Jihadi attack on Temple festival procession in Tamilnadu

Hindus Suffer Festival Violence, Courtesy, A Communal Panchayat President

Violence broke out when a group of men and women took out a religious procession through two places of worship, beating drums and carrying ‘vel kavadi’ and ‘pal kavadi’ in connection with the annual temple festival in the coastal village of Devipattinam, Ramanathapuram district.

Two groups attacked each other with stones. On a complaint filed by Muthu Selvam, Sub-Inspector of Police, who opened fire in the air, the police registered a case against the 20 named accused and some others under Sections 147, 148, 341 and 188 of the Indian Penal Code. After bringing the situation under control, the police called 20 accused from both the groups and arrested 11 of them. A day after, on June 9, police arrested 11 persons, including village Panchayat President S. Zakhir Hussain and two juveniles. Zakhir Hussain is a local leader of Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK), an offshoot of the banned Al Umma. Locals said they had been maintaining cordial relations with the other group and had been celebrating the festival for the past two decades without any trouble. Problems began to surface only after Mr.Hussain became the village president, they alleged.

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