'The 20,000 strong Baha’i community of Rajasthan is visibly in fear ever since their Jaipur burial ground – the only one they have in the state – was violently attacked and vandalised by a vigilante group allegedly led by the local BJP leader and sarpanch on October 30. The group of 50-60 miscreants not only beat up the chowkidar but broke parts of the under-construction prayer hall. They broke his mobile phone and ransacked the guard room, kitchen and toilet. The group also attacked the labourers working on the site.
'A Muslim barber refused to shut shop “as per custom”, triggering a riot by indignant members of the Hindu community at Nelliyadi village, 70 km from Mangalore, in Karnataka on Tuesday. Though the violence was brought under control a few hours after it erupted around 4 pm, dozens of people were injured and property worth lakhs destroyed in the melee. Bajrang Dal leader Ravi Ballya told HT that the trouble started when the barber, Salman, refused to “respect local sentiments” and keep his shop shut on Tuesdays. “It is well-known that Hindus don’t cut their hair on Tuesdays.
'Ranchi witnessed city-wide violence following a bandh called by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Saturday. The police, however, ensured the situation did not spiral out of control. The bandh call was given following communal violence in the Lower Hinoo locality Friday night. An unidentified youth and the cameraperson of a news channel were injured in Saturday’s violence. Police spokesperson and ADG (Operations) S N Pradhan said 65 people had been detained, but no arrests had been made...
'A police inspector and a reserve inspector suffered bullet injuries following indiscriminate firing by rioters in an escalation of violence that had erupted in the Babupurwa area here over damage to a religious poster late Friday night. "Two policemen, including station house officer of Badshahi Naka D K Singh and reserve inspector Yogesh Sharma, were hit by bullets fired by rioters in Chamanganj area." Said SSP Shalabh Mathur. "They were rushed to a hospital. Some locals also suffered injuries in stone throwing by a mob, which also vandalized private and government property.
'Jharkhand simmered with tension on Saturday as communal clashes in four districts left one person dead and several others injured as authorities grappled to contain the fresh conflagration in a state which recorded the highest number of religious conflicts last year. Police said that one person died in indiscriminate firing by unidentified people in Hazaribagh town during clashes on Saturday morning.
'Stray incidents of violence were reported in an area of this Madhya Pradesh city on Saturday after a spat over a Moharram procession turned ugly and a baton charge and tear gas had to be used to restore order, police said, according to IANS. Curfew has been imposed in police station area, a police official said. According to police, the passing of a Moharram procession in front of a Hindu religious site in Sevanagar area was opposed on Friday night, leading to a clash between members of both communities. Police intervened and brought the situation under control...'
'Authorities today imposed restrictions in several areas in Kashmir and placed many separatist leaders under house arrest in view of a strike called after the death of a trucker, who was critically injured in a petrol bomb attack in Udhampur 10 days ago... At least three Kashmiri truckers were reportedly set on fire in Udhampur on October 9 over the discovery of abandoned carcasses of three cows - later found to have died in an accident - in a stark reminder of the recent Dadri lynching incident, where 50-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq was killed over rumours of storing and consuming beef...'
'Controversial BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj today came out in support of the action of his party colleagues in Jammu and Kashmir assembly to beat up independent MLA Sheikh Abdul Rashid as a "natural reaction" to Rashid's action. "Leaders need to change their mindset or get beaten up by the people in full public view," he said at a meeting organised by International Hindu Mahasangha here. Stating that political leaders or anybody should not hurt the religious sentiments of masses, the BJP MP from Unnao constituency in Uttar Pradesh said, "J&K independent MLA's assault was just a reaction.
'At a time when Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that Muslims can live in India only if they give up eating beef, reports of lynching of a man in Himachal Pradesh for alleged cow smuggling emerged on Friday. Merely weeks after the disturbing Dadri lynching incident shook the nation, suspected Bajrang Dal activists lynched a man from Uttar Pradesh at a village near Shimla over allegations of cow smuggling, alleged the victim's relative, according to Hindustan Times...'
'Last Thursday, a mob nearly killed two Muslims in Uttar Pradesh's Karhal town. The two men, 55-year-old Mohammad Shafiq and 27-year-old Mohammad Kalam, were skinning a cow when they were accused of slaughtering the animal. Very rapidly, a mob of 1,000-1,500 people, according to police estimates, converged on the spot, a stretch of open land next to a small irrigation canal just beyond a predominantly Hindu basti. Shafiq and Kalam, who work as butchers, were stripped and beaten. A police party that attempted to control the crowd was roughed up as well.
