Religious Festivals Turning Threatening: Instances From Recent Ram Navami Processions
On April 6, devotees celebrated the birth anniversary of Lord Ram, the seventh avatar of Lord Vishnu, with great fervor across India. From reading and listening to the Ramayana to organising busting processions and charitable events among other rituals, the day is marked by enhanced enthusiasm and spiritual purification. While most of them were peaceful, some reported hate incidents – provocative slogans and actions, and instances of stone pelting at the processions.
However, under the changing political scenario, some religious processions are increasingly becoming threatening to the social fabric, with miscreants emboldened by political impunity, turning such events into a hate-filled, horror-clouded atmosphere. Reflecting the rising intolerance, there are also instances where individuals trying to disrupt such processions. During a motorbike rally organised on the occasion of Ram Navami in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, individuals allegedly threw eggs at participants, provoking devotees and leading to a brief tension in the area.
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There also also instances, where such processions turn out to be source of provocation and hate-mongering. Hindutvawatch, an independent research initiative to monitor the reports of attacks on the members of minority and marginalised communities, has collected various incidents which saw participants in the processions brandishing swords and other weapons, including guns, and hurling abuses targeting Muslims.
On April 6, while speaking at Ram Navami Shobha Yatra in Golconda, Hyderabad, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) city president Nitin Nandkar targeted Muslims by demonising the entire community. The BJP’s youth outfit leader said Hindus and Muslims cannot be brothers, noting that Muslims eat beef, the BJYM leader also encouraged cow vigilantism during the event, as reported by Hindutvawatch.
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During the Ram Navami rally in West Bengal’s Sankail om April 5, hundreds of participants reportedly brandished swords and other weapons. Speaking at the event, a speaker claimed that the Hindus and the country were under threat while exhorting the attendees to take a vow to reconvert non-Hindus to Hinduism.
In a separate incident in Uttar Pradesh’s Kanpur Ram Navami procession, crowds were seen vandalizing shops and vehicles at the market, visibly those belonging to Muslims. The participants spread false rumors alleging that Muslims had pelted stones at the procession, which the police debunked, according to Hindutva watch.
During a procession in Bihar’s Hajipur on April 6, Rajeev Brahmarshi, a leader of the far-right organization Hindu Putra, displayed a rifle while issuing abusive and threatening remarks against Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. On the same day, in West Bengal’s Bardhaman, police detained a man who carried a gun while chanting Jai Shri Ram during a Ram Navami procession.
However, amid all the busts of tensions during religious processions, there are still instances that continue to uphold the age-old communal harmony without being swayed away by the new normal. Following the tradition, a group of Muslims were seen offering juice to the devotees participating in the procession near the Quadri Chaman Dargah Shareef at Khadri chowk near Naka circle.
There also also many instances where members of the Hindu community facilitate people from the minority communities during their religious gatherings. Notably, in the present scenario, only such instances gains national headlines, indicating that they are the ones that are seen as rare and news-worthy now a days, while cases of hate incidents no longer invoke society’s consciousness.
