There have been several instances of Muslim adolescents visiting Navratri Garba Pandals while masking their identities and passing for Hindus. The accused Muslim youngsters were allegedly assaulted by locals in Ahmedabad and Indore after they were found recording and taking pictures of Hindu girls.
Seven Muslim teenagers were detained by the police on Wednesday at the Garba pandal of Pandharinath in Indore. According to reports, they were filming Hindu girls. At the same time, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal activists beat up Muslim teenagers who tried to enter the Garba pandal in Ahmedabad’s Sindhu Bhavan neighbourhood. On social media, the identical video is becoming very popular.
In the case of Indore Garba Pandal, the Bajrang workers asked for the names of suspected Muslim youths and to show their IDs. Initially, the Muslim youths took Hindu names and did not even show ID, however, after further questioning once their real names were known, they were handed over to the police. A case was filed under the prohibitory sections against Muslim youths. On Wednesday, all of them were brought before the court. All the accused were released on bail.
In an exclusive conversation with OpIndia, Bajrang Dal Ahmedabad east area co-ordinator Hiren Rabari said, “Every time we inform everyone in advance that no non-Hindu should enter this Hindu festival. We had also issued a warning for this year. We visited some of the pandals on Tuesday (September 27, 2022).
“We were standing in front of the entrance spreading awareness among Hindus about ‘love jihad,’ every youth was entering the pandal by applying tilak, everyone’s identity card was checked to ensure that no non-Hindu enters by lying, while some Muslim youths had entered the pandal by disguising their identity,” he added.
Hiren Rabari notified OpIndia that two suspected youngsters were warned and kicked out of a pandal at SP Ring Road during an inspection.
In order to keep criminals out of Garba Pandals and from upsetting the peace within the community, Bajrang Dal workers keep a close eye on them. According to the Bajrang Dal, Muslim men do not participate in Garba because of reverence to Hindu deities. They attend Garba pandals with the evil intention of seducing Hindu women.