| 2021 Kawardha riots and unrest | |||||||||
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| Part of religious violence in India | |||||||||
| Date | 3 October 2021 [1] | ||||||||
| Location | 22°01′N81°15′E / 22.02°N 81.25°E | ||||||||
| Goals | Arson, stoning, civil unrest and rioting | ||||||||
| Resulted in |
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| Parties | |||||||||
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The 2021 Kawardha riots were incidents of religious violence between Hindus and Muslims that occurred in Kawardha, Chhattisgarh, India, between 3 and 7 October 2021.
Kawardha is a small city in the Kabirdham district of Chhattisgarh. It is the home of former state Chief Minister Raman Singh and Forest Minister Mohammad Akbar. [2] The district is 92.4% Hindu and 7.76% Muslim. [3]
On Sunday, 3 October 2021, a group of Muslims and Hindus had an argument over the placement of religious flags in Loahara Naka Chowk in the town of Kawardha. [4] [5] [2] [6] [1] An eyewitness claimed that following the altercation, a green flag had been torn down, and some hours later, a saffron flag was removed in retaliation. [2] [1] Two days later, right-wing organisations, including the Vishva Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal, held a rally protesting the flag removal. The rally led to civil unrest in the region, including arson and rioting. The police conducted a lathi charge to disperse the protestors, [7] [1] invoked Section 144 (barring unlawful assembly) of the Indian Penal Code, and imposed a curfew in the region. [8] [9] [10] [7]
The police stated that the Vishva Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal had promised peaceful protests. [1] They registered a First Information Reports against several people, including Santosh Pandey, a Member of Parliament, and Abhishek Singh, a former Member of Parliament, both of whom were from the Bharatiya Janata Party. [2]
Bajrang Dal is a Hindu nationalist militant organisation that forms the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). It is a member of the right-wing Sangh Parivar. The ideology of the organisation is based on Hindutva. It was founded on 1 October 1984 in Uttar Pradesh, and began spreading more in the 2010s throughout India, although its most significant base remains the northern and central portions of the country.
Raman Singh is an Indian politician who is currently serving as the National Vice President of the Bharatiya Janata Party since 2019 and a member of the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly representing Rajnandgaon since 2008 and from Dongargaon from 2004 to 2008. He also served as the 2nd and the longest serving Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh for 15 years from 2003 to 2018, Minister of State for Commerce and Industries in the Vajpayee cabinet from 1999 to 2003, Member of the Lok Sabha from Rajnanadgaon from 1999 to 2003 and a member of the Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly from Kawardha from 1990 to 1998.
Pravin Togadia is an Indian doctor, cancer surgeon and an advocate for Hindu nationalism, coming from the state of Gujarat. He was the former International Working President of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and a cancer surgeon by qualification. He is Founder and Current President of Antarashtriya Hindu Parishad. He had a falling out with the Sangh Parivar and is a vocal critic of Narendra Modi.
Durga Vahini is the women's wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). It was established in 1991 and its founding chairperson is Sadhvi Rithambara. The Vishva Hindu Parishad states the purpose of the Durga Vahini is to empower women, encourage more women to participate in spiritual and cultural activities. Kalpana Vyash, a senior leader of the organization, said that the Durga Vahini members dedicate themselves "to physical, mental and intellectual development". The aim of the organization is to establish Hindu solidarity by helping Hindu families during the time of hardship and by providing social services. According to Vyash, the total membership of the group is 8,000 as of 2002, and 1,000 members are from Ahmedabad.
Religious violence in India includes acts of violence by followers of one religious group against followers and institutions of another religious group, often in the form of rioting. Religious violence in India has generally involved Hindus and Muslims.
Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) is an Indian right-wing Hindu organisation based on Hindu nationalism. The VHP was founded in 1964 by M. S. Golwalkar and S. S. Apte in collaboration with Swami Chinmayananda. Its stated objective is "to organise, consolidate the Hindu society and to serve and protect the Hindu Dharma". It was established to construct and renovate Hindu temples, and deal with matters of cow slaughter and religious conversion. The VHP is a member of the Sangh Parivar group, the family of Hindu nationalist organisations led by the RSS.
The demolition of the Babri Masjid was carried out on 6 December 1992 by a large group of activists of the Vishva Hindu Parishad and allied organisations. The 16th-century Babri Masjid in the city of Ayodhya, in Uttar Pradesh, India, had been the subject of a lengthy socio-political dispute, and was targeted after a political rally organised by Hindu nationalist organisations turned violent.
The 1985 Gujarat riots began in February 1985 and lasted till August, in the Indian state of Gujarat. Most of the rioting occurred in the city of Ahmedabad; some other cities, including the state capital of Gandhinagar, were also affected. Between 220 and 275 people were killed in the violence, while several thousands of others were injured, and tens of thousands were displaced. The riots also caused widespread property damage.
The clashes between the Hindu and Muslim communities in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, India in August–September 2013, resulted in at least 62 deaths including 42 Muslims and 20 Hindus and injured 93 and left more than 50,000 people displaced. By date 17 September, the curfew was lifted from all riot affected areas and the army was also withdrawn.
Riots broke out in Kaliachak, Malda district in West Bengal, India on 3 January 2016. The Muslims were protesting the remark of political leaders Kamlesh Tiwari, But the protest turned into riots, when Muslim mob of more than 1 lakh people attacked the police and vandalised the police station of Kaliachak area.
Rinku Sharma Hindu Boy was a hospital technician and a member of Bajrang Dal who was killed by stabbing in Mangolpuri, Delhi, on 10 February 2021.
The 2021 Tripura riots happened in the eponymous state of north-eastern India.
Rama Navami is a Hindu festival celebrating the birthday of Hindu deity Rama. It falls on the 9th day of the Chaitra month every year in the Hindu calendar, usually during the months of March–April. At least since 1979, if not earlier, This festival often involves processions of Hindu worshipers through cities, including Muslim-majority regions. These displays, often considered provocative, have repeatedly led to violence between Hindu and Muslim communities. Scholar Paul Brass states that Rama himself has been turned into a political emblem of the RSS family of organisations, and the Rama Navami processions are "led by or turned into provocative displays" by Hindutva organisations such as the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal.
Hindu–Muslim sectarian violence occurred in the town of Karauli on 2 April 2022, when a Hindu New Year bike-rally organised by Sangh Parivar organisations passed through a Muslim locality with inflammatory slogans and music. Stone-pelting from surrounding houses, local people attacking with sticks, and arson, resulted in injuries to 20 people, including policemen, and damage to properties of 80 people of both communities.
A Hindu–Muslim clash occurred in Delhi's Jahangirpuri area on 16 April 2022, in the midst of a Hindu procession on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti. The clash took place during the third procession taken out on that day, which was halted near a mosque where Muslims were holding Ramadan prayers. They pelted stones and fired shots in which many were injured including a police officer. Twenty three people were arrested, including two juveniles.
The bulldozer found its way into the election and political lexicon of Uttar Pradesh and further across India after its massive political use by UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath of the BJP. While bulldozers are routinely used across India to remove illegal constructions, the bulldozer in this case has been used as an extrajudicial tool and a power statement against criminals, communal violence rioters and accused criminals. Following its usage in political messaging in Uttar Pradesh, the bulldozer was used in Madhya Pradesh to convey political messages aimed at showing a strong stance against criminals. Narratives conveyed that a lot of the usage of the bulldozer was itself communal in nature.
On 10 April 2022, a clash between Hindus and Muslims occurred in the city of Khargone, Madhya Pradesh. It took place between 5:00 pm and 6:00 pm, in the midst of a Ram Navami procession organised by a Hindu nationalist organisation allied to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). At 5:00 pm, when Muslims were gathering for evening prayers at the neighbouring Jama Masjid, the procession had not yet departed from the city's central Talab Chowk area.
On June 3, hundreds of Muslims demonstrated after Friday prayers in Kanpur against the remarks on Muhammad made by former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma. Violence broke out after some Muslim demonstrators threw stones at police.
The 2023 Haryana riots were a series of clashes in northern India that originated in the state of Haryana and have subsequently spread to nearby regions. On 31 July 2023, communal violence erupted in the Nuh district of Haryana between Muslims and Hindus during an annual Brajmandal Yatra pilgrimage organised by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), a Hindu nationalist organization. By the evening of the same day, fresh incidents of communal violence were reported from Gurugram and Sohna. As of 3 August 2023, the situation has resulted in at least seven fatalities and over 200 reported injuries.
