With 2017 being an election year for Gujarat, at least 2 cases of rioting have been reported in Gujarat in the last month. The first case of rioting happened in Vadavali village where 2 people died, many got injured and many houses belonging to those of minority community were burnt/razed. Another case of rioting happened in Savarkundla town in Amreli district. With the communal tensions increasing, now wall writings with Love Jihad slogans have popped up in many places in Ahmedabad. These slogans were reportedly put up either late night on 1st April or early hours of 2nd April.
The slogan is written in Gujarati and it says “Love Jihad thi savdhaan” which essentially means “Be cautious of Love Jihad”. These wall-writings were found in multiple places in Ahmedabad including University area, Usmanpura Underbridge , Navgujarat college, Aroma college, Gujarat Congress Headquarters and Stadium road.
With Chattisgarh CM Raman Singh saying “will hang those who kill cows”, Gujarat passing a law where the punishment for cow slaughter is life imprisonment and Yogi Adityanath becoming the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, there seems to be a definite push for increased communal polarisation across India.
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