The mourning day of Muharram, which was observed on 1st October, seems to have resulted in various communal incidents around the country.
According to media reports, communal clashes happened at two places in Kanpur which resulted in injuries to 30 people including 5 policemen. Plus 10 vehicles and 4 shops were vandalised by the mobs. In one of the areas named Param Purwa, partial control was established but fights continued in Rawatpur.
The incident reportedly began in Param Purwa when a Tazia procession went on a different route that what was assigned to it. As a result it came near a Durga Puja immersion procession. The report claimed that the Tazia procession was supposed to take an u-turn at an intersection but went straight through.
As a result of this coming together of two religious processions, tempers reportedly flared on both sides and stone pelting started. Another report claimed that the police tried to stop the Tazia procession which had deviated from the route, but it as a result incensed the crowd and they confronted the cops. Soon, apart from stone pelting, the mob even indulged in arson.
The dispute in Rawatpur too reportedly started via a dispute over the route of a Tazia procession. The report claimed that some people tore down religious hoarding during the Tazia procession and as a result the confrontation took place.
Such incidents have also been reported from other cities:
- A Bhaskar report from Sheopur in Madhya Pradesh claimed that situation became tense in the town, after Muslim youths started to chant provocative slogans during the Tazia procession. Some locals objected to the slogans which also seems to have featured pro-Pakistani rhetoric, but even after that, the chants didn’t stop.
- In Siwan, Bihar, reports claimed that during Tazia procession some unscrupulous elements broke tube-lights affixed near a Durga puja pandal and in order to protest against it people created a road block and also indulged in arson.
- Even Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh witnessed communal tension. According to the report, a few youths who were taking part in a Tazia procession, entered into a village fair organised on Dusshera. As a result of that situation became tense and the two communities came face to face and indulged in heavy stone pelting.
- Medininagar in Jharkhand too wasn’t spared. The situation had reportedly started to become tense from Saturday night in the town’s Masjid Mohalla. At about 10:30 PM on Saturday, a Durga Puja procession caused trouble, as they didn’t pay heed to police’s request to keep moving and not play DJ songs. Things kept simmering and they seem to have escalated further after on Sunday alleged Muslim groups attacked Balwant Singh and Sukan Thakur after they they were passing near the Masjid Mohalla.