The nine-day Navratri festival, which started from 26 September this year, is being celebrated with great pomp across the country. Meanwhile, several right-wing organizations such as the Bajrang Dal have begun their alleged clout during Navratri celebrations such as Garba to ‘protect’ Hindu culture and traditions from practices such as ‘love jihad’. Even ministers have raised similar concerns during Garba events.
In Gujarat, where the Garba dance form is an integral part of the Navratri celebrations, volunteers of the Bajrang Dal, an organization affiliated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, stand guard at various Garba venues. He was seen distributing pamphlets to people educating them about the dangers of “love jihad”. “Love Jihad” is a term widely used by right-wing groups and activists to allege a concerted effort by Muslim men to convert Hindu women to Islam through marriage.
Both Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad have made strong allegations and demanded mandatory identity cards so that who is entering Garba events can be tracked. They are denying entry to people from the Muslim community, alleging that Muslim men were allegedly coming to the Garba venues to woo young Hindu women.
Earlier this week, members of the Bajrang Dal in Ahmedabad had grabbed four Muslims from the Garba venue, allegedly thrashed them and forced them to leave. A purported video of the incident was also widely shared on Twitter. The organizations have also announced that they will conduct surprise inspections during Navratri festival across Gujarat. He reportedly claimed that some Muslims who attended the Garba event refused to wear ’tilak’ and were denied entry.
These add to a string of notoriety during the Navratri festival. Several organizations have also joined the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India, urging them to deny entry to Muslim men along with Hindu women and warning them that they will face consequences if they do not oblige.
In Nagpur too, Vishwa Hindu Parishad called for making Aadhaar card verification mandatory before entering Navratri pandals. VHP Nagpur claimed that it was a bid to stop ‘love jihad’ in the pandals.
A Madhya Pradesh minister announced that no one will be allowed inside the Garba pandal in Gwalior without an identity card. The Culture Minister of MP had said that Garba pandals have become a medium of ‘love jihad’ and to avoid this, all the participants will now have to carry identity cards. The same culture minister, however, later “welcomed” Muslims to the pandals if they were “okay with idol worship.”
read all latest news of india And today’s fresh news Here