Stone pelting in India

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Stone pelting in India refers to criminal assault in the form of stone throwing by individuals or mob who pelt, bombard or throw stones at security personnel, police forces, healthcare workers and trains. Stone pelting began with incidents of stone pelting in Kashmir, but became less frequent after the revocation of article 370 of the Constitution of India and the conversion of the state into union territories. [1] These incidents were later reported in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh in 2019 in protest of the citizenship amendment act. In 2020, such incidents started occurring in various parts of India on doctors and policemen after the coronavirus lockdown. [2]

Contents

Incidents in Kashmir

In the past, stones were pelted by the Kashmiri Muslim youth at the police in the streets of Srinagar for expressing their anger during 1931 Kashmir agitation. [3] After the rise of insurgency and separatist movement in Kashmir conflict, the stone pelting incidents became prominent in Kashmir from the 2008 Kashmir protests in which the separatist movement had taken a new dimension from gun-fighting with armed forces to the pelting of stones on them. [4] [5] After the year 2008, stone pelting incidents in the valley were reported on regular basis, the prominent among them were recorded in 2010 Kashmir Unrest and 2016-17 Kashmir Unrest, nevertheless minor skirmishes were also reported in those intermediate years. [6] [7] In 2016, Kashmir witnessed 2690 stone pelting incidents in various districts with Baramulla topping the list with 492 incidents followed by Srinagar and Kupwara each with 339 incidents. The least recorded incidents were 65 in Ganderbal. According to official data of state home department, North Kashmir saw the highest number of 1,248 incidents followed by 875 incidents in South Kashmir and 567 in Central Kashmir. [8]

Anti-CAA protests

The incidents of stone pelting were reported in Seelampur (17 December 2019), [9] Ahmedabad (19 December 2019), [10] Jamia Milia Islamia (30 December 2019). [11] [12] On 24 February, violent clashes occurred at Jaffrabad and Maujpur in which one police officer and a protester were killed. The pro-CAA demonstrators and anti-CAA protesters indulged in stone pelting with each other and vandalised houses, vehicles and shops. The police personnel used tear gas and lathi charge against the protestors. [13] [14] Later, it was reported that four protestors also died during the violence. [15]

Trains

From 2013-2019, 118 cases of stone pelting were registered on Mumbai railways, injuring 113 commuters. [16] In 2022, 1503 cases of stone pelting on moving trains were registered by the Railway Protection Force followed by the arrest of 488 persons. [17]

Coronavirus lockdown

The incidents erupted again during the coronavirus lockdown with the attack on health workers and policemen in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. [18] A similar incident took place in Jaudiya naka, Haryana on 4 May 2019. [19] Gujarat police used tear-gas to contain an incident of stone-pelting in Godhara. [20]

In Uttar Pradesh, people attacked medical staff in Meerut. Four were arrested including Imam after that. [21] Cops were attacked by villagers in Muzaffarnagar while trying to enforce lockdown. SI and constable sustained serious injuries. [22] A mob tried to stop a medical team from taking a coronavirus-infected man into isolation in Moradabad. They hurled stones at an ambulance that left four injured. The injured persons include one doctor and three paramedics. A police vehicle was also damaged in the attack. 17 stone pelters were arrested. [18] [23] Court hearing was held at 3 am, and all 17 of them were jail by 5 am. [24] Five of the arrested stone pelters were later tested positive in COVID-19 tests. [25] Locals pelted stones at Cops in Aligarh as they tried to enforce lockdown, one policeman was injured. [26] CM Yogi Adityanath said that perpetrators be charged under the stringent National Security Act, Epidemic Act and the Disaster Management Act for resorting to violence and preventing the health and police officials from doing their duty. He further ordered to confiscate properties of accused to recover the damages. [23]

The state government later decided to use the UP Recovery of Public and Private Property Ordinance, 2020 against those indulging in violence. 295 accused including many Tablighi Jamaat members were shifted to temporary jails in UP after completing quarantine period. 64 people, including 54 foreign nationals, were lodged in a Saharanpur juvenile home that was converted into a temporary jail. 46 people, including 15 foreign nationals, were lodged in a Jaunpur temporary jail. 45 people, including 16 foreign nationals, were shifted to a temporary jail in Bulandshahr. The numbers for the other districts were: Prayagraj (30, including 16 foreign nationals), Lucknow (23 foreign nationals), Varanasi (22 locals), Sultanpur (17, including 10 foreign nationals) Gyanpur in Bhadohi (14 including 11 foreigners), Moradabad (14), Bijnor (eight foreign nationals), Sitapur (four, including three foreigners) and Agra (seven). [27] All the foreign nationals were members of the Tablighi Jamaat who came to India from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal, Sudan, Thailand, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, France, Palestine, Syria, Mali and Morocco to attend a religious congregation. UP govt sets up 34 temporary jails to lodge Jamaatees. [28] Due to several attacks on the doctors and other health officials and demands from ICMR and Resident Doctors Association, Union Government led by PM Narendra Modi brought an ordinance and announced punishment for the attacker with up to seven years and also fine of up to 5 Lakh rupees. [29]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Significant drop in stone pelting incidents in Jammu and Kashmir: Officials", India Today , 14 July 2019
  2. ↑ "5 accused of Moradabad stone-pelting incident test positive for coronavirus", India Today , 21 April 2020
  3. ↑ Kaur, Ravinderjit (1996). Political Awakening in Kashmir. APH Publishing. p. 164. ISBN   9788170247098.
  4. ↑ "Stone Pelting and Kashmiri Youth". The Analyst World. 20 June 2014. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  5. ↑ "Understanding Kashmir's stone pelters". The Hindu . Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  6. ↑ "Kashmir Shuts To Remember Afzal Guru - Local News". Kashmir Observer. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  7. ↑ "Kashmir Unrest: Stone-pelting Incidents Reported from Over Dozen Places". News18. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  8. ↑ "Kashmir witnessed 2690 stone pelting incidents in 2016". Kashmirmonitor.in. 6 March 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  9. ↑ "Fresh violence in Delhi over citizenship law". 17 December 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  10. ↑ Web Desk, India Today. "Gujarat CAA protesters corner policemen, rain stones as locals rescue struggling cops | Watch". India Today. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  11. ↑ "CAA protests: Delhi Police arrests street vendor for Jamia violence". The India Today. 30 December 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  12. ↑ "Delhi Police arrests 11th person in connection with 15 Dec Jamia violence; accused was previously involved in Arms Act case". The First Post. 31 December 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  13. ↑ "Head constable killed during clashes over CAA in northeast Delhi: Police". The Economic Times. 24 February 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  14. ↑ "Cop Killed In Delhi Clashes Over CAA, Trump Due At 7:30 pm: 10 Points". NDTV.com. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  15. ↑ Trivedi, Saurabh; Bhandari, Hemani (24 February 2020). "Policeman among 5 killed in Delhi violence over CAA". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  16. ↑ "Stone-pelting on local trains of Mumbai leaves over 100 hurt in 6 years". The Times of India. 27 August 2019. ISSN   0971-8257. Archived from the original on 4 January 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  17. ↑ "RPF recovered stolen railway property worth Rs. 7.37 Crores with the arrest of 11268 offenders in 2022". pib.gov.in. Archived from the original on 4 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  18. 1 2 "From Bengaluru To Indore: Six Times Frontline Corona Warriors Faced Attack In India", ABP News , 20 April 2020
  19. ↑ "2 cops hurt in stone-pelting by protesting migrant workers", The Tribune , 5 May 2020
  20. ↑ "Gujarat: Stone pelting during drive to seal containment zones in Godhra; police lob teargas to disperse mob", The Times of India , 30 April 2020
  21. ↑ "People attacked medical staff in Meerut, 4 arrests including Imam". News Track. 11 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  22. ↑ "Uttar Pradesh: Cops attacked by Villagers while trying to enforce lockdown, SI, constable serious". National Herald. 2 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  23. 1 2 "Moradabad violence: Confiscate properties of accused to recover damages, orders Yogi Adityanath". The Financial Express. 17 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  24. ↑ "Court hearing at 3 am, jail by 5 am: All 17 Moradabad stone-pelters, accused of attacking medical team, sent to police custody". Zee News. 18 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  25. ↑ "5 Accused Of Attacking Health Workers Test Positive For COVID-19 In UP's Moradabad". NDTV.com. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  26. ↑ "Locals Pelt Stones at Cops in Aligarh as They Try to Enforce Lockdown, 1 Injured". in.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  27. ↑ "Many Tablighi Jamaat members among 295 shifted to temporary jails in UP". Hindustan Times. 24 April 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  28. ↑ Pioneer, The. "UP govt sets up 34 temp jails to lodge Jamaatis". The Pioneer. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  29. ↑ "स्‍वास्‍थ्‍यकर्मियों पर हमला बर्दाश्‍त नहीं, जुर्माने के साथ 7 साल की सजा का प्रावधान; केंद्र का बड़ा ऐलान". Dainik Jagran (in Hindi). Retrieved 23 April 2020.
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