Communal clashes in 4 states on Ram Navami, stone pelting, arson, 1 killed in Gujarat

There is news of communal conflict in four states across the country on Ram Navami. During Ram Navami processions in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and West Bengal yesterday (Sunday, 10 April) stone pelting, arson, assault and large-scale violence broke out. The festival of Ram Navami is celebrated as the birth anniversary of Lord Shri Ram, the deity of Hindus. During this there is a tradition of taking out a grand procession or procession.

Curfew has been imposed in three areas of the city after violence broke out on Ram Navami procession in Khargone city of Madhya Pradesh on Sunday. There were incidents of stone pelting and arson by miscreants during the procession, in which some vehicles were torched. After this incident, the administration has imposed curfew in three areas of the city, while Section 144 has been imposed in the entire city. Police have also lobbed tear gas shells to control the situation.

Khargone Additional District Magistrate Sumer Singh Mujalde said that some miscreants pelted stones at the people involved in the procession as soon as the Ram Navami procession was taken out at Talab Chowk located at the district headquarters. He said that due to this the police used tear gas shells to control the situation.

Videos of violence showed miscreants setting vehicles on fire, pelting stones and police firing tear gas at them. Several policemen including Superintendent of Police Siddhartha Chaudhary have been injured in this violence. Four houses were set on fire in Khargone and a temple was also vandalised.

Communal clashes have also taken place on Ram Navami in Khambhat in Anand district of Gujarat and Himmatnagar in Sabarkantha district. According to officials, there have been incidents of stone pelting and arson at both the places and the police had to use tear gas shells to control the situation.

Khambhat Superintendent of Police Ajit Rajan said, “The body of an unidentified person has been recovered from the place where two groups clashed during the Ram Navami procession. The age of the deceased appears to be around 65 years.”

On the other hand, in Himmatnagar of Sabarkantha, a mob damaged some vehicles and shops during the procession. The police had to use tear gas shells to control the situation there. Sabarkantha police chief Vishal Vaghela said, “Stones were pelted at some people during the scuffle.”

There is also news of clashes during Ram Navami procession in Shibpur area of ​​Howrah, West Bengal. A large number of policemen have been deployed there after the violence. Police have said that they are taking steps to maintain peace.

In Bengal, the opposition BJP alleges that the Ram Navami procession was attacked by the police. Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Suvendu Adhikari has accused the police personnel of attacking those participating in the Ram Navami procession.

The police have requested the residents of Howrah to exercise restraint while posting anything on social media and warned them against spreading any fake news.

There have also been reports of stone pelting and arson on Ram Navami processions from Lohardaga in Jharkhand. There are also reports of injuries to many people, out of which three are in critical condition. Heavy police force has been deployed in the city to maintain peace.