Stone pelting near Ujjain over ‘love-jihad’ tableau in Ganpati procession

Tensions prevailed in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain district on Friday (September 5, 2025) after two groups clashed during a religious procession, leading to stone-pelting in the area, prompting the police to use lathi-charge to control the situation, officers said.

According to the police, the incident took place near a mosque in Mahidpur town of Ujjain after a particular community raised objections about a tableau in a Ganpati procession.

Ujjain Superintendent of Police (SP) Pradeep Sharma told The Hindu that members of the community had given a complaint letter to the local sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) regarding their objections with the tableau.

“There was a Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi (Prophet Mohammad’s birthday) procession in the morning and soon after a Ganesh Sawari was taken out and objections were raised on a tableau in it. The SDM spoke with the organiser of the Sawari and the issue was resolved. However in the meantime, some youth pelted stones at the personnel deployed in the area and tried to clash with them,” Mr. Sharma said, adding that the police used mild force to disperse the youth.

The SP said that the situation is now peaceful in the area but adequate force has been deployed as a preventive measure. “We have deployed personnel from nearby police stations along with the Additional SP and other senior officers monitoring the situation. A company of the RAF (Rapid Action Force) has also been deployed,” he added. 

Mr. Sharma said that the police are currently analysing footage from various CCTV cameras installed through the procession route. 

“We will analyse the footage and take legal action against those found responsible for the situation,” he said. 

Mahidpur sub-divisional police officer (SDOP) Zenden Lingzerpa said that the concerned tableau depicted “love jihad”, which the Muslim community protested against. 

“There was some disagreement over the tableau, which was removed from the procession after dialogue with both sides,” he added. 

The members of the Muslim community also staged a demonstration at the local Tehsil officer in protest against the tableau, alleging linking the term ‘love jihad’ with the community.