Chhattisgarh: Curfew in Kawardha town following communal clashes

Curfew in Kawardha Image Courtesy:timesofindia.indiatimes.com

On Tuesday, a mob of nearly 3,000 people, reportedly led by Hindutva outfits, marched the streets of Kawardha town in Chhattisgarh’s Kabirdham district, wielding swords and lathis. The violent right-wing mob, one of the biggest reported in recent times, was allegedly attacking houses and vehicles of people from “another community” and pelting stones on police personnel, reported The Indian Express.

Social media showed that the ‘other community’ under attack were Muslims. The area remained tense for “more than 48 hours following an altercation” between the two groups over “religious flags being allegedly brought down on Sunday”.

This is from Kawardha, Chattisgarh. Mobs marching “peacefully” with lathis and rods, chanting “peaceful” slogans, “peacefully” vandaIize shops and vehicles of minorities. And then they peacefully broadcasted these videos on social media. https://t.co/BRUjizeEJm pic.twitter.com/ig5woQc6zH
— Alishan Jafri (@alishan_jafri) October 6, 2021

By Tuesday, curfew was imposed in Kawardha. Vivekanand Sinha, IG, told the media that police “arrested 59 people and are investigating further.” He further said, “We are seeing videos of the incident to identify the miscreants and action will be taken against them”.

Videos doing the rounds of social media show the Hindutva outfits, marching the streets of the town with swords and lathis, and allegedly attacking houses and vehicles belonging to Muslims. Adding to the crisis, are some social media handles that have a large number of followers, who are busy fanning communal flames in the state.