New Delhi: After social media posts showing a group ramming the gates of a mosque in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri, during the annual Shimga procession on March 12 were shared widely and drew condemnation, police have said there was “no forcible entry.”
The incident took place in the Rajapur village, where police claims that aggressive sloganeering took place – and that this is traditional in pre-Holi processions is traditional.
Police have booked several young men in a first information report that invoked charges for sloganeering and unlawful assembly but said reports of a Hindu mob trying to forcibly enter a mosque were misleading.
“The traditions of the Konkan are different. There was a ritual named ‘Madachi miravnuk’ where the Holi procession is brought to the doorstep of the masjid and the wood [the trunk of a tree] is touched to the steps of the masjid. Every year, Muslims participate in this procession. The honour of giving a coconut to welcome this procession is traditionally given to Muslims,” Ratnagiri SP Dhananajay Kulkarni told The Hindu.
Kulkarni told the paper that a “misleading reel” – short video format on Instagram – has been deleted now and that there is peace.
However, eyewitnesses told The Hindu that there were successful attempts to enter the mosque.
Some said that it is indeed true that by tradition, the trunk is placed for a few minutes on the steps of the mosque, but added that revellers then decided to “ram the trunk into the gate.”
“In the first attempt, they broke the gate and came in. We pushed them outside and closed the gate, they again dashed the trunk aggressively into the gate. At least two people got injured in this from the mob,” an eyewitness, who was standing inside the mosque’s gate, told The Hindu.
A member of the Rajapur Nagar panchayat also said that this time, the matter escalated.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi has questioned the Maharashtra government over the incident. “Will the law take its own course? It’s shameful that the incident took place despite the presence of police,” he said in a post on X.
The Muslim community in Rajapur has also written a complaint letter to the Superintendent of Police asking for those responsible to be booked under relevant sections of the penal code.
