Hindutva miscreants vandalize Muslim shrine in Madhya Pradesh

India: Tension gripped Narmadapuram district of Madhya Pradesh after Hindutva miscreants painted a five-decade-old shrine with saffron colour, the colour of extremist Hindu organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

The miscreants also damaged a portion of the shrine. The incident came to light when a few local youths spotted the shrine coated with saffron paint and found that its door had been broken open, Indian media reports said reported.

Even previously the shrine was targetted. Irked over the incident, Muslims blocked the state highway-22 and demanded the arrest of the culprits.

They lifted the blockade only after police and the district administration reached the spot and assured action, the reports said.

“After reaching, we realised that 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,” the shrine’s caretaker told the media.

An FIR was registered under Section 295 (A) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) – for deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.