Protest in Rongpur: Minor clash between two groups takes communal shape

It all started on June 9, 2019 when two groups of young individuals had a heated argument in Silchar’s Rongpur area. The argument soon turned into a scuffle and ended only after local residents’ intervention.

A Rongpur resident present there said both the groups were abusing each other. “It was verbal diarrhea, both the parties were using slangs to demean each other’s religion,” he said.

The very next day, on June 10, 2019 a peace meeting was called by locals to ensure that the issue ends there and does not take a communal colour. The meeting took place in front of Narasingha Akhra in Rongpur. Senior residents across religious communities attended the meeting. While the meeting was in process, a young individual from the Muslim community got irked and walked away. While on his way out he allegedly kicked the gate of the Narsingha Akhra and started abusing the Hindus on religious lines.

“We watched it with our eyes, on his way out he threatened to beat the Hindus. He said he is getting his friends and will let the Hindus know their place in Silchar. We went to Silchar Sadar Thana and lodged a complaint against this miscreant for demeaning a sacred place of worship,” said a member of a Hindu organisation.

Immediately after the boy left from the spot Police was informed and CRPF and Rongpur Police officials went to the spot. The boy had returned after a while, but Police and CRPF jawans handled the situation well to avoid unforeseen circumstances.

“See, that boy was uncultured in the manner in which he behaved. Any educated individual will never kick the gate of a sacred establishment irrespective of religious beliefs and biases. Action must be taken against that boy but to give the entire incident a communal colour is equally premature,” opined a resident present in the meeting.

Today, several Hindu organisations staged a protest in Silchar’s Rongpur area. The VIP road was blocked at around 10:00 a.m. by the protesters. At around 11:30 after the intervention of local police the road was again open for or public transport. However, the protesters continued with their demonstration on the side of the road. Their demand is immediate action against the boy who kicked the gate of Narasingha Akhra.

“We had lodged a complaint on Monday but no action has been taken yet. We demand immediate actions or we will stage a bigger protest. Nobody can kick the gate of a sacred Hindu temple. It is like a kick to our religious beliefs and we will not tolerate it in Hindustan,” said a spokesperson of an organisation protesting on the road.