Bhim Army’s help sought as police allegedly ignore complaints from the victim
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – A Muslim tutor, who runs a coaching centre, was allegedly assaulted by supporters of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and other fringe Hindutva groups over allegations of conversion following a dispute with a parent on tuition fees in East Delhi’s Shakurpur locality.
In a video statement, Irfan, the brother of the tutor Abrar, sought help from Bhim Army, a group of Dalits, as the police allegedly ignored their complaint.
Irfan said his brother has been operating Joint Mentor of Discipline (JMD) coaching centre for the last 12-13 years in the area. On 4 July, they had dispute with a parent and Abrar and the latter had heated arguments over the phone.
“The parent brought people from Tiger Group and Vishwa Hindu Parishad and beat us up. My elder brother was brutally thrashed. He was kept in the ICU for a few days,” said Irfan.
Now, these groups are threatening to kill the brothers. “We have filed a complaint with the police but they are not paying attention. They are asking us to approach different people. They drove us away,” he said.
“We are living in fear. They are roaming around our home. They are sending their men to check whether we are at home or not. We were forced to live at the house of our acquaintance. We request the Bhim Army to help us,” he said.
Meanwhile, on 4th July, a parent Manoj Kumar Sarjo, whose minor sons study at the JMD coaching centre, filed a complaint at the nearby police station at Subhash Palace against Abrar, Irfan and Rizwan.
In the complaint, he claimed that his minor sons were asked to read Qur’an and recite Islamic Kalma. He alleged that the teachers also passed critical remarks against Hindu gods.
Following his complaint, Subhash Place police registered an FIR (number: 492/2024) under sections 299 and 302 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on 7th July.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) also issued a notice on July 8 to the District Magistrate, seeking a report within three days.
A poster related to the coaching centre shows that students were taught Maths, Science, English and Social Science and Hindi, Arts and Commerce Stream, Accounts, Economics, Maths, Business and Industrial Law. There is no mention of any Islamic subjects being taught at the coaching centre. Moreover, non-Muslim teachers, Ajay and Vikram, also teach there.
