Attacks – Others

The Wire’s Omar Rashid reported how the crowd cheered triumphantly as four young men climbed atop a small church and planted a saffron flag on the holy cross, a sacred religious symbol for Christians. The flag had ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and an image of Lord Hanuman printed on it.

This was one of the four incidents that occurred on January 21, on the eve of the ‘Pran Pratistha’ ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, in Jhabua district. Similar saffron flag hoisting incidents were reported in villages namely Dabtalai, Matasula, Uberao and Dhamaninathu, all situated in the Ranapur tehsil of Jhabua, on the western fringes of Madhya Pradesh, with the majority of the residents being tribals. As reported by The Quint, no FIR was registered in the incident.