was part of the procession alleged conspiracy and claimed the stone-pelters chanted ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans.
Speaking to OpIndia, Suraj, a Balrampur resident part of the procession, said he was convinced that the Muslim residents of the locality had meticulously pre-planned this entire siege and the attack had nothing to do with the music not being stopped near the Mosque.
According to Suraj, on the day the Hindus came under siege, he was walking through the same lane much before the procession was taken out. Suraj was walking through the same lane and was crossing house where a certain Zulfikar stays. According to him, while he crossed the house in the morning, Zulfikar threw a stone at him. This ensued in a mild argument which was then calmed down by Zulfikar’s old mother who asked Suraj to forgive the ‘young boys’ who were just doing mischief.
Suraj on his part paid heed to what Zulfikar’s mother was saying and did not make much of the incident. He proceeded home to prepare for the visarjan procession that was to be taken out later that day. “If I had told my people about this, maybe we would not have come under attack later. This was all pre-planned”, Suraj said. When the mother pleaded with Suraj to let go of the incident, he thought it must have been really been young boys were simply playing mischief, but the doubts were sowed. In retrospect, Suraj seems to believe that the incident was the first indication that the Muslim community was planning to attack the Hindu community and had started collecting stones and weapons in a pre-planned manner.
In Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, tensions escalated when meat pieces were found thrown on the procession route
According to reports, meat pieces were found thrown strategically on the route of Durga idol immersion procession which led to escalated tensions. An FIR has been registered against unknown people. Reportedly, 3 different visarjan processions were en route when people spotted meat pieces on the side of the road.
Idol broken in a temple in Badaun, Uttar Pradesh
In Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun, on the last day of Navratri, some miscreants broke the idol in a Shiv temple. This led to communal tension but matters were brought under control. Local residents informed the police the idols were intact when they offered their prayers the previous night but were broken the next morning.
Read: Here are 10 incidents of Temple desecration and sacrilege across the country since June 2019
In Assam, one Rafikul Ali put up a tilak on his forehead and set Goddess Lakshmi’s idol on fire, stole ornaments
One Rafikul Ali allegedly broke into a Goddess Lakshmi temple in Assam’s Barpeta and set the idol inside the temple on fire. He also reportedly stole the ornaments on the idol and also tore up the posters which informed about the upcoming Lakshmi Puja celebrations. Ali has previously been accused of bullying and harassing school, college students in the vicinity as well.
Durga idol vandalised in Arunachal Pradesh, 3 arrested
In Arunachal Pradesh’s Doimukh Bazaar’s Durga Puja pandal, the idols were broken. Three suspects have been arrested till now. The police, however, claim that the the reason behind the vandalisation was personal dispute and there was no communal angle behind it. Some social media users have claimed that the perpetrators belonged to the Christian community.
Durga idol broken and head ‘stolen’ in Bengal along with ornaments
In Wet Bengal’s Ketugram, devotees found that the idol of Maa Durga was broken and the head ‘stolen’ along with the ornaments. The ‘head’ was then found from a lake nearby. One suspect has been arrested. Villagers claim that the door of the temple was closed in the night but they found one of the windows open in the morning.
Read: ‘Dara Hua Musalman’? Here is a list of 50 hate crimes that busts the narrative
Stones pelted on Durga Visarjan procession in Gaya when passing by Jama Masjid, police beat up the devotees in pandal
On Tuesday night, during Durga Visarjan on Vijaya Dashami, stones were reportedly pelted on the procession as well as on the police when it reached the Jama Masjid area. As per reports, the police, while trying to control the crowd, used force and expletives, following which the devotees got angry. In a video that has gone viral on social media, one can see the police roughing up a devotee as it indulged in beating up people indiscriminately.
Stones pelted from mosque during Durga idol immersion in Jehanabad, 14 people injured
A Muslim mob attacked a Durga idol procession in Jehanabad district in Bihar on Thursday. The horrific attack on Hindus led to a curfew-like situation leading to the imposition of section 144 in the area. According to the reports, around 6 am on Thursday, a group of Hindus carrying an idol of Goddess Durga for immersion were attacked by a mob, which pelted stones from terrace and rooftops of mosque with stones near Bihar Studio at Arval Modh. The sudden attack led to a stampede in which around a dozen people, including four policemen, were injured.
