(This article is not meant to justify or promote violence of any kind. It is only meant to state the facts as to what led to the recent violence in Satara district of Maharashtra)
The violence in Pusesawali village of Satara district in Maharashtra has spread panic in the area and the law and order situation has deteriorated. This violence started on the night of 10 September 2023 and continued the next day. During this time, some people in the angry mob set fire to the shops and houses of many local people.
Some people in the crowd have injured around 16-17 people. Taking cognizance of the incident, the police have registered a case against 28 named and 100 unidentified people. A total of four cases have been filed in this case, copies of which have been received by OpIndia. Here we are going to tell you what was the real reason for this?
What caused the violence?
Several media reports have described what happened during and after the violence in Pusesavali village on Sunday 10 September. We will tell in this report what caused the violence to start in that area for the first time, due to which a person from the minority community died. Satara’s DSP has confirmed this to OpIndia.
It is being said that all this started on August 18. A complaint was filed at Satara’s Aundh police station under IPC section 295A (deliberate and malicious act intended to outrage religious feelings of someone by insulting his religious beliefs).
The complaint mentioned that Adil Bagwan of Pusesavali and another person, whose Instagram ID is ‘officialsaffu80’, had posted derogatory comments about Lord Ram and Goddess Sita on social media.
In this, derogatory remarks were made against Goddess Sita, calling her wrong and Ravana misbehaving with her. The comment broadly read ‘This is the identity of Sanatan Dharma’ in Hindi. This comment had hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus and insulted Sanatan Dharma.
Local Hindus took cognizance of the incident and filed an FIR against Adil of Pusesavali and another person with Instagram account ID ‘officialsaffu80’. It was clearly mentioned in the complaint that the accused had deliberately tried to create communal tension in the village and create a rift between Hindu and Muslim communities.
Continuation of derogatory posts of accused Muslims continues
After this, on September 10, Altamash Bagwan posted a derogatory comment on social media from his Instagram ID ‘al.tamash2069’. In this also Goddess Sita was insulted. This terrible comment exposed the mentality of fanatic Muslims and how desperate they are to establish the rule of Islam in India.
Apart from this, a person Muzzamil Bagwan also used derogatory language for Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. In this comment, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the pride of Maharashtra, was called a coward. Hurt by this, the local villagers lodged a police complaint against Altamash and Muzzamil under sections 153A and 295A of the IPC.
Clash on September 10, one dead
Clashes broke out in the Pusegaon area on 10 September over derogatory comments posted on social media. One person died in this. Satara Police identified and arrested the accused who posted objectionable posts insulting Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Mata Sita.
Meanwhile, Sarfaraz, one of the journalists of Tarun Bharat, a local daily, filed a third complaint. In this, 28 people along with 100 other unknown people were accused of creating violence in the village.
This complaint was registered under sections 302, 307, 324, 141, 143, 147, 148, 149, 427, 435, 449 and 450 of IPC. In this, the complainant said that 28 people had gathered near the mosque in the area and allegedly attacked the members of the minority community who had come to offer namaz in the mosque.
The complaint also said that the mob attacked with sticks, sticks and stones and set fire to vehicles parked in the area near the mosque. The complaint also mentions that the mob attacked police jeeps and created a law and order situation inside the village.
32 year old Nurul Hasan Liaquat Shikalgar lost his life during this violence. In this case, based on the complaint, the police arrested 23 suspects and presented them in the court. The police also demanded his 7-day police custody to investigate the matter.
Lawyer’s argument – ​​the suspects had nothing to do with the incident
The court was told that the 23 suspects were arrested by the police only on suspicion and prima facie the suspects had no involvement in the crime. The counsel for the suspects argued in the court that the accused are not habitual criminals and nothing has been recovered from them in connection with the present crime.
The accused are residents of Pussevali and had gone to the spot just to see what had happened on the night of September 10. The lawyer said that he had not gone to the mosque nor could he be linked to the alleged crime. However the court ruled that the incident had caused damage to property and law and order in the village of about 5000 houses. The court ordered four days of police custody of the suspects.
The district administration had shut down the internet in the district since the early hours of Monday (1). Prohibitory order was also imposed under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). Police are said to have detained more than 15 people on the basis of the third police complaint lodged in the incident.
If insulting the Prophet is wrong then how can insulting Hindu Gods and Goddesses be right?
This article of ours is not to justify or promote any kind of violence, but to give clear facts and reasons regarding the recent violence in Satara. Mainstream media reports strongly attributed the violence to some ‘alleged’ derogatory, objectionable social media posts.
They claimed that the youth died in violence over an ‘objectionable’ post about a “historical figure and mythological character”. It is worth noting here that Lord Ram and Goddess Sita are revered by Hindus, but they are definitely not mythological characters as has been said in the reports of main stream media.
Insulting Hindu Gods and Goddesses and the pride of Maharashtra Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj is no less than blasphemy. As Islamists around the world demand the death of a man who allegedly insulted the Prophet Muhammad on blasphemy charges.
He has done this in the case of former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma, Kamlesh Tiwari, Mahashay Rajpal, Kishan Bharwad, Harsh, Sri Lankan’s Priyantha Kumara, Kanhaiya Lal and there is no doubt that this list will keep increasing. If insulting Prophet Muhammad is considered a sin then insulting Hindu gods and goddesses is a sin. This is an immoral act and should be condemned in the country and across the world.
Islamists claim that Islam is a religion of peace, but Hinduism is the most peaceful religion because it does not demand ‘decapitation’ even for insulting Hindu gods but takes the help of law to get justice. .
The proof of this are the two FIRs lodged by Hindus in this case, which were lodged by some local people after the accused Muslims posted derogatory comments. No Hindu had set out to separate the head from the body. However, violence broke out in the village, in which an unidentified mob disturbed the law and order situation in the village, resulting in the death of one person.
It was reported that some unidentified people in the crowd also set fire to the houses and shops of local villagers. The police had arrested 23 suspects in this regard, but their lawyer had said that they had gone to the spot only to see what had happened on the night of September 10.
Local people claimed that they had taken the help of law for justice.
Speaking to OpIndia, local people said that people had adopted legal means to get justice. They say that Muslims attacked. Confirming the incident, he said that tension was rising in the area after the first post insulting Goddess Sita went viral on August 18.
After this, the local people lodged a complaint with the police and also organized a small protest in the presence of the police demanding action against the accused. The police assured the local people that no such incident would happen again.
However, within a span of about 10 days, a post was made on social media insulting Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Goddess Sita. One of the local people, on condition of anonymity, said that this time too a police complaint was filed.
Meanwhile, another local person said that on the day of the incident, some journalists lodged a complaint with the police, but did not tell the police that they were also attacked by a mob of Muslims. He said, “Nothing is one-sided.
Reportedly, the police have registered another FIR in this case under section 353 of the IPC and section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984. 15 other arrests have also been made. Police patrolling is continuing in the village to maintain peace in the area. Internet and other services have been restored. Further investigation is underway.