A procession comprising of BJP, RSS and Bajrang Dal workers led by Arijit Shashwat, son of Union Minister of State Ashwini Kumar Choubey, in Bihar’s Bhagalpur town triggered communal clashes on Saturday, 17 March, The Indian Express reported.
An FIR accusing Shashwat of inciting violence has been lodged on Monday, 19 March and at least 200 central paramilitary personnel, including riot police, were sent to Bhagalpur to assist the local administration in tackling the tense situation there.
About 100 personnel of the Rapid Action Force, a specialised force to deal with riot and crowd control situations, and 100 personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force were dispatched to Bihar, a Home Ministry official said.
The procession was organised on the eve of Hindu New Year by Bharatiya Navvarsh Jagran Samiti. Arjit Shashwat led the procession through a 15-km route that passed several Muslim-dominated areas.
The clashes began with stone pelting in Medini Chowk — one of the Muslim dominated areas at around 3:45 pm, the report stated. Police said that the clashes could have been triggered by some of the slogans raised in the procession which were “provocative” in nature.
Denying allegations of inflammatory slogans, Arjit Shashwat claimed that it was a “motorcycle procession”, adding that video footage can prove that he was 3-4 kilometres away from the spot where the stone pelting took place.
The inter-community stone pelting which went on for 45 minutes and left three policemen injured.
An FIR was filed against unknown persons, and although no prohibitory orders were implemented, most of the area was shut on Sunday. Paramilitary forces were also deployed in sensitive pockets of the area.
The Indian Express quoted MoS Ashwini Choubey as saying, “I am proud that Arijit is my son. All BJP workers are like my son. Is there anything wrong in leading a procession to celebrate the Hindu New Year? Kya Ma Bharat ki baat karna galat hai? Kya Vande Mataram kehna gunah hai? (Is it wrong to talk about Bharat Ma? Is it a crime to say Vande Mataram?)”
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)