During this year’s Ram Navami festival, several incidents of stone-pelting, offensive sloganeering, arson, and attack on religious places were reported in West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Karnataka.
Ram Navami processions have become a communal flashpoint in recent years with several instances of swords, machetes, iron rods, and wooden sticks being carried during the religious processions reported.
Also read |Ram Navami violence | The teens who held aloft swords and iron rods
Here, we attempt to trace the recent clashes linked to Ram Navami and the patterns behind the violence.
Mapping and reviewing the clashes from 2012-2023
The interactive map below shows the approximate locations of several clashes that happened since 2012. Here are some basic instructions on how to use the map:
- To view the details of the clash, including location, year, number of injuries or deaths, click on a highlighted point.
- The user can filter by year, whether there were any casualties reported, and by State.
- To undo the selection of any of the three filters, click the ‘Clear filter’ option below each individual filter (even though a text cursor appears)
- Select or deselect a layer of the map by hovering over the widget under the title (which also serves as the legend)
Disclaimer: To create the interactive map above, The Hindu collated the data and information of the clashes from the newspaper’s own archives and from other major news publications in the country. When it comes to the number of injuries, The Hindu has used either the lowest possible number that was confirmed or a range depending on news reports. Also, it is important to note that not all clashes may have received media coverage. Thus, some clashes may not have been showcased here.
Where have clashes happened over the years?
The red dots indicate the location of the clashes that took place in that particular year.
The data for the last 11 years shows a significant increase in the number of reported incidents of violence linked to Ram Navami processions. Between 2012 and 2015, only a few clashes were reported in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh. The reports increased between 2016 and 2019 in these States. In 2018, at least 17 incidents of communal clashes of varying intensity were reported across the States. The 2020-2021 period, when the pandemic struck and there was the subsequent countrywide lockdowns, was peaceful. In 2022, clashes were reported again in five States.
Where do clashes happen often?
The reports of violence are high in West Bengal, Bihar, and Jharkhand. Several areas in these States have been witnessing violence in the past few years. For instance, Howrah in West Bengal saw clashes happen in 2013, 2022 and this year.
Disclaimer: Data includes only incidents reported by prominent news media houses during Ram Navami processions.
Sources: The Hindu, ANI, India Today, Indian Express, New Indian Express, Hindustan Times, Times of India, Scroll, The News Minute
(Compiled by Ramesh Chandran K P, Godhashri S, Gautam Nirmal Doshi, Sandra Cyriac, Abhinav Ashishkumar Chakraborthy, Shibu Narayan)
Published - May 01, 2023 04:01 pm IST
