A 50-year-old Muslim shrine was vandalised and painted saffron by men purportedly motivated by the ideology of Hindutva. The incident took place in the wee hours of Saturday in Madhya Pradesh’s Narmadapuram (Hoshangabad) district.
“The wooden doors of the shrine were broken open and dumped in Maru river. Not only the minaret, but also the tomb and the entrance were coated in saffron paint. Furthermore, the hand pump inside the shrine compound was also uprooted,” Shrine caretaker Abdul Sattar was quoted by The Indian Express (TIE) as saying.
According to the TIE, the police was initially dilly-dallying on the issue. They swung into action only after locals blocked the nearby highway.
An FIR was registered under Section 295 (A) (for deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting it’s religion or religious beliefs) of the IPC. The accused are yet to identified and arrested.
The police were deployed in the area and the repainting of the shrine was initiated amid tension in the area.
This article first appeared on muslimmirror.com
