By Sanjay Sharma
Bhopal, Nov 11 (IANS) At least 47 people were injured, five critically, after two groups of villagers hurled ‘hingots’ (firecracker balls) at one another Saturday evening in Gautampura tehsil of Indore during a traditional ‘hingot war’ played between people of two villages a day after Diwali.
The hingot war, reminiscent of the traditional war in ancient days, takes place on ‘Dhok Padwa’ – a day after Diwali – when people belonging to Gautampura and Runji tehsil hurl firecrackers at one another.
Hingot is a pointed cracker that goes in the air like a missile or a rocket. It derives its name from the hard-shelled wild fruit hingot, which is dried before gunpowder is filled in it through two holes and a piece of bamboo attached to it to give it a trajectory.
With one hole being sealed with mud, the projectile is ignited through the other and the missile thus made often crosses a distance of about half a kilometre with a whistling sound.
“And what is more dangerous is that the lethal weapon doesn’t move on a guided path but turns in any direction. Many a time people from the onlookers are injured by these hingots,” said a police official.
Before the battle, the participants seek blessings of the local deity. The two teams then assemble on either side of the ground where they are welcomed like warriors on battlefield and then they attack the rivals with hingots.
‘Warriors’ from each side fend off these flaming missiles with the help of shields, even as hundreds watch this annual event with the administration remaining helpless in prohibiting the event even as a blazing hingot catches its target unawares.
“While one viewer lost his teeth, another lost his eye and many other participants sustained burns during the ‘war’ last year,” the official said. “This year’s injury figures are yet to come in but 47 people are reported to have sustained injuries,” police official Anil Kumar told IANS by phone from Indore.
Besides the ‘soldiers’ (players), many spectators were also injured since they did not have any protective shield. “In many cases, these missiles were misdirected and landed among the spectators who had come to watch the show,” said Kumar.
The injured were taken to the MY Hospital in Indore where most were discharged after first aid. The police have, however, refrained from filing any case since it is a traditional sporting event.