2021 Kawardha riots

The 2021 Kawardha riots were incidents of religious violence between Hindus and Muslims that occurred in Kawardha, Chhattisgarh, India, between 3 and 7 October 2021.

Background
Kawardha is a small city in the Kabirdham district of Chhattisgarh. It is the home of former state Chief Minister Raman Singh and Forest Minister Mohammad Akbar. The district is 92.4% Hindu and 7.76% Muslim.

Incident
On Sunday, 3 October 2021, a group of Muslims and Hindus had an argument over the placement of religious flags in Loahara Naka Chowk in the town of Kawardha. An eyewitness claimed that following the altercation, a green flag had been torn down, and some hours later, a saffron flag was removed in retaliation. Two days later, right-wing organisations, including the Vishva Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal, held a rally protesting the flag removal. The rally led to civil unrest in the region, including arson and rioting. The police conducted a lathi charge to disperse the protestors, invoked Section 144 (barring unlawful assembly) of the Indian Penal Code, and imposed a curfew in the region.

The police stated that the Vishva Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal had promised peaceful protests. They registered a First Information Reports against several people, including Santosh Pandey, a Member of Parliament, and Abhishek Singh, a former Member of Parliament, both of whom were from the Bharatiya Janata Party.