Vandals paint 'Jai Shree Ram', throw colours on Uttar Pradesh Masjids

Sambhal: The Uttar Pradesh administration had taken up heavy precautionary measures against untoward incidents on Friday, the day of Holi, which coincided with the second Jum’a of Ramadan 2025. These measures included heavy security deployment in communally sensitive areas like Sambhal, covering Muslim religious structures such as Masjids and postponing Jum’a prayers. However, miscreants vandalised certain masjids in the state, with clear intentions to create communal disharmony, painting Jai Shree Ram on a mosque in Sambhal while smearing paint on some other masjids which were already prior to the celebrations, Siasat reported.

However, the state administration claimed that the Holi processions were peaceful.

It was a group of boys who sprayed colours and wrote Jai Shree Ram” on the entrance of a mosque in the communally sensitive Sambhal district. The mosque management filed a complaint with the Hayatnagar police, which accused Veeresh, Brajesh, Satish, Harswaroop, Shivom, and Vinod. The management also complained that the accused threw colours inside the mosque.

A procession outside the Abdul Karim Masjid at Abdul Karim Chowk in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, throws colour on the mosque despite it being covered with tarpaulin. They danced and sang provocative songs and shouted communal slogans with a fixed intention to spark tensions.

Ahead of Holi-Ramadan Friday on March 14, patrolling was increased in all 15 police districts in the national capital region of Delhi, particularly in residential areas and places known for Holi gatherings. As precautionary steps, authorities covered mosques and conducted flag marches in UP.

The chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, as well as the chief of People's Democratic Party (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti, alleged a day ago that "Bigots" are turning Holi into a "source of fear" for minorities. She also said that this is happening with the approval of those in power.