SRINAGAR: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh staged virtual flag marches all over India, with the cadres blowing trumpets, beating drums, shouting slogans and also carrying arms in some of the processions. The Citizen received reports from different parts of the country, with the route of the procession as in Ajmer and more so in the districts of Jammu and Kashmir calculated to strike fear in the minorities in particular.

Jammu and Kashmir is tense with a particularly virulent RSS flag marches in different cities, being followed by rumours that the cadres had desecrated the Quran in Bhaderwah town. Tempers flared and in the ensuing violence several persons were injured.

The incident comes a day after the activists of RSS, the ideological mentor of the BJP which has become emboldened with the coming to power of the Hindu right-wing party in J&K, marched for the first time in parts of Jammu region brandishing swords and guns.

Reports said shops, businesses and educational institutions remained closed in Bhaderwah town of Kishtwar district on Friday while as public and private transport was off the roads following allegations by Muslim community that the Hindu right-wing activists burnt some pages of the Holy Quran during the Thursday's Dussehra celebrations.

Ghulam Mohiuddin, a resident of Bhaderwah, told The Citizen over phone that agitated youths took to the streets, burnt tyres and blocked traffic on the roads to protest the desecration of the Quran. "This is being done by the BJP and its right-wing lackeys to spread fear and terrorise the Muslims of Bhaderwah. It is unfortunate that the government is allowing such incidents to happen," he said.

A senior government officer said the situation is being monitored closely, although the district remains tense, and the veracity of the allegation is being probed. "We are in touch with the elders of the community and investigations are going on to find out the truth," the officer said.

On Thursday, the townspeople were startled to see the RSS activists shouting slogans like “Garr Hindustan Mein Rehna Hai, To Vande Mataram Kehna Hoga” while marching in Bhaderwah. The march was also carried out by the RSS activists in Kathua, Samba and RS Pura areas, sparking anguish and fear in the Valley.

Tension has been simmering in the state after the PDP-BJP government, headed by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, came to power with incidents of communal violence rising in the State.

Similar tension was reported from Ajmer where the RSS procession made itself past the Dargah, striking fear amongst the worshippers as well as the minorities living in the area. This was also an aggressive procession, with the police shouting at the common citizens, directing them to go inside the shops and leave the streets empty for the marchers. The drums and trumpets were loud, being accompanied with the stomping of feet in a militarised march with hundreds of cadres making their way through the city, carrying lathis.

Dwarka in Delhi also witnessed an unprecedented march of the RSS cadres, although here it was a little more restrained as compared to the states. Alongside RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat addressed the nation, for a second year in a row, through the government owned television Doordarshan. He insisted that despondency had been replaced in India by hope and confidence. He dismissed the incidents of violence that have led to protests all over with, “small episodes happen. They get exaggerated and presented in a big way... Small incidents keep happening but these cannot distort Indian culture, Hindu culture. Since time immemorial, it respects diversity, coordinates among diversities to establish unity... This is Hindutva.”

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