Patna, April 11, 2023 (PPI-OT):The police in the Indian state of Bihar have said that Hindutva leader Kundan Kumar was the mastermind behind the anti-Muslim violence that took place during the Hindu festival Ram Navami in Bihar Sharif city. Kundan Kumar, the convener of Hindutva organization, Bajrang Dal in Nalanda district, was arrested on April 8 after he surrendered as the administration began to attach his properties. “He [Kundan Kumar] is accused of gathering a huge crowd in the name of a Ram Navami procession in Bihar Sharif without proper permission. That mob went out of control and violence started,” Nalanda Superintendent of Police, Ashok Mishra told the media.
The Bihar Police said that Kundan Kumar and Kishan Kumar, another Hindutva member, had planned and executed the anti-Muslim violence in Bihar Sharif through social media and a WhatsApp group that had 456 members. Additional Director General of Police, Jitendra Singh Gangawar, told the media that through the WhatsApp group, Kundan and Kishan Kumar spread fake videos about Muslims instigating the Hindus to resort to violence against them. During the Ram Navami processions, Hindutva mobs had resorted to violence against Muslims and vandalization of their properties and mosques in several states of India. Hate speech and stone-pelting against places of worship and shrines were common in all the incidents, which occurred in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, West Bengal, and Gujarat.
On March 31, during the Ram Navami rally, a Hindutva mob set fire to Madrasa Azizia, which is the oldest madrasa and library in Bihar Sharif. Mohammad Shahabuddin, Imam of Murarpur mosque said that the madrasa contained more than 4,500 books which were destroyed in the blaze. All of the books have been destroyed, he said.
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