Communal tensions broke out in Devgarh Mandaria village of Rajasthan’s Rajsamand district after a Ram Navami rally allegedly shouted offensive slogans against Allah and Islam while passing through a Muslim-dominated area. The procession went near a local dargah, causing fear and anger among the Muslim residents.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing people in the procession carrying weapons, including swords, while chanting provocative slogans. The rally, a customary part of the Ram Navami celebrations on April 6, moved through the Muslim area, where slogans against Islam were raised outside the dargah, heightening tensions in the village.
“They came carrying swords and were hurling abuses against our religion. The police didn’t stop them, instead, they locked us inside our own homes,” a local told The Observer Post on the condition of anonymity.
Residents alleged that instead of acting against the individuals who were fueling communal tensions, police authorities sealed roads and their houses, locking Muslim houses into their houses during the procession. They said that the police were mere spectators.
Though when the local man went later to lodge an official complaint, the police allegedly did not take his complaint. “They said, ‘You are attempting to bring about communal violence,’ as if we were ourselves carrying out the disturbance,” the complainant said.
No FIR has been filed yet when they gave the report, and so far, no word has been issued officially by the authorities regarding the incident.
The incident has generated outrage in civil society. “Carrying weapons during a religious procession and making hate speech against a minority community is not only illegal but a direct attack on communal harmony,” said a local.
