“Why should we raise the ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogan? We have a relationship with Hindustan. We are Hindustani. We are part of Hindustan, not Pakistan. I appeal to the government to verify the video,” a distraught woman said
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI — Thirteen poor families from the Muslim community, who got encroachment notices after their menfolks were arrested over the claim of raising a pro-Pakistan slogan in Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur, asserted that ‘Tajustan Zindabad’ has erroneously been construed as ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogan.
On 1 August, 33 people were arrested by the local police after it was claimed that the ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogan was raised during the Moharram procession in Kishundaspur village. Now, 13 of these 33 persons were served notices asking them to vacate their “encroachments” from the government land. These notices have exacerbated the problems of the families as they were already suffering due to the imprisonment of their breadwinners.
The affected families said that it was the ‘Tajustan Zindabad’ slogan raised during the procession but some miscreants made it into “Pakistan Zindabad.”
“That is the ‘Tajustan Zindabad’ slogan who was our teacher. He has died. We raised a slogan to hail him. Why should we raise the ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogan? We have a relationship with Hindustan. We are Hindustani. We are part of Hindustan, not Pakistan. I appeal to the government to verify the video,” a distraught woman was quoted by the local media as saying after receiving an eviction notice.
The woman said that the video has not been investigated properly and they are being punished merely on the basis of false claims made by some miscreants.
After the arrest of their menfolks, the families are finding it difficult to sustain themselves. They sleep hungry. “No one has come to inquire how are we living or surviving. False allegations were levelled against us,” she said. Her son was arrested on 31 July while the family slept at night.
Jaunpur SDM Rajesh Chaurasia said that the penalty was imposed on Mushtaq, Mukhtar Ali, Sher Ali, Imtiyaz and Naseem, and Tiyaz, Salim and his brothers.
Another woman said that they will not be able to pay up the penalty imposed on them as they are not able to survive in the current situation.
J Bharat News, a local news outlet, talked to several women about the allegations. All of them asserted that it was ‘Tajustan Zindabad’ not ‘Pakistan Zindabad’. They fear that their houses could be bulldozed by the administration after serving notices to them.
“We have been served notice of big amount. How can we pay it up? We are already finding it difficult to get food,” she said.
All the accused have been booked under IPC Sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups), 153-B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs).
