Tag: violence

Mumbai Ram Navami violence: ‘Criminal conspiracy’ invoked for pelting stones at mosque

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Mumbai: The Indian Penal Code (IPC) section related to criminal conspiracy has been invoked in the case of stone pelting at a Ram Navami procession in suburban Malad late last month, Mumbai police officials said on Monday.
More than 20 persons have so far been arrested in connection with the incident which took place in the Malvani area of Malad on March 30.
A First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against more than 200 people, they said.

The police team probing the case of violence recorded statements of an Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) officer and a cop from the Malvani police station on April 2, an official said.
Both the personnel, in their statements, told the probe team March 30 violence was orchestrated by the accused persons, including those arrested and wanted, deliberately, he said.
They sat together near a mosque, by violating the orders prohibiting unlawful assembly, and hatched the conspiracy of the crime, the official said.
Accordingly, IPC section 120 (B) (punishment of criminal conspiracy) was added to the FIR on April 2 following directions from senior police officials, he said.
Earlier, the police had invoked various IPC sections, including 353 (assault or use of criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 145 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting) and relevant sections of the Maharashtra Police Act, against the accused.

A police official earlier said the tension began on March 30 following disputes over loud DJ music being played in the procession as it passed through the vicinity of some mosques in Malvani.
As per the FIR, more than 6,000 people had participated in the Ram Navami procession organised by the Bajrang Dal, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and some other Hindu organisations.
The procession began from Ram Janki temple late in the afternoon.
Around 7.25 pm, as it was moving towards Jama Masjid, 100 to 150 people objected to the high volume of music as namaz was going on in the mosque, a police official earlier said.
As the music volume was not lowered, there was some slogan-shouting and one of the men who had objected to loud music allegedly hurled a stone at the procession and it hit a participant, he said.
Police personnel deputed for security along the route immediately took the man who had thrown the stone into custody, he said.
As per the FIR, when the procession was near the Ali Hazrat mosque around 8.45 pm, a mob of 200 to 250 people began to pelt stones.
As police tried to bring the situation under control, some people in the mob hurled stones at them and manhandled some police personnel, the FIR said.
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#Mumbai #Ram #Navami #violence #Criminal #conspiracy #invoked #pelting #stones #mosque
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 10, 2023
5 more arrested by police in connection with communal violence at Bihar Sharif

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Patna: Bihar Police on Sunday arrested five more people in connection with its probe into the communal violence that erupted in Bihar Sharif town in Nalanda district during the Ram Navami festivities.
Fresh arrests have been made by the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of the Bihar Police.
Two more accused, involved in some other cases and also wanted by the EOU in Nalanda communal clashes cases, surrendered before the police on Sunday. The EOU will now seek their custody. EOU sleuths are also probing association, if any, of the surrendered accused with some particular outfit.

“Investigations by the EOU have revealed that the accused had created a WhatsApp group and through that they were spreading hatred among people against different communities. Accused were also instigating people to indulge in spreading fake video messages against different communities. The EOU has also recovered five mobile phones from their possession that are being further scrutinized”, JS Gangwar, Additional Director General (ADG) of Bihar Police (Headquarters), told reporters here on Sunday.
The EOU is also conducting it’s separate investigation to nab those who were indulging in spreading fake videos and messages by using different social media platforms during communal tensions in Nalanda and Sasaram, he said, adding the EOU registered it’s first FIR against 15 people on April 8. All five arrested persons are named accused.
“Investigators are examining credentials of all members of this group. More arrests are likely to be made by the police in the coming days”, said the ADG.
Normalcy has already been restored in both towns Nalanda and Sasaram and the situation is completely under control, he said, adding that officials are also examining CCTV footage to identify the culprits. Besides, police are keeping a close watch on social media to stop rumour-mongering, he added.
“Bihar Police have so far registered a total of 20 FIRs, including the latest case registered by the EOU–to probe communal clashes in Nalanda and Sasaram…and more than 200 people have already been arrested”, the ADG said.

Fearing attachment of their properties, several accused of communal violence have started surrendering before the police, said another senior officer of the Bihar Police on the condition of anonymity.
Communal tension had flared up at Sasaram and Nalanda during Ramnavami celebrations. In Biharsharif, over a dozen people were injured in stone-pelting and firing by miscreants and about 10 shops were gutted. One person died following the violence.
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#arrested #police #connection #communal #violence #Bihar #Sharif
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 9, 2023
Ram Navami violence: Processionists instigated violence in Rishra, Bengal police tell court

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Kolkata: Clashes and violence over the Ram Navami procession at Rishra in Hooghly district of West Bengal on April 2 were instigated by the processionists, the state government has informed the Calcutta High Court.
Chandernagore City Police, under whose jurisdiction Rishra comes, on Friday evening, submitted to the court a detailed report on the clashes.
Sources aware of the contents of the report said that it mentions that those participating in the procession had been constantly “instigating” the local people by using “abusive and offensive” language constantly since the beginning of the procession.

As per the report, although initially a section of those participating in the procession restricted themselves to using offensive language, later, some of them started pelting at the local people. Also, DJ was used in the procession without police permission and some of the participants even brandished lethal sharp weapons.
The report has maintained that such use of such offensive language and pelting of stones instigated the locals who retaliated by resorting to counter stone-pelting. It said as police tried to restrain both sides, attacks were led against the cops and some of the police vehicles were vandalized.
On April 2 evening, clashes first broke out at Rishra over the Ram Navami procession. Among those injured were BJP legislator Biman Ghosh and some police officers. Tension escalated and continued till April 3 night, when violent mobs started pelting stones at trains passing by in Rishra.
The police report submitted to the Calcutta High Court also detailed the situation over the continued tension on April 3.
As per the reports, that evening when the police contingent was patrolling at Rishra Rail-Gate area, a group of around 500 people suddenly attacked the cops with sticks, stones and bricks.

They also started pelting stones at the trains passing by. The police had to resort to lathi charge and charging of teargas shells to bring the situation under control.
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#Ram #Navami #violence #Processionists #instigated #violence #Rishra #Bengal #police #court
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 8, 2023
Attacks in Israel, West Bank kill 3 in worsening violence

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The spasm of violence in Israel and the West Bank heightened fears of an even more intense surge, with the rare convergence of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, the Jewish Passover holiday and Easter currently underway.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was calling up all reserve forces in Israel’s border police, a paramilitary force usually deployed to suppress Palestinian unrest, “to confront the terror attacks.”
The additional border police would be activated Sunday and join other units that have recently been deployed in Jerusalem and Lod, a town in central Israel with a mixed Jewish and Palestinian population.
Israel had unleashed rare airstrikes on Lebanon and bombarded the Gaza Strip on Friday morning, but later in the day there were signs that both sides were trying to keep the border hostilities in check. The fighting subsided after dawn, and midday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem — a flashpoint for violence in recent days — passed peacefully.
The round of violence erupted after Israeli police raided the mosque earlier in the week, sparking unrest in the contested capital and outrage across the Arab world. Militants fired an unusually large rocket barrage at Israel from southern Lebanon on Thursday — some of the heaviest and most serious cross-border violence since Israel’s 2006 war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah militants — as well as from Gaza.
In the Tel Aviv car-ramming late Friday, the alleged attacker rammed his vehicle into a group of civilians near a popular seaside park, police said. Israel’s rescue service said a 30-year-old Italian man was killed, while five other British and Italian tourists — including a 74-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl — were receiving medical treatment for mild to moderate injuries.
Police said they shot and killed the driver of the car and identified him as a 45-year-old Palestinian citizen of Israel from the village of Kafr Qassem.
A video circulating on social media showed the car hurtling along a sidewalk for several hundred yards before crashing out of control.

Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni’s office expressed “closeness to the family of the victim” and “solidarity with the Israel for the vile attack.” She identified the man killed as Alessandro Parini from Rome.
The shooting in the West Bank meanwhile killed the two sisters, who were in their 20s, and seriously wounded their 45-year-old mother near an Israeli settlement in the Jordan Valley, Israeli and British officials said. The family lived in the Efrat settlement, near the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, said Oded Revivi, the settlement’s mayor.
Medics said they dragged the unconscious women from their smashed car, which appeared to have been pushed off the road.
No groups claimed responsibility for either attack. But the Hamas militant group that rules Gaza praised both incidents as retaliation for Israeli raids earlier this week on the Al-Aqsa mosque — the third-holiest site in Islam. On Tuesday, police arrested and beat hundreds of Palestinians there, who responded by hurling rocks and firecrackers at officers.
Friday’s airstrikes on neighboring Lebanon targeted Hamas militant sites, the Israeli military said, accusing the group of firing the nearly three dozen rockets that slammed into open areas and towns in northern Israel on Thursday. The bombardment seemed designed to avoid drawing in Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Shiite group that Israel considers its most immediate threat.
There were no reports of serious casualties from the airstrikes, but several people in the southern Lebanese town of Qalili, including Syrian refugees, said they were lightly wounded.
“I immediately gathered my wife and children and got them out of the house,” said Qalili resident Bilal Suleiman, who was jolted awake by the bombing.
A flock of sheep was killed when the Israeli missiles struck a field near the Palestinian refugee camp of Rashidiyeh, according to an Associated Press photographer. Other airstrikes hit a bridge and a power transformer in nearby Maaliya, and damaged an irrigation system.
In the Gaza Strip, Israel’s military pounded what it said were Hamas weapons production sites and underground tunnels. A children’s hospital in Gaza City was among sites sustaining damage, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
After the retaliatory strikes, Israelis living along the southern border returned home from bomb shelters. Most missiles that managed to cross into Israeli territory hit open areas, but one landed in the town of Sderot, sending shrapnel slicing into a house.
There were no reports of casualties on either side of the southern border.
The Israeli military said everyone wanted to avoid a full-blown conflict. “Quiet will be answered with quiet,” said spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht. A Qatari official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the emirate was mediating.
Even as a fragile calm took hold along the Lebanese and Gaza borders, the West Bank remained volatile. Violence has surged to new heights there in recent months, with Palestinian health officials reporting the start of 2023 to be the most deadly for Palestinians in two decades.
Nearly 90 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since the start of the year, at least half of them affiliated with militant groups, according to an Associated Press tally. During that time, 17 people have been killed in Palestinian attacks on Israelis — all but one of them civilians.
“It’s just a matter of time, and not much time, until we settle the score,” Netanyahu said as he toured the site of the deadly shooting in the West Bank with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. “We acted in Lebanon, we acted in Gaza, we beefed up forces in the field.”
Al-Aqsa has long been a nexus of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the skirmishes between Palestinian worshippers and Israeli police at the holy compound this week spiraled into a regional confrontation. The mosque sits on a hilltop sacred to both Muslims and Jews. In 2021, an escalation triggered by clashes there spilled over into an 11-day war between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers.
Before dawn prayers Friday, chaos erupted at an entrance to the esplanade as Israeli police wielding batons descended on crowds of Palestinian worshippers who chanted slogans praising Hamas as they tried to squeeze into the site. Later, people leaving prayers staged a large protest on the limestone courtyard, raising their fists, shouting against Israel and waving Hamas flags. Israeli police said they forced their way into the compound in response to “masked suspects” who threw rocks toward officers at a gate.
Israeli authorities control access to the area but the compound is administered by Islamic and Jordanian officials.
The unrest comes at a delicate time for Jerusalem’s Old City, which was suffused with religious fervor and teeming with pilgrims from around the world. The Christian faithful retraced the route Jesus is said to have taken for Good Friday and Jews celebrated the weeklong Passover holiday, while Muslims prayed and fasted for Ramadan.
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#Attacks #Israel #West #Bank #kill #worsening #violence
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 8, 2023
Aurangabad violence: AIMIM MP writes to PM Modi, seeks enquiry by retd judge

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Aurangabad: Aurangabad MP Imtiaz Jaleel has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking inquiry by a retired High Court judge into the violence witnessed in the city ahead of Ram Navami.
A mob went on a rampage and set fire to 13 police vehicles in Aurangabad’s Kiradpura area on the intervening night of March 29 and 30.
The incident just ahead of the festival could have had disastrous repercussions in the country, the AIMIM leader said in the letter sent through the Aurangabad district collector and released to the media on Friday.

Jaleel also questioned why CCTV footage of the incident was not available when the entire city has been covered by a CCTV network under the Smart City project.
There were many unanswered questions which create suspicion that it was a planned clash, and hence the prime minister should ask the Maharashtra government to conduct an inquiry through a retired high court judge, the letter said.
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#Aurangabad #violence #AIMIM #writes #Modi #seeks #enquiry #retd #judge

( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 7, 2023
WB: Post Ram Navami violence, VHP to hold 500 Hanuman Jayanti events

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Kolkata: Amid the furore over violence during celebration of Ram Navami in West Bengal, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has decided to conduct 500 Hanuman Jayanti programmes across the state on Thursday.
VHP national assistant secretary Sachindranath Singha told PTI that no weapons would be carried during the Hanuman Jayanti processions in the state.
“Around 500 small programmes would be organised across the state. We won’t take out too many rallies and only a few will be held. No weapons will be carried during the rallies,” he said.

When asked whether the decision not to hold many processions is the fallout of the violence during Ram Navami, Singha replied in the negative.
“Rallies are taken out during Ram Navami, and programmes are organised during Hanuman Jayanti. It has nothing to do with the problems during Ram Navami this time,” he said.
Prohibitory orders were imposed in West Bengal’s Hooghly and Howrah districts, where clashes broke out between two groups during Ram Navami procession.
The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday directed the West Bengal government to requisition central forces to assist the state police in maintaining peace during Hanuman Jayanti celebrations.
Singha welcomed the court order and blamed the state government for violence during the recent Ram Navami celebrations.

“The state government should have taken stern measures,” he said.
Reacting to Singha’s comment, TMC state spokesperson Kunal Ghosh blamed the BJP and VHP for fomenting trouble in the state.
“The BJP, RSS and its affiliates like the VHP are fomenting trouble in the area. They are trying to disturb the peaceful atmosphere of the state,” he said.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday urged people to celebrate the Hanuman Jayanti festival peacefully.
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#Post #Ram #Navami #violence #VHP #hold #Hanuman #Jayanti #events
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 5, 2023
OIC expresses ‘deep concern’ on Ram Navami violence; Indian govt hits back

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The General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has followed with ‘deep concern’ the acts of violence and vandalism targeting the Muslim community in several states in India during the Ram Navami processions, including the burning of a madrasa and its library by an extremist Hindu mob in Bihar Sharif on 31 March 2023, a press release said.
The OIC General Secretariat denounced such provocative acts of violence and vandalism, which are a vivid manifestation of ‘mounting Islamophobia’ and ‘systemic targeting’ of the Muslim community in India, OIC said.
The OIC General Secretariat called upon the Indian authorities to take firm action against the instigators and perpetrators of such acts and to ensure the safety, security, rights, and dignity of the Muslim community in the country.

Indian government hits back
India on Tuesday slammed the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for its ‘communal mindset’ and ‘anti-India’ agenda.
India’s strong reaction came after the OIC secretariat issued a statement alleging the targeting of the Muslim community in several states in India during Ram Navami processions.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi condemned the statement issued by the OIC.
“We strongly condemn the statement issued by OIC Secretariat today regarding India. This is one more example of their communal mindset and anti-India agenda,” Bagchi said.
“The OIC only does its reputation damage by being consistently manipulated by anti-India forces,” the statement said.

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#OIC #expresses #deep #concern #Ram #Navami #violence #Indian #govt #hits
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 4, 2023
‘Appeasement’: Anurag Thakur hits out at Mamata, Nitish over Ram Navami violence

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New Delhi: Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Tuesday launched a fresh attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar over incidents of violence on Ram Navami, accusing them of indulging in “appeasement politics” for minority votes.
Such kind of vote bank politics creates many problems and poses many challenges before the country, the Information and Broadcasting minister said while addressing an event organised here to observe the World Peace and Harmony Day on the 2622nd birth anniversary of Jain Tirthankara Mahavir.
Parts of West Bengal and Bihar witnessed incidents of violence on Ram Navami last week.

“This is a very relevant topic in the present times. One part of the world has been witnessing a war for a long time. When I see the situation in India, there is an atmosphere of peace but Ram Navami processions are not allowed to be taken out peacefully,” Thakur said.
Referring to the violence during Ram Navami processions in West Bengal, Thakur asked whether the chief minister of the state is resorting to dividing the society as she said Hindus should not pass through certain areas.
“This itself is a matter of concern,” he said.
“A war between two countries is one thing but creating such a situation in our own country, in Bihar and Bengal, where you are not allowed to take out a procession peacefully on Ram Navami and forced to commit arson, stone pelting and murder, raises many questions,” the minister charged.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tells countries around the world that this is not the era of war and is the time to discuss, deliberate, be part of democracy and decide, Thakur said.

“And the world accepts this point but the chief ministers of two states of our country talking like that and resorting to partiality raises a big question as to whether a particular community was involved in the violence or politics of appeasement fans their passion,” he said.
The creation of unrest in society in such a manner for vote bank politics poses “many challenges and problems” to the country, the minister said.
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#Appeasement #Anurag #Thakur #hits #Mamata #Nitish #Ram #Navami #violence
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 4, 2023
BJP maligning name of Lord Ram by organising violence: Mamata

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Digha: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday asserted that she would not let rioters go scot-free and strict action will be taken against them.
Addressing a rally in Purba Medinipur district, Banerjee alleged that the BJP was maligning the name of Lord Ram by organising violence during Ram Navami processions.
Clashes were reported in Hooghly and Howrah districts during Ram Navami processions over the last few days.

“The BJP is behind the violence in Hooghly and Howrah. They had brought in hired ‘goondas’ from other states to unleash violence in Bengal, which is not in our culture. They are defaming the Hindu religion by pitting one community against another. But rioters have no religion, they are just political goons. I appeal to everyone to maintain calm,” she said.
Taking a dig at Union Home Minister Amit Shah, without naming him, she said, “The BJP said if the party comes to power in Bihar, it would hang rioters upside down. Then why are they not doing that to their goondas who are fomenting trouble in Bengal? Charity begins at home.”
Shah had made the remark during a recent public rally in Nawada district of Bihar, which has also witnessed communal clashes during Ram Navami.
Taking potshots at the CPI(M), she alleged that ‘Baam’ (Left) and ‘Ram’ (BJP) have joined hands against the TMC.

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#BJP #maligning #Lord #Ram #organising #violence #Mamata
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 4, 2023
Hindu front for Justice Trust moves plea in SC over Ram Navami violence

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New Delhi: Taking note of violence at a large scale that took place in different parts of the country during the Ram Navami festival, Hindu Front for Justice Trust moved an application in Supreme Court seeking to direct the concerned State governments to determine the loss incurred by the persons who sustained injuries and lost their valuables in the attacks committed by miscreants in observing Ram Navami.
The plea was moved by Hindu front for Justice Trust through advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain. The application was filed in the ongoing petition dealing with hate speech.
The applicant mentioned about the large scale violence that took place in different parts of the country, namely, at Howrah and Uttar Dinajpur (West Bengal), Sasaram and Nalanda (Bihar), Hyderabad (Telangana), Aurangabad (Maharashtra), Vadodara (Gujarat) and Jamshedpur (Jharkhand).

“The Muslim mob attacked, committed arsons, damaged the vehicles, pelted stones, assaulted Hindu devotees taking out the religious processions ie Shobha Yatra of Lord Ram,” the applicant said and cited various hate crimes were committed on Ram Navami Day ie March 30.
The applicant mentioned the speech of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and submitted, “West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had warned the members of Hindu community for taking out any procession from Muslim denominated areas as some area of the State has been earmarked only for Muslims and nobody can enter there.”
The applicant submitted that it is constitutionally permissible for Hindus to take out religious procession maintaining law and order situation through public road, irrespective of the fact as to which community resides in that area. The warning given by Chief Minister shows her partisan attitude in favour of Muslim Community, the applicant said.
Therefore, Hindu front for Justice Trust, sought to direct the the concerned State governments to recover the loss caused to the persons committed in connection with Ram Navami festival from miscreants after due verification, the plea said.
Hindu front for Justice Trust, in the application also sought to direct the State governments to take preventive measures so that in future the incident of attacks or disturbing the Shobha Yatra on Ram Navami festival and other festivals may not take place.

The Trust also sought direction to the State governments to allow Hindu devotees to take out processions in peaceful manner from public road and such request be not rejected only on the ground that area in question is a Muslim dominated area.
The applicant submitted that the members of the Muslim Community in order to create disharmony committed Hate Crimes by pelting stones at procession and also hiring hoodlums to attack the innocent devotees out of sheer hatred against Hindus.
The applicant submitted that the respective State government have failed to maintain law and order position and to protect the people’s right to worship and celebrate religious function in peaceful manner.
It further sought to direct the State governments to provide full protection to the processions taken out on Ram Navami Day or other religious processions by Hindus.
The applicant sought to direct the Chief Secretaries of the concerned State governments to submit report regarding the causes which led to mob attacks and violence committed on Shri Ram Shobha Yatra on March 30, 2023.
The applicant also sought to direct the respective State governments to register FIR into the incidents occurred on March 30 and initiate criminal proceedings against the culprits.
Hindu front for Justice Trust also sought to direct the State governments to comply with the guidelines issued in case of Tehseen Poonawalla vs Union of India to prevent hate crimes.
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#Hindu #front #Justice #Trust #moves #plea #Ram #Navami #violence
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 4, 2023