A dispute over the use of high-decibel loudspeakers during a Hindu aarti (pooja) and Taraweeh prayers from both communities led to a communal clash in Sihora town of Madhya Pradesh‘s Jabalpur district.
The incident occurred on February 20 at 10 pm at the Azad Chowk area, where a Durga temple and a mosque are located in close proximity. Both religious places were using loudspeakers to play their respective devotional songs.
Local reports suggest that a Muslim boy asked the temple authorities to lower the volume of the aarti (pooja) as the Taraweeh prayers were underway. It is alleged that the boy got beaten up. Rumours also spread that the grill of the temple was damaged, further heightening tensions.
The mosque was locked, preventing local Muslims from offering the first Friday prayers of Ramzan. Hindutva groups protested outside a police station, raised slogans, and allegedly vandalised shops owned by Muslims.
On information, police reached the spot and removed loudspeakers from both places of worship.
Talking to PTI, Inspector General of Police (Jabalpur Zone) Pramod Verma said, “Members of both the communities had earlier agreed not to use loudspeakers when prayers and religious services are underway at the other place of worship, but this agreement was violated by one of them. Loudspeaker noise during prayers led to arguments, which escalated to stone-pelting between two communities.”
As many as 60 persons have been arrested and five First Information Reports (FIRs) have been registered. The cases were registered against identified and unidentified persons for rioting and defiling places of worship under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Forty-nine people, all Muslims, arrested in the main case related to damage to a temple, were produced before a court, which sent them to judicial custody.
Other cases relate to the defiling of a ‘mazar’ (shrine), damage to a fruit vendor’s handcart, burning of tendu leaves stored at a Muslim woman’s premises and damage to electricity meters, the official said.
Restrictive orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita from February 19 to March 31 to prevent any further flare-up.
(With PTI inputs)
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