New Delhi: Maharashtra’s coastal town of Rajapur in Ratnagiri district witnessed an unsettling communal episode recently during the annual Shimga festival procession. Viral videos showed a group ramming a tree trunk into the gates of the local Jama Masjid, leading to accusations of forced entry and deliberate provocation. While police officials have denied claims of any orchestrated attack, locals say that the festival’s age-old traditions were exploited to stoke tensions.
A festival marked by syncretism
Shimga is a week-long festival which coincides with the festival of Holi. It is celebrated in parts of the Konkan. Statues of goddesses are taken out of the temples in a palakhi (chariot), on processions. This is a longtime tradition.
The video from March 12 which went viral also shows people participating in a palakhi procession. As part of the celebrations, a coconut tree is cut down and carried through the town and is ultimately burned in a ritual fire. A unique aspect of this procession is its brief stop at the Jama Masjid’s gate, where the tree is momentarily placed on the mosque’s steps. Members of the local Muslim community offer a coconut to the revellers before the procession moves to the Dhopeshwar temple. Locals said that traditionally, the procession concludes by Asr prayers, i.e. by 5 pm, but this year, the group arrived at the mosque’s gates around 8 pm.
This custom has historically represented the Hindu-Muslim unity of the region. According to a local who requested anonymity, “This has been happening for generations, twice every five years, and never before has there been an issue.”
However, what occurred this year deviated from this tradition. Instead of simply placing the tree trunk at the mosque’s steps, some individuals forcibly rammed it into the gate. Videos from the incident also captured members of the procession hurling the trunk into the air multiple times, raising concerns that the festival was being manipulated to fuel discord.
The role of political influence
Local lawyer Owais Pechkar has been vocal about the issue, linking the disturbances to recent political developments. “These provocations have increased since the Lok Sabha elections. With Narayan Rane and his sons consolidating their political hold, tensions are being deliberately escalated,” Pechkar alleged.
He revealed that community members had informed police of suspicions of a possible escalation of tensions ahead of the festival. Local Jamaat representatives, including Javed Thalkur and Zamir Khalife, had expressed fear of unrest to police, Pechkar said. Despite these warnings, only two policemen were present at the scene when the large crowd gathered.
“The police were largely absent, and those present did nothing to stop it,” Pechkar said. In response to the incident, he has written to the Ratnagiri Superintendent of Police, demanding action under several sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), including those relating to rioting, promoting enmity, and defiling a place of worship.
Police and government response
Ratnagiri ACP Jayshree Gaikwad has downplayed the incident, stating that the videos have been misinterpreted. “There are social media claims that gulaal was thrown during Tarawih prayers. I want to clarify that this is false. There are no tensions in the village right now,” Gaikwad told The Quint.
However, an FIR has been filed under Section 135 of the Maharashtra Police Act for unlawful assembly, specifically regarding the provocative sloganeering. A peace meeting between community leaders was subsequently held at the Rajapur police station, presided over by Rajapur’s MLA Kiran Samant.
Pechkar alleged that Samant (an MLA from the Shiv Sena Shinde faction) blamed the Muslim community for “not keeping the doors of Masjid open” during the procession.
AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi condemned the incident, questioning the silence of the state government. “Will law take its own course? It is shameful that a Masjid was attacked in the presence of police,” he posted on social media.
On the other hand, Maharashtra’s guardian minister for Ratnagiri, Uday Samant, sought to pacify concerns but in a challenging tone. He stated that anyone found guilty of inciting communal discord would face action. “If you work against the country, you will be taught a lesson,” he warned, without addressing the specific allegations.
A pattern
Pechkar highlighted another incident in nearby Rajapur’s Madilwada locality, where a dilapidated dargah is being falsely claimed as a Hindu temple. “This isn’t an isolated event. There’s a concerted effort to alter the region’s social fabric. Locals are concerned about the Noor-e-Alam dargah,” he warned.
The Noor-e-Alam dargah in Rajapur.
In February 2025, supporters of Hindutva leaders submitted a memorandum to the Rajapur police, urging them to deny permission for the Urs celebration at a dargah and instead allow a Hindu festival to be held there.
The events in Rajapur reflect a larger trend where religious traditions, which have long been symbols of unity, are being repurposed to manufacture division. A local highlighted that many traditions have deep syncretic roots, blending Hindu and Muslim practices over centuries. For instance, the Karanjeshwari temple in neighbouring Chiplun, is tied to the ritual processions that passes through different parts of a Muslim village. The tradition involves the deity symbolically visiting her maternal home before returning to her in-laws’ home. The Muslim Chowgule family, custodians of the goddess’s ornaments, live opposite the temple. The festival includes a ritual with the palanquin and the sacred shevra tree, which is cut from the hills between Panchami and Purnima and brought back in a ceremonial procession. The same tree was seen in the viral video from Rajapur.
