The stone-pelting and subsequent violence in Khambhat, Anand of Gujarat on Ram Navami were preplanned. Of the 11 arrested including maulvis, 6 people are believed to be involved in planning conspiracy as per local daily Divya Bhaskar. The report states that a sleeper cell module had been established and had gathered three days ahead of Ram Navami. Stones were collected and kept ready on the route of the yatra ahead of time.
During police interrogation, the accused admitted to having perpetrated the violence to establish fear and dominance of the Muslim community in Khambhat so that Hindus do not dare to take out shobha yatras in future. As per the Divya Bhaskar report, a ‘chadar’ was circulated in Muslim dominated areas in Khambhat to collect money for legal aid and financial assistance to families of those who get arrested.
As per the report, Razak Maulvi is the main culprit who planned the entire violence. An SIT has now been formed to investigate the case. District Police chief Ajit Rajiyan said that the violence was planned such that no such shobha yatras are carried out in future. 6 people are main culprits who got 16 more involved. 57 people have been identified and complaint has been registered.
The report further states that when the Ram Navami procession was passing by, Maulvi Razak created a ruckus to get the DJ music turned off and tried to distract the police attention and stones were pelted at that time. As of now, there is no concrete evidence of involvement of anti-India forces from Pakistan and Afghanistan but investigation is currently underway.
As per the local daily Gujarat Samachar, there were plans to create unrest in other parts of the state too. But because of lack of local support the same was not executed. The screenshots of violence have been made viral in social media of Pakistan as well.
The police is currently investigating the call and message records of the accused, many of whom have a criminal past.
Khambhat violence
On Ram Navami procession was carried out in Anand’s Khambhat region by Hindus, celebrating the birthday of Prabhu Ram. When the shobha yatra passed by a mosque, stones were pelted on the procession and some 7-8 shops were set on fire. One person died and many others were injured in the violence. In other such incident in Himmatnagar, Gujarat, stones were pelted on the Ram Navami procession. The state administration has assured strict action will be taken against those who tried to disrupt peace and harmony in the state.
Similar such incidents of violence took place in other parts of the country like West Bengal, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and even Karnataka took place on Ram Navami. The ‘liberals’ in India have tried to justify the violence by claiming that the music and slogans raised to hail Shri Ram were provocative when chanted in ‘Muslim areas’. In Islam, idol worship is considered biggest sin. Read here what the Quran says about stone-pelting.
