BHUBANESWAR : On March 1, Keonjhar’s mining town Joda celebrated Maha Shivaratri with all festivities. The Jaleswar Shiva temple where all ritualistic customs took place is located in Ward 4 of the town, a Muslim-dominated area. A newly established temple, it was the first time Shivaratri was being observed at the shrine and everything went off smoothly.
A month later, the same locality turned a battleground of sorts for the two communities during Ram Navami. At the centre was the same temple. What went wrong? No one would point out clearly. There were far too many gaps which led to the flare up. For record’s sake, Keonjhar or for that matter, Joda has not reported communal disharmony in a long time. With Shivaratri conducted smoothly, police was clearly caught unawares and unprepared.
Participants of the procession for Ram Navami wanted to hoist flags at the Shiva temple on Sunday night but police denied permission. They then went till Hanuman Mandir, located in the same Ward but outside the minority-dominated region, where they put up the flags. The next day, the participants went towards the Shiva temple and confrontation started. Police was present but was unable to control the situation.
There are far too many double-speak on what went wrong. Inspector of Joda police station Padmalaya Sahu said the procession was permitted for the old route (till the Hanuman Temple) and not till the Shiva temple. How, then, the procession proceeded the next day towards the temple remains unanswered. The deployment, too, fell short of what was required to prevent any escalation.
On the other hand, sub collector Rama Chandra Kisku said, permission was given for the procession but he did not have the specifics. A Bajrang Dal leader said they had received oral permission for the procession till Shiva temple on Monday.
There is also little clarity if an all-community meeting was convened and issues were thrashed out well in advance. However, SP Mitrabhanu Mahapatra said, a meeting was held before Ram Navami to ensure it went off smoothly.
Why Joda plunged into unrest over Ram Navami
Some members of the minority community said that there has never been any flare-up in the area in the past and this year’s incident has come as a rude shock. Another source said, senior officers let the guard down on Monday night which led to further escalation the next day. “Very senior officers should have camped at Joda to prevent the situation from getting out of hand,” said an insider.
However, the SP said, things are under control. “Internet services have been restored and we are keeping a close watch on the situation,” he added. On the day, flags were hoisted at the Shiva temple in presence of the SP and other officials.
However, prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC continue to be in effect. Two cases have been registered and investigation is continuing, the officer added. Police are yet to make any arrest in connection with the
violence.