Surge noticed in incidents of mob violence against Muslims after the general elections
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – A mob of Hindutva supporters brutally assaulted a 25-year-old doctor at a petrol station in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad city after ascertaining his Muslim identity.
The victim, identified as Istekhar, runs a clinic in the city’s Asalatpura locality. The incident happened on 30 June when the young medical professional was returning from his clinic and stopped at a petrol pump to refill fuel in his motorbike.
According to Istekhar, two persons stopped and abused him after learning that he was a Muslim. They also started assaulting him and called more people to take part in the attack, reports reaching here said on Thursday.
“I was coming back from my clinic. My bike ran out of fuel and I stopped to refuel at a petrol pump. As I crossed the road, two people stopped me, asked my name, and then started abusing and beating me. They called more people, and soon around 25 people surrounded me. I was helpless against them,” Istekhar was quoted by The Observer Post as saying.
As more people joined the group, the mob went berserk and even attacked an acquaintance of the doctor who tried to rescue him. Getting free of the mob somehow, the doctor’s acquaintance alerted the police. A team of policemen which arrived at the spot soon rescued the doctor and arrested some of the attackers.
Istekhar said that he does not recognise any of those who assaulted him.
The police have arrested six persons including an individual whose bike had a sticker with “BJP Metropolitan President” written on it.
An FIR has beens lodged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Sections 506 (criminal intimidation), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon), and 147 (rioting). The accused are Vasu, Rachit Sharma, Abhishek Chaudhary, Vipin Saini, Ranjit Thakur, Gaurav Rohila, and others.
A journalist Zakir Ali Tiyagi accused the local police of trying to whitewash the incident and delaying in taking action against the attackers. In response, the Moradabad police said: “In the above case, a case has been registered on the basis of the complaint of the plaintiff. Fair investigative action is being taken on the basis of evidence”.
On Wednesday, an incident of mob violence against two Muslim brothers had come to light from Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr district after a video of the incident went viral. The brothers, Faizan and Tazim, were beaten up by a mob following a dispute with a shopkeeper. In this case too, the police were accused of undue delay in filing an FIR.
A surge has been noticed in incidents of mob violence against members of the Muslim community after the general elections wherein the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could not get majority on its own.
In his address to Parliament on Monday, Rahul Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and former Congress president, accused the BJP of spreading hatred and inciting violence against Muslims and other minorities.