The annual ‘Gita Jayanti’ fair held at Brahmasarovar in Kurukshetra in Haryana, which started as a craft fair and is now called the ‘International Gita Festival’, has been gradually turning saffron since 2014. The Central and state governments spend a lot of money on advertising to promote this fair. Along with the country’s top leaders, leaders from other countries are also invited as guests to the fair.
But, for the past few years, stalls of Hindutva organisations, such as Bajrang Dal have also started being set up here. Since then, politics of radical Hindutva and communal hatred have started being promoted. The latest case came to light when some Hindutva supporters at the fair allegedly indulged in hooliganism against three Muslim shopkeepers and beat up a Kashmiri Muslim shopkeeper.
The reported incident happened on December 6 and 7, 2024. As per reports, on December 6, during the ‘International Gita Mahotsav’, some 20-25 people “vandalised” a Muslim bhelpuri seller and furniture shop. It is said that they threw away all the goods of the bhelpuri (savoury snack) seller and allegedly said “You Muslim, you sell bhelpuri by spitting in it, how dare you come and set up shop here?” After this incident, the bhelpuri seller left his shop. That same stall has now been given to a non-Muslim person.
In the second incident, it is alleged that a boy working in a furniture shop was threatened and his skull cap was removed.
Similarly, it is alleged that on December 7, too, a group of about 20-25 people approached a Kashmiri shopkeeper’s warm clothing shop, shouting communal slogans. They reportedly attacked him on the head with a stick, terming him a ‘Bangladeshi’. A purported video of this entire incident went viral on social media.
On December 6, the shopkeeper next to the one who was vandalised at stall number 105, told some reporters, including this writer, “There were around 20-25 people. They had Bajrang Dal flags in their hands. They first bought bhelpuri from the shop and when they started making online payment, they found out that the shopkeeper was a Muslim. They started shouting, “How dare you, a Muslim, set up shop here. You are selling bhelpuri after spitting on it.” After this, they threw away all his bhelpuri. The very next day, the Muslim bhelpuri shopkeeper who had come from Deoband, left the fair.”
This story was originally published in newsclick.in. Read the full story here.