The New Indian Express ·
Stone-throwing custom in symbolic MP village rivalry injures more than 1000 people
BHOPAL: The stones began flying across the Jam River as they have for generations. On one bank stood the people of Pandhurna; on the other were villagers from Sawargaon. Between them, in the Jam River, stood a freshly cut Palash tree—the sacred flag that would become the centre of an extraordinary ritual of faith, memory and violence.
By the time the annual Gotmar Fair ended on Friday, 1,029 people had been injured. Eight men, mostly young, were seriously injured and taken to hospitals in neighbouring Nagpur, across the state border in Maharashtra.
Among the injured was a five-year-old boy, Yogesh Marawi, who had come with his family to watch the spectacle. The scenes are difficult to reconcile with the word “fair”. Yet for the people of these two riverside communities in MP, the event is an old ritual.
