This year, the Hindu festival of Ganesh Chaturthi was marred by multiple attacks on Ganesh Puja pandals across the country by Muslim mobs. OpIndia documented several such incidents wherein Muslim mobs including minors pelted stones on Ganpati pandals, Ganesh idols and Hindus celebrating their festival.
In Gujarat’s Surat, two Muslim women Rubyna Pathan and Laima Sheikh were arrested for inciting their children to attack and break Ganesh idols. In another incident in Surat, some Muslim minors pelted stones at a Ganeshutsav pandal in the Lal Gate area’s Variyali Bazaar. In the Kutch district, Muslims attacked Hindu youths carrying an idol of Bhagwan Ganesh. On 7th September, miscreants pelted stones at a Bhagwan Ganesh idol in Mochipura of Ratlam district in Madhya Pradesh. In Karnataka’s Nagamangala, riots erupted after a Muslim mob pelted stones at the Ganpati Visarjan procession merely because the Hindus celebrating were dancing in front of the Dargah for a few minutes.
This, however, is not a new trend. Every year, Hindu processions on festivals like Ganeshotsav, Ram Navmi or Hanuman Jayanti are attacked by Islamist mobs over some excuse or the other. While Islamists hating Hindus is not a lesser-known fact, did you know about one of the first attacks on Ganesh Puja by Muslim mobs? In 1895, riots erupted in Dhulia [Dhule], Maharashtra over the Ganpati celebration. Before delving into what transpired in Dhulia in 1895, it is pertinent to take a look at how Muslims used trivial excuses to attack Hindus just two years before the Dhule Riots, how the Ganpati celebration was popularised and how it irked the Islamists.
1893 Bombay Riots which inspired Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak to unite Hindus through Ganeshotsav
The grand public celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi gained prominence in Maharashtra and other parts of the country with the efforts of Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak in 1893. The pattern of Islamist mobs attacking Ganpati processions and pandals is not new in India, rather it dates back to the Mumbai riots of 1893. These riots are one of the first documented incidents in which a Hindu religious celebration, particularly the Ganesh festival, became a trigger for Muslims to unleash violence against Hindus. This trend has persisted over the decades, with similar attacks occurring around the festival season, demonstrating a long history of hatred against Hindus and their festivals harboured by certain Islamist groups.
On the 11th of August 1893, a large communal riot erupted in Mumbai as ceremonial music was being played at the Hanuman temple in Pydhonie. Right before the Bombay riots, similar riots broke out in Prabhas Patan, which was under the control of the nawab of Junagadh. On the 25th of July 1893, Muslims attacked Hindus and desecrated temples in Somnath during Muharram. Muslims in Junagadh had been clamouring for control of all governmental jobs in the state and to avenge the Azamgarh riots.
Following the Somnath riots, several Muslims travelled to Bombay to seek donations to release the arrested Muslim rioters. In response to the destruction in Somnath, prominent Gujarati Hindus in Bombay started collecting funds for Hindu victims. Muslims from all over India were flocking into Bombay, including Pathans, Chilli Chors, and Julahas from Gangetic areas who had attacked Hindus during the Mau and Rangoon riots. When Hindus in Bombay formed the Society for Cow Protection, the Muslim mobs were agitated and were looking for a fitting opportunity to attack Hindus.
The Islamists found an excuse in ceremonial music played at the Hanuman temple at Pydhonie. This temple was in close vicinity of the Jama Masjid. Armed with lathis, Muslim rioters stormed out of Bombay’s Jama Masjid, beating Hindus and vandalising the Hanuman Temple, claiming that the temple’s bells “disturbed” Namaz. Riots lasted three days, with looting, arson, and killing. Many Hindus died, and temples and stores were ravaged. Historical accounts say that around 80 people were killed in the riots.
However, the British, led by Lord Harris, continually backed the rioting Muslims and blamed Hindus for the rioting. The Cow Protection Movement was blamed for the spark. In 1894, during the Deccan riots, Harris blamed Brahmins for the widespread violence and disobedience. This recurrent injustice convinced Tilak that because the British government was siding with Muslims, it was pointless to expect them to protect Hindus; consequently, Hindus had the right to act in self-defence. Tilak decided to popularise a Hindu festival just as the Greeks used to do to propagate national culture and foster unity. Because Ganeshotsav was already a celebration across caste lines, Tilak saw the festival as a potential unifier of Hindus, fostering feelings of Hindu unity and nationalism.
1895 Dhulia Riots: The first Islamist attack on Ganpati celebration
Notably, before Ganeshotsav, Muharram was the most popular festival in the erstwhile presidency of Bombay. As larger-than-life “Ganpati Melas”, full of music processions, and cultural programs gained popularity among Hindus they served as powerful tools of mass mobilisation. However, the Islamists were for obvious reasons displeased. It is said that in 1895, an idol of Lord Ganesh emerged from the Panjhra [Panzara] river in Dhule. The Hindus then constructed a temple and installed the idol in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple as per the rituals.
Inspired by the tradition popularised by Tilak, a Dhulia resident and freedom fighter Khambete Guruji started the tradition of the Ganpati celebration. As the Ganpati Visarjan procession passed through the old Shahi Jama Masjid of Dhulia/Dhule, the local Muslims turned angry and attacked the Hindus resulting in communal violence, however, the British police opened fire at the crowd leaving several people dead. The temple dedicated to Lord Ganesh came to be known as the “Khooni Ganpati” temple after the riots and Shahi Jama Masjid was called “Khooni Masjid”. While the communal tensions subsided gradually, this was the first known Islamist attack on the Ganpati celebration. In a similar incident, Muslims attacked a procession at the Daruwala bridge in Pune in which freedom fighter Sardar ‘Tatyasaheb’ Hari Ramchandra Natu was injured.
The next major anti-Hindu rioting in Dhule occurred after 6th December 1992, following the demolition of the Babri structure in Ayodhya. Around 1000 Muslims gathered and attacked Hindu homes in Lala Sardar Nagar. They destroyed and burned some Hindu houses.
From 1895 to 2024, a Hindu procession passing through a Muslim-dominated area becomes a flashpoint for Islamist violence. Since 1893, Islamist groups have frequently attacked Ganpati processions. Several communal riots in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have revolved around the same core issue: processions being attacked as they pass near mosques or through Muslim-dominated, however, now the Islamists are using minors to express their hatred for idol worshipping Hindus as seen in Surat.
The past riots and the recent attacks suggest that over centuries, a lot has changed, India has gained freedom from British Raj, and partitioned to carve out two Muslim-majority countries, yet the Islamist hatred for Kafirs especially Hindus does not appear to be subsiding anytime soon. The Islamists love to assert their dominance and overtly express their religiosity, however, are intolerant of the Hindus expressing their religiosity fearlessly. Islamists have always resisted any type of Hindu resurgence or cultural identity in the public sphere, particularly when such activities are held on a large scale. As Tilak dreamed, the Ganpati celebration should continue to be not just a celebration of the birth of Lord Ganesh but also that of Hindu resurgence and unity.
