Hindu religious flag burnt in Dwarka; accused nabbed

Dwarka: A youth who torched a saffron religious Hindu flag near Jumma Masjid in Bhathan chowk area of pilgrim town Dwarka was caught by local people in the evening on Ram Navami on Sunday. Accused has been booked by Dwarka Police under IPC sections 143(unlawful assembly), 146 (Rioting), 153A(1)(Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), 295(Injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class), 295A and 149 (Every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence commit­ted in prosecution of common object).

According to a complaint filed by a 30-year old complainant, who is Vagher community farmer from nearby village, the accused is identified as Tahir Hussain Karani, who is a local from Dwarka.

A complainant in his complaint stated:

‘We Hindu volunteers Vijay Jagatiya and Dahna Sumani along with others were celebrating Ram navami. We had organized a procession in Dwarka town area. We started the procession from Ramdhun mandir at atound 5.30 pm and passed through the areas like Tran batti, Homeguard chowk, Jodhabha chowk and Bhathan chowk. We concluded the procession at Ramdhun mandir. As a symbol of Hindu faith, we had made saffron flags to mark Ram Navami festival. After concluding the procession, when we were passing through Bhathan chowk road, at around 8.00 pm, near Jama mosque, Tahir Hussain Karani and five to six unidentified persons were seen forming a group and burning a saffron flag of Hindu faith God Shri Ramchandraji in order to insult it and hurt our religious sentiment. They were also making lewd remarks against Hindu faith. They burnt the flag and threw it on the ground. When I questioned, we were attacked and manhandled along with offending remarks. Those present there came to our rescue. Meanwhile Tahir Hussain and others with him left the place. I contacted police urgently.’

Meanwhile A video of this incident has gone viral. As soon as this news spread, large number of Hindus rushed to the police station seeking strong action against accused “Jihadi youth”. The gathering of Hindus outside the police station was so strong in the evening that nearby highway traffic was affected. District Police chief and other senior police officials rushed to Dwarka Police station. DeshGujarat