Ram Navami riots
At least since 1979, if not earlier,[4][5] this festival has involved carrying out processions throughout the cities, which also enters into Muslim dominated areas sometimes as a way to show Hindu strength.
[6][7][8] Scholar Paul Brass states that since the days of the Ram-mandir movement of late 1980s (when Hindutva outfits sought to re-construct a Hindu temple at the mythical birthplace of Rama by tearing down the mosque standing on its place), Rama himself has been turned into a political emblem of the RSS family of Hindu-right wing organisations, and the Rama Navami processions are "led by or turned into provocative displays" by Hindutva organisations such as the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal.
[10][11][12] Rama is regarded as the seventh avatar of Vishnu, who was born as the prince of Ayodhya and lived a model life upholding the Hindu principles of dharma despite all his travails.
The day is marked with puja (devotional worship) such as bhajan and kirtan, by fasting and reading passages about Rama's life.
Its first public mission was in assisting the organisation of the Rama Navami festival at Ramtek, an occasion selected by its founder Hedgewar with "great care".
[15] According to The Hitavada, a grand procession called Shobha Yatra[a] was started on the occasion of Rama Navami in Nagpur, the home of the RSS, around 1967.
[19] In contrast to traditional rath-yatras, which are organised by temples and are generally limited to nearby areas, the shobha yatras are grand processions of pomp and ceremony attempting to cover entire cities, involving "cavalcades of vehicles, each carrying dozens of men, shouting slogans and frequently wielding arms".
[20] In 1987, in the midst of the Babri Masjid–Ram Janmabhoomi dispute, the Vishva Hindu Parishad is said to have organised country-wide shobha yatras,[21] including in Delhi, where arms were displayed and provocative slogans were raised.
In March 1979, the RSS chief Balasaheb Deoras visited Jamshedpur and gave a polarising speech, which further exacerbated the situation.
An organisation called Sri Ramnavmi Kendriya Akhara Samiti issued a pamphlet on 7 April which declared communal violence and also detailed how it would occur.
[28] The VHP held a series of conferences (Dharma Sansads), calling for the liberation of the Ram Janmabhoomi (Rama's birthplace), which was at that time occupied by the Babri Masjid.
[21] The Shobha Yatra in Delhi, which closely followed a rally organised by the Muslims in defence of the Babri Masjid, raised provocative slogans and brandished arms.
[citation needed] According to police records, 17 persons were murdered, 90 injured, 226 houses burnt and 143 shops were looted in Bhatkal, Karnataka.
The riots were sparked off on April Fools' Day, when a stone was reportedly hurled at a Rama Navami procession.
[35] Curfew was promulgated in Hazaribagh town of Jharkhand and in surrounding areas after two groups of people clashed, torched shops and pelted stones at policemen injuring several of them on the last day of the Rama Navami festival.
[36] Rama Navami procession that was scheduled to take place in Raniganj was disrupted when people from the Muslim community objected to the use of loudspeakers.
Arindam Dutta Chowdhry Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquarter), who reached the spot to monitor the situation, got injured in the bomb attack with his right hand almost blown away in the blast.
Suvendu Adhikari, a politician from Bharatiya Janata Party criticized the then chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee for allegedly inciting the attacks.
