Violence Over Ram Navami Processions In Gujarat's Vadodara, 24 Persons Rounded Up

Police have apprehended 24 individuals for allegedly pelting stones on two Ram Navami processions in Vadodara city, Gujarat.

The incidents transpired Thursday (30 March) during the Ram Navami festivities.

Speaking on Friday (31 March), Shamsher Singh, the Vadodara Police Commissioner, said: "They will be formally arrested soon after the registration of first information reports (FIRs). The situation is completely under control and normalcy was restored yesterday itself."

During the celebration of Ram Navami, stones were reportedly thrown at two processions in Fatehpura and nearby Kumbharwada, which are known to be communally sensitive areas.

At Kumbharwada, a mob threw rocks at a procession that included local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator Manisha Vakil, resulting in at least two injuries.

Videos broadcasted by news channels show people scrambling for safety, while devotees moved a chariot containing a statue of Lord Ram to a safer location to protect it from the stones being pelted.

Witnesses claim that the assailants hurled stones from nearby terraces.

The incident highlights the sensitive nature of these areas and, therefore, the need for heightened security measures during such religious celebrations to ensure people's safety.

Only hours hours before the Kumbharwada incident, a Ram Navami procession led by the Vishva Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal was pelted with stones in the Fatehpura neighborhood.

The Vadodara unit head of Bajrang Dal, Ketan Trivedi, claimed that the miscreants attacked the Ram Navami procession as part of a "planned conspiracy," as had allegedly been the case before.