Around the country, there has been violence, most notably in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Karnataka, West Bengal, and Delhi. The map of violence includes both opposition and BJP-ruled states, but the common factor appears to be provocation.
Source: News Click
Saffron flags erected next to the Jama Masjid in Mathura, for example, or loud slogans and music played in front of a mosque in another state during prayers, or a deviation from the permitted route into a communally mixed area allegedly carried out in West Bengal by a procession allegedly carrying open swords u2014 examples abound. Because of previous rioting in the area, the police in Delhi had prohibited both a Ram Navami parade and namaz in a neighbourhood park. Yet, a handful of right-wing groups staged a parade and worshipped in the park.
Although the BJP did not openly participate in the processions led by right-wing organisations like the Bajrang Dal and others, opposition parties blamed it for the communal unrest. In Maharashtra, the Opposition believed that one goal was to prevent its rally; the Bihar deputy chief minister alleged deliberate disruption of communal peace; in West Bengal, the cacophonous blame game, predictably, had at its centre the chief minister blaming the BJP and the BJP accusing her of ‘appeasement’.
Source: TIMES NOW
It is unclear, however, why the state did not take greater safeguards, given that such inflammatory processions have been routine in recent years. A display of religious antagonism in BJP-ruled areas could help to strengthen the Hindu vote once again.
The most concerning part of Ram Navami appears to be its structured form – there were just too many common aspects in the processions to ignore. Hence the Union Home Minister’s comments in Bihar that there would be no riots under the BJP and that rioters would be hanged upside down u2014 implying that the rioters were only from one community u2014 made perfect sense. This attitude can only be defeated with common sense and a strong desire for peace.
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