Lucknow: After reports of clashes and communal violence came from some states due to during Ram Navami processions, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has stated that there is “no tension at all, not even tu tu main main” in India’s most populous state despite the Hindu festival celebrating Lord Ram’s birth and the holy month of Ramzan coinciding.
The Chief Minister said so while addressing an event in Lucknow on Tuesday, was a symbol of UP’s new development agenda.
“Ram Navami was just celebrated. A 25-crore population lives in Uttar Pradesh. There were 800 Ram Navami processions across the state and simultaneously, this is the month of Ramzan and many Roza iftar programs must have been on. But there was not even any ‘tu tu main main’ (squabbling) anywhere, forget riots,” Yogi Adityanath said in a speech tweeted from his Twitter handle last night.
“This is a symbol of UP’s new development agenda. There is no space for riots, lawlessness, or goondagardi anymore,” he said.
He stated so in the context of clashes that broke out during Ram Navami celebrations on Sunday in states like Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and West Bengal, which led to the death of two, and many were injured.
In Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone, a lot of communal violence erupted after stones were thrown at a Ram Navami procession passing through a Muslim-dominated part of the town. The state’s BJP government has since arrested 94 people and launched a demolition drive targeting those who allegedly threw stones at the procession.
Yogi Adityanath’s comments come at a time when questions have been raised about his government not taking action against a Hindu priest’s hate speech outside a mosque in Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur district at the beginning of the Navratri festival. The priest, Bajrang Muni, allegedly threatened to kidnap and rape Muslim women. The police have registered a case but have yet to arrest him.
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