A woman in Manama, Bahrain, became furious when she saw idols of the Hindu god Ganesha in a supermarket in the Juffair neighborhood and she reacted by smashing them on the floor of the shop one by one.
A video of the incident has gone viral on social media, leading to outrage among Hindus.
The video shows the Burqa-clad woman first snapping her fingers to summon the salesman and then complaining about idols of a Hindu god being sold in Muslim country.
“This is a Muslim country, correct?” she asked, "Let us see who will worship these statues. Call the cops" she said and continued violently smashing the idols on the floor one after the other.
The video has led to anger on social media with netizens condemning the “hate crime” and questioning the situation of minorities in Muslim nations.
A disgusting example of Religious Intolerance. It proves the level of hatred some cults teach its followers.
— INSIGHT_UK (@INSIGHTUK2) August 17, 2020
Irony of our time is - these people are then called peaceful.
Good to know that Bahrain govt has started an investigation behind this unlawful act.#ReligiousFreedom pic.twitter.com/3d1iAZR4Zp
A disgusting example of Religious Intolerance. It proves the level of hatred some cults teach its followers.
— INSIGHT_UK (@INSIGHTUK2) August 17, 2020
Irony of our time is - these people are then called peaceful.
Good to know that Bahrain govt has started an investigation behind this unlawful act.#ReligiousFreedom pic.twitter.com/3d1iAZR4Zp
The idols of the Lord Ganesha, the most revered elephant headed god in Hindus, were being sold for the upcoming annual Ganesh Chaturthi festival, an 11-day festival beginning on 22 August.
You have clearly used the words "bad thing" for Ganesha idol. This is disgusting. We hindus also have no importance of Quran but we admit this is most respected for muslims and we never teach our children to disrespect this book. We teach them how muslims respect this book
— Shanti Bhushan (@shantibh) August 17, 2020
Some Hinduphobic🧕🏽 in a Hindu run shop in Bahrain decided to smash all the Shri Ganesha Murti’s 🤬 So what are we to do to show our outrage in India for this crime?! Re-enactment of Bangaluru across India I Hindu Religious sentiment? 🤬Intolerant bunch! pic.twitter.com/SBgVBpPmLM
— JIX5A જીક્સા (@JIX5A) August 16, 2020
According to the Ministry of Interior in Bahrain, prompt action was taken against the 54-year-old woman and she was charged with intentional damage and publicly insulting a religious symbol on Sunday.
Capital Police took legal steps against a woman, 54, for damaging a shop in Juffair and defaming a sect and its rituals, in order to refer her to the Public Prosecution.
— Ministry of Interior (@moi_bahrain) August 16, 2020
An advisor to the King of Bahrain and former foreign minister, Khalid al-Khalifa said such crimes of hatred were unacceptable.
"Breaking of religious symbols is not the nature of the people of Bahrain. It is a crime... of hatred and is rejected," he tweeted." Here, all religions, sects and people coexist," he added.
There are at least 400,000 Indians living in Bahrain as per government data, comprising 9.8 percent of the total population.
