"Throwing Stones At Ram Navami Processions Serious Matter": Gujarat Minister

Those who have fled Vadodara and gone into hiding after pelting stones at Ram Navami processions last week will be eventually traced and brought to justice, Gujarat Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghavi on Tuesday. 

He called the hurling of stones at the Ram Navami processions a "very serious" issue, and said the state government is equally serious about nabbing those involved in this offence.

"Be it Eid or Diwali, these festivals are not meant to create divisions in society. Throwing stones at Ram Navami processions passing peacefully is a very serious matter and we have also taken it seriously. After coming here, I held a meeting with officials over this issue to find out why this happened and we also watched CCTV as well as media footage of these incidents," Mr Sanghavi told reporters.

Vadodara police have said they have so far arrested more than 35 persons, including women, allegedly involved in pelting stones at two Ram Navami processions in communally sensitive areas of Fatehpura and Kumbharwada areas of Vadodara city on March 30.

"Those who have fled the city and gone into hiding after throwing stones will be eventually traced and brought to the city. We will nab each and every such person and take strict action against them," he added.

At least two persons were injured in stone pelting by a mob at Kumbharwada on Ram Navami, according to police. Local Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Manisha Vakil was part of the procession which came under attack at Kumbharwada, they had said.

In some videos of the incident aired by news channels, people could be seen running for shelter during stone pelting, while a chariot carrying a statue of Lord Ram was also pulled away to a safer place by the devotees to save it from stones.

Some of the injured persons told reporters that miscreants hurled stones at them from the terraces of nearby structures.

Hours before that incident, stones were thrown at a Ram Navami procession, organised by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal, in Fatehpura area.

Hindu organisations had alleged that despite knowing that similar incidents of violence had occurred in these areas in the past too, police were nowhere to be seen when the procession, taken out every year on this route, came under attack.

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