A minor dispute between a shopkeeper and a Rana Pratap enthusiast took on a communal colour and devolved into a clash at a village in western Uttar Pradesh on Saturday evening, leading to the arrest of six people.
Over 500 youths had taken out a car and bike rally from Sirodhan village to Dehra in Hapur district to celebrate the birth anniversary of Rana Pratap, the 16th-century Rajput king of Mewar in Rajasthan.
Eyewitnesses said the rally was peaceful for the initial 5km until someone started delivering a speech in Dehra on the king’s bravery amid the aggression of Mughal emperor Akbar, electrifying the crowd. At that point, a rallyist strayed from his group to buy pan masala from a nearby shop, but the shopkeeper refused to sell him anything.
“They first garlanded a statue of Rana Pratap and then delivered speeches. Someone was speaking against Muslims in general when a youth went to the shop of Mohammad Zahid to buy pan masala. The youth got livid when the shopkeeper refused to sell him anything. He called some of his friends, and they started beating Zahid. Some locals rushed to Zahid’s help and attacked the youths,” an eyewitness told reporters.
“Suddenly, we saw another youth pelting stones on Zahid and other Muslim villagers from the terrace of a house nearby. Some villagers chased the youth and pushed him from the terrace. He fell and got injured. This led to a full-fledged violent clash that continued for about 20 minutes,” he added.
Rana Pratap symbolises Rajput resistance against Akbar’s expansionism. Earlier, celebrations of his birth anniversary used to be a low-key affair, but have grown in scale since Yogi Adityanath became the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in 2017.
Six people have been arrested in connection with the incident in which over a dozen vehicles were also damaged.
Bhanu Bhaskar, additional director-general of police of Meerut zone, said: “I visited the spot and came to know about the dispute at a shop. We have arrested some people for their involvement in the violence and are trying to identify others with the help of CCTV footage. There is peace in the area.”
