What happened during the Ram Navami procession in Khargone that led to violence? : India

Khargone Communal Violence: "Called Police Twice, But They Didn't Come" - Nawab Khan

"If the government and the police cannot manage the Ram Navami procession, then why do they give permission? Who will compensate us for the loss we have suffered?" Sangeeta Yadav, a resident of Sanjay Nagar area of ​​Khargone in Madhya Pradesh, asks this question crying.

Sangeeta's house is one of the 26 houses that were torched on Sunday, April 10, in Khargone during the Ram Navami procession in a communal clash.

But the ground for this struggle on Sunday had already been prepared on the same day when the first procession passed through Talab Chowk at around 11 am.

When the procession organized by the Raghuvanshi society, which has a very small population in Khargone, reached near Talab Chowk, they had to stop there because of the police barricading. The people involved in the procession objected to the barricading, claiming that there was not enough space left by the installation so that the procession could move around.

Why and how did the tension increase?

Speaking to The Quint, the organizer of the first procession, Manoj Raghuvanshi, said, the members of the rally were demanding that the barricade be removed to make room for the procession.

He further said, there was a mild verbal fight over the barricading and BJP president of the district Shyam Mahajan had also reached the spot. After this Shyam got into a heated argument with Additional Superintendent of Police Neeraj Chaurasia. However, when senior officials joined in, we were given a place to roam and after that we reached the Ram temple in the city. We kept Bhandara here and after that everyone went to their respective homes.

Raghuvanshi claimed that the clash may have alerted other members of his community and hence its members became very furious when the rally was taken out for the second time in the day.

The situation turned tense when people gathered near Jama Masjid near Talab Chowk in the second procession.

At around 5 pm, when the procession started increasing near the chowk, then fights started here. The police tried to disperse the crowd at the square. After this, many cases of stone pelting and arson started coming to the fore in Sanjay Nagar, Kazipura and Tawdi areas.

According to Khargone police station in-charge BL Mandloi, the procession was supposed to leave between 2 pm and 3 pm, but it was delayed till 5 pm.

Mandloi, who himself got hurt in this stone pelting, told that there was a crowd of more than 1000 people in the procession, when the tension increased and the stone pelting incident happened, then these people were near the mosque.

On the other hand, Sangeeta asks that when the government knew that it would not be able to control the procession, why was it allowed in the first place? Now who will get back all that we have lost? Will the government compensate for this or those Ram devotees who took out this procession.

Called the police twice but they didn't come

Several incidents of arson and stone pelting occurred in Khargone after the clashes on Ram Navami, in which there has been huge loss of property, houses and livelihood of the people of both the communities.

Talking to The Quint, Manju Bai, a resident of Sanjay Nagar area, said, “We do not know when this conflict started, but we saw that houses started being pelted with stones and a two-storey house was set ablaze.

Manju Bai said, I was with my daughter, my son had gone to see the procession and my husband had gone to work. Suddenly everyone started shouting, run, save life. We heard all this and after that what we saw was that suddenly it started raining stones from the back side of our house. I left my house with my daughter and ran to save my life. We were not there when they came and burnt everything kept in the house.

Where Manju Bai was forced to leave her house. The same happened with Nawab Khan, another resident of Sanjay Nagar area. He too had to leave his house and run away. When rioters tried to enter his house.

Nawab Khan says, people started coming out of other houses and they started locking themselves. We felt that something was going to happen, but by the time we could understand something, stone pelting started from all sides. I was alone in the house and I locked myself. After sometime, when he started banging on the door of the house and tried to set the house on fire, I called the police.

I called him twice, but he did not come. They kept saying that we are coming, but no one came till 1 o'clock in the night. By this time the tension had increased a lot. I started fearing for my life and then I ran out of the back of my house and ran from there.

According to police sources, 26 houses, 10 bikes and a godown were torched on the intervening night of April 10 and 11 following the clash.

The demolished houses were built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana

A day after this, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told the media, there is no place for rioters on the soil of Madhya Pradesh. These rioters have been identified and will not be released. Strictest action will be taken against them.

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra said, the house from where the stones have come, will make that house a pile of stones. After these statements, on Monday 11 April, the district administration demolished 16 houses and 29 shops citing their involvement in the struggle.

According to official sources, all the houses on which this demolition took place belonged to the minority community.

The house of Amjad Khan, a resident of Khaskhaswadi area, was also among the 12 houses that were demolished by the district administration. His house was demolished after the incident of communal clash. Amjad claims that his house was built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Amjad Khan says in a loud voice, he came with 5 to 6 bulldozers and demolished the houses for which he himself had given approval and money.

My house was a kutcha house and with the money I got under the PM Awas Yojana, I got it fixed. Everyone is saying that my house was demolished as part of action against stone pelters, but I did not pelt any stones. I live one kilometer away from that area. I am a daily wage laborer and I have to work every day to feed my family. I can't even take a day off.

The district administration claims that they have demolished the illegal constructions, which were built on the encroached land.

Khargone District Magistrate Anugrah P claims that these names were already in the list, people who had built houses or shops by encroaching on government land and incidentally most of them were also involved in the riots.

This demolition drive is completely legal and everyone was given notice in advance.

Let us tell here that Sadulla Baig, whose house was vandalized for the second time in the last one year, said that he is not a rioter, but is struggling to live every day.

He cried and said, "My house was demolished last year saying that a part of it was built on government land. They came, broke the front part of the house and set the boundary of the house.

Then this time too he came and demolished my house. I live with my four kids, they ruined everything. Where do I go with my kids now?

Apart from this action of sabotage which lasted till Tuesday 12 April, 25 FIRs have been registered on behalf of the Hindu community. At the same time, an FIR has been registered on the complaint of the Muslim community.

A total of 89 people have been arrested and 70 of them have been sent to jail, the police said.

Following the orders of Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the Madhya Pradesh government has set up its first Claims Tribunal in Khargone, where people can claim compensation for the loss of their property from the culprits.

This tribunal has been created under section 4 of the Madhya Pradesh Prevention of Damage to Public and Private Property and Recovery of Damage Act 2021 after the Khargone riots.

Source : the quint

FIR on miscreants already in jail for Ram Navami violence in Madhya Pradesh, house was also vandalized

In Barwani, Madhya Pradesh, the police have registered an FIR against three people who have been in jail since March 11 on charges of rioting and arson during the communal clashes in the city on April 10. 

Barwani:In Barwani, Madhya Pradesh, the police have registered an FIR against three people who have been in jail since March 11 on charges of rioting and arson during the communal clashes in the city on April 10. The trio, who have been booked for setting two motorcycles on fire on April 10 after communal riots in the city, have been identified as Shahbaz, Fakroo and Rauf. The trio has been in jail since March 5 for attempt to murder under Section 307 of the IPC.

Barwani police had registered about 1 dozen FIRs after stone pelting and violence in Ramnavmi procession. Case has been registered. The SP of Barwani district had addressed a press conference on March 11 that Shahbaz, Fakroo and Rauf were arrested under section 307 for firing on Sikandar Ali on March 11. Since then all three are in jail.

The Barwani police have no answer as to how the three who are already in jail can riot and arson. Sendhwa SDOP Manohar Singh said in this matter that “we will investigate the matter and take his information from the jail superintendent in the investigation, the case which has been registered now has been registered on the basis of the allegations of the complainant. 

Shehbaz's mother Sakina has alleged that her house was vandalized after communal clashes and no notice was given to her. "The police came here, my son is inside for one and a half months, he was brought inside in a mutual quarrel, the police came here and put us out, said you have to break the house, our things were also scattered, my child had nothing from anywhere. So he was in jail, so the police should ask why FIR was registered on him.

The police sent him, due to which his name came. I have to ask the police who threw him out, we told the policemen but no one was ready to listen to us. We folded hands, apologized. The name of the younger son was not only there, he also took him away. Shahbaz is a habitual criminal, he has more than 5 cases registered against him in Akola in Maharashtra and Sendhwa in Madhya Pradesh, 2 against Fakhru and more than 4 cases against Rauf.

Source : ndtv