After Muslims stopped immersion of the idol of Goddess Durga at Lakheya village in the Garhwa district of Jharkhand on Saturday, another similar incident took place in a different village in the same district. The second incident took place at Madgadi village in Garhwa district, where violence erupted after the Hindus refused to change the route of idol immersion that goes through a Myslim area.
As per reports, ahead of the scheduled immersion of Devi Durga idol on Sunday, a dispute was going over the route of the procession in the last 3-4 days. The traditional route taken by the immersion procession goes through a Muslim dominated area, and the locals in that place had lodged a complaint against the procession going through that area.
Accordingly, the administration had changed the route of the procession carrying the idols for immersion to bypass that area as per the demands of the Muslims. However the Hindus in the area didn’t agree to, and they were adamant on using the old route. They argued that they have the permission to use the existing route.
Jharkhand: Tensions are rising in Madgadi village, Garhwa district, over idol immersion on the second day of Dussehra. Despite tight security, the Hindu community is adamant about immersing the idol on a disputed route, fueling public anger against the administration pic.twitter.com/6helk68UV9
— IANS (@ians_india) October 13, 2024
On Sunday, despite police order, the Hindu devotees declared that they will take the old route, and this created a dispute with the police. A large number of police forces were deployed to force the devotees to carry the idols through the new route. The Hindus protested against this, and started sloganeering, refusing to comply with the dictate.
Police resorted to lathicharge on the protestors to disperse them, but the action increased tension instead. The villagers counter-attacked the police, and pelted stones on them. They chased away the cops for around a kilometre, and also vandalised police vehicles. The villagers also gathered anti-riot kits carried by the police and burnt them.
Several cops were injured in the attack, including SP Rahul Dev Baraik who was seriously injured.
After getting information about the incident, additional police force arrived and the situation was controlled. Top police and administration officials have arrived at the village and camping there. Garhwa SP Deepak Kumar Pandey said that the situation is under control at the moment and peace has been restored. Police personnel have been deployed in large numbers in the village.
The SP said that members of the Puja committee have been called for talks.
