Police have arrested 52 people so far in connection with the violence and arson that took place on September 11 during Ganesh Visarjan in Mandya, Karnataka. Meanwhile, some pictures of Lord Ganesha’s idol kept in a police van have gone viral on social media. It is being claimed that the Karnataka government has banned Ganesh Puja. In one of these photos, a policeman can be seen carrying the idol of Lord Ganesha towards a police van.
Some social media users allege that the police stopped devotees going for immersion after Ganesh Chaturthi and confiscated the idol of the deity they were carrying. People sharing the photo are blaming Hindus who voted for Congress for this ban on Ganesh Puja.
Sharing these pictures on Facebook, a person wrote, “This scene deeply saddened my heart. Karnataka police took Ganesha’s idol into custody to stop devotees going for Visarjan after Ganesh Chaturthi. With a sense of disrespect, Ganesha’s idol was put in a police van and taken away like criminals. Look Hindus, you voted for a god and anti-Hindu party like Congress. Look, today we witnessed a scene that we could never even imagine. With folded hands, I request you not to support such an organization that can destroy both your country and religion.”
Aaj Tak Fact Check found that these pictures are from a protest in Bengaluru that was held without police permission, where people had arrived with an idol of Lord Ganesha. While detaining the protesters, the police took the idol from them and kept it in their van.
How did you find out the truth?
With the help of keyword search, we found many reports related to the viral pictures. According to them, this incident took place in Bengaluru, Karnataka on 13 September. Actually, some people had reached Bengaluru Town Hall to protest against the communal violence in Mandya. One of these people had brought a 1-foot long idol of Lord Ganesha. When the police came to arrest these people who had come to protest without permission, a policeman picked up the idol of Lord Ganesha and placed it in the police van.
We found some videos related to this incident in a tweet by journalist Yasir Mushtaq on September 13. In these, a blue board near the police van has the words ‘Sir. Puttanna Chetty Town Hall’, JC Road, Bengaluru written on it.
Members of Hindu Organisations protesting against Mandya Violence in Bengaluru, brought Ganesh Ji’s idol as well with them.. Police detained protestors and took away the Idol of Ganpati Ji.. pic.twitter.com/JZU00VLkIP
— Yasir Mushtaq (@path2shah) September 13, 2024
According to reports, according to the city rules, people in Bengaluru are allowed to protest only in Freedom Park. In such a situation, when people gathered in the Town Hall, the police detained about 40 protesters. This protest was done by the members of Bengaluru Mahanagara Ganesh Utsav Samiti. According to reports, their demand was that the violence in Mandya should be investigated by the NIA and all the culprits should be arrested immediately.
Aaj Tak correspondent Sagay Raj sent us a video of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Shashikant Sharma. Shashikant is one of the organizers of this protest. In the video, he himself tells how this incident happened during the protest at the Town Hall.
We also spoke to Bengaluru DCP (Central) Shekhar H Tekkannavar regarding this incident. He confirmed that the police had detained people not for immersion but for protesting without permission.
DCP Shekhar said that some people had gathered at Bengaluru Town Hall to protest against the Mandya case. The police took them into custody for protesting without permission. After this, 5 to 10 people reached the same place with the idol of Lord Ganesha and started protesting. Following the protocol, the police also went to take those people into custody. During this time, to keep the idol of Lord Ganesha safe, the police kept it in their vehicle. Later the police immersed this idol.
It is clear that the Congress government of Karnataka has not banned Ganesh Puja; the viral pictures are of a demonstration.
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