Explained: How Navratri celebrations have been marred by controversies

Navratri and Durga puja functions are making headlines but not only for the festivities this year. Several controversies have emerged during the nine-day festival, especially from poll-bound Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.

Today, a row broke out when a Mahishasur idol resembled Mahatma Gandhi. Earlier, on Saturday, a plastic bottle was hurled at Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal at a Garba (a folk dance) event in Gujarat’s Rajkot city. However, he was not injured as the bottle flew over his head.

Commenting on the incident, AAP’s media coordinator Sukanraj said it was uncertain if the act was intentional, and hence, they did not report it to the police.

Let’s look at how controversies have surrounded this year’s celebrations.

ALSO READ: ‘No entry’ to Muslim men at Navratri venues. Here’s why

Asura resembles Mahatma Gandhi

A major row erupted after pictures of a Durga pandal with a Mahatma Gandhi-lookalike as Mahishasur demon in southwest Kolkata went viral on Sunday (2 October). The bald ‘asura’ wore a white dhoti and round glasses and carried a walking stick.

The pandal organisers, Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, claimed that the resemblance was a mere ‘coincidence’.

Political parties including the ruling Trinamool Congress in Bengal, and the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, CPI-M and Congress condemned the act.

As the pictures created furore on social media, the Kolkata Police asked the Mahasabha to change the look of the idol, PTI reported. Some netizens shared the reformed look which showed the ‘asura’ idol with a head full of hair and a moustache.

Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha West Bengal working president Chandrachur Goswami told Indian Express, “A person with a bald head and wearing spectacles need not be Gandhi. See the asura is also holding a dhal (shield). Gandhi never held a dhal. It is coincidental that our asura whom Maa Durga is killing, looks like Gandhi. Many people said it looks like Gandhi. However, it is also true that Gandhi needs to be criticised.”

Non-Hindu youths thrashed at Garba event in Ujjain

Three non-Hindu men were thrashed by a mob at a Garba event in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain on Saturday. The Bajrang Dal, a right-wing Hindu outfit, said on Sunday that it handed over the men to the police for entering the venue at Kalidas Academy in Ujjain’s Madhavnagar area by allegedly hiding their identities.

The video of the incident was widely circulated on social media where some people could be heard beating the youths and some asking the mob to leave them.

#WATCH | Madhya Pradesh: Three youths were thrashed by people for entering a Garba pandal in Ujjain last night

Some youth belonging to a particular community entered the pandal. People caught them & informed the police. Necessary action is being taken: Vinod Meena, CSP Ujjain pic.twitter.com/EzAqJk6rJX

— ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) October 2, 2022

“Volunteers checking if vulgar songs were being played at Garba venues found three non-Hindus had entered by hiding their identities on Saturday night. People started thrashing them and it was our activists who saved them and handed them to Madhavnagar police,” Bajrang Dal district convener Ankit Choube was quoted as saying by PTI.

City Superintendent of Police Vinod Kumar Meena said the police released the men after rescuing them from the crowd.

Notably, the Madhya Pradesh government earlier asked the Garba event organisers to check identity cards of people, following which the entry of non-Hindus into dance pandals was restricted, reported Hindustan Times.

Eight Muslim youth ‘caught’ at Garba venues in Indore

The Bajrang Dal claimed to have ‘caught’ eight Muslim youths at different Garba venues in Indore, Madhya Pradesh for alleged involvement in “immoral activities”, reports PTI.

Bajrang Dal Indore unit coordinator Tannu Sharma alleged these eight youths had entered the Garba venues by concealing their identities.

“On 27 September, we found a few men making videos of Hindu girls who were doing Garba. The Bajrang Dal activists found their actions suspicious and when they tried to enquire about the men’s identity they turned out to be Muslim youth who had given fake names. We called the police immediately,” he told ThePrint.

In another incident, Sharma claimed two Muslim men from Kolkata had entered a pandal in Indore’s Dwarkapuri locality using “fake IDs”.

“In the last incident, a youth was found trying to take the contact numbers of the girls at the pandal and when Bajrang Dal activists asked for his name he was found using a fake ID. We handed him over to the police,” the Bajrang Dal leader was quoted as saying by ThePrint.

Muslim men attacked in Gujarat

The Bajrang Dal members allegedly thrashed four Muslim men at a Garba event in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad.

Four men were assaulted by the Bajrang Dal members, who were conducting ‘checks’ in Ahmedabad’s Sindhu Bhavan area.

“Despite being warned, four youths from another religion were spotted at a venue. Our volunteers grabbed them to prevent love jihad,” Hitendrasinh Rajput, the Gujarat spokesperson for Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a right-wing Hindutva organisation associated with Bajrang Dal, was quoted as saying by Times of India.

‘Love jihad’ is a theory by the right-wing that alleges there is a concerted effort by Muslim men to convert Hindu women to Islam through marriage.

VHP national spokesperson Vinod Bansal said Garba is a “religious” event and “non-believers” have no reason to attend it.

Bansal was quoted as saying by Indian Express, “The non-believers (vidharmis) have no reason to attend such events. Garba is not only a cultural event, but also religious. If a non-believer attends it, it makes it clear about their intentions as to why they want to attend the event.”

Child beaten to death in Bihar

A six-year-old student, Vivek, was beaten to death in Bihar’s Gaya for allegedly eating an apple kept as an offering for Goddess Durga, IANS reported.

The victim’s grandfather Ram Balak Prasad told the police, “The school has organised Durga Puja inside the premises. There were some fruits (prasad) on a table and Vivek picked an apple from the offering and consumed it.”

“Following the incident, the owners of the school kept Vivek in a room and brutally assaulted him. After the physical assault, they threw him outside the premises,” IANS quoted the grandfather as saying.

Vikas died on his way to the hospital. The incident, which occurred on Tuesday, was brought under the police’s radar on Friday.

The couple (Vikas Singh and his wife) who ran the residential school called Little Leaders Public School in Baki Bigha village in Gaya’s Wazirganj block was arrested in the case.

Brawl between two communities in Madhya Pradesh

A brawl broke out between two communities in Madhya Pradesh over Navratri celebrations on Sunday, reported NDTV.

Members of the Dalit community, in Kankar village of Agar district, say they were attacked by the so-called upper caste people for installing an idol of Goddess Durga.

However, the other side claims the fight erupted over an obscene dance performed by two girls for a Garba event.

Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Naval Singh Sisodia said the clash began between the two groups over calling women dancers from outside for the Garba event.

“One person identified as Toofan Singh Sondhia objected to the presence of outside women, following which another group attacked him and others. Four people have been hospitalised with injuries. A case has been registered on the complaint of Sondhia,” PTI quoted him as saying.

Five persons have been booked in the matter and further action will be taken after a detailed probe, Sisodia added.

With inputs from agencies

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