oppn parties Violence Along Ram Navami Procession Routes Has Become A Recurring Feature

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Violence Along Ram Navami Procession Routes Has Become A Recurring Feature

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2023-04-04 07:43:30

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

The violence during Ram Navami, mainly due to taking out processions, has become a recurring feature. This year, widespread violence was reported from Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra and Gujarat and minor skirmishes from other states. Since it is known from the experience of last few years that Ram Navami processions trigger violence due to many reasons, it is time now that the respective states take measures to prevent it. The major reasons that trigger violence are - arms carried by participants, provocative slogans, not adhering to the route passed by the police and breaking the police cordon. These are not things which cannot be prevented if the administration issues strict orders and the police force follows them scrupulously. Things get out of hand only because the participants do not respect the rules and the law keepers to not enforce them strictly.

Since the processions are sanctioned from a starting point and the terminating point and the route are well defined, the police must ensure at the starting point that no participants carry arms. The route must be sanitized and the informer network must be activated to spot signs of trouble so that no stone pelting or other incidents take place. The organizers must be warned, at the risk of arrest and punitive action that no changes in the route will be allowed and those using provocative slogans will be arrested on the spot. Drone surveillance must be carried out for the entire duration of the procession to ensure that people carrying arms do not join along the route. The police cordon must not be allowed to be breached. Permission must not be granted the following year to processions that violate any of the conditions. These measures must be religion-neutral and must not apply only to Ram Navami processions as religious processions of all kinds are increasingly becoming tools to foment trouble.

Picture courtesy: The Hans India (caption ours)