India: religious violence on the sidelines of traditional Hindu processions kills two
Hindu devotees take part in a religious procession to celebrate the Ram Navami festival in Hyderabad, India on Sunday, April 10, 2022. Illustrative image.
© Mahesh Kumar, AP
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
In India, religious violence has taken place in recent days in four states of the country, resulting in the death of two people, dozens of injured and the burning of many houses.
And this, on the sidelines of traditional Hindu processions which mark the birthday of the god Ram.
The pilgrims claim that they were attacked by the Muslims, but these Hindus would have provoked the Muslims to bring about a confrontation.
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With our correspondent in New Delhi,
Sébastien Farcis
From Gujarat to Madhya Pradesh via Bengal, several Hindu processions of Ram Navami have ended in street fights.
Hindu leaders claim that the Muslims stoned the pilgrims when they entered the Muslim quarters.
But many videos show that many Hindus, armed with swords, could have provoked the Muslims.
A technique regularly used, as explained by Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, a writer specializing in Hindu nationalism.
“
I heard about fifty pilgrims sing
“Muslim sons of bitches”
, dozens of times in front of a mosque… This music therefore has nothing to do with spirituality,
he remarks.
It is used by Hindus to mark their territory and make Muslims understand that they live in a Hindu country.
These musical processions have always been used by Hindu nationalists as a provocation.
The police have the power to stop them, but they don't.
»
►Also see: India: journalist Rana Ayyub, critic of Narendra Modi, prevented from leaving the country
In response to this violence, the government of Madhya Pradesh, led by Hindu nationalists, has just razed dozens of Muslim homes and businesses, from which stones were allegedly thrown at pilgrims.
He claims that he does not need a court order for this, because these houses would have been built illegally.
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