BHOPAL: In a provocative incident a day before the scheduled consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, a group of youths in Madhya Pradesh's Jhabua district raised a saffron flag atop a house adorned with the Christian Cross. The crowd jubilantly cheered "Jai Shri Ram" as the men climbed the building to plant the flag on the sacred Christian symbol.
The incident, which happened in Dabtalai village under the Ranapur police station area of Jhabua district, saw a group of youngsters carrying a saffron flag climb on top of the house owned by one Darbu Amliyar at around 3 pm. Darbu is a tribal group that follows Christianity. Jhabua district of west MP is Bhil tribe-dominated and is bordered by Gujarat.
A viral video of the incident, which happened just a few hours after the Sunday prayers, showed two youngsters putting the saffron flag bearing the image of Lord Hanuman and the religious slogan "Jai Shri Ram" close to the Christian Cross on top of the house. Other youths accompanying the two youths can be seen shouting the Jai Siya Ram slogan.
Crucially, a section of the implicated residence is used by tribals following Christianity for Sunday morning prayers, although it does not serve as a formal church.
Upon learning about the incident, the local police rushed to the spot, but Darbu refused to file any complaint in the matter, saying those who had climbed the top of the house and put up the saffron flag were no strangers but known to him.
“We asked him for the complaint to act in the matter, but he (Darbu) refused, stating that he had nothing to complain about, as those who put the flag on top of the house were known to him. He didn’t want to make any complaint,” Jhabua district police superintendent Agam Jain told this newspaper.