Recent incidents highlight an urgent need to address the issue which is tearing the secular and democratic fabric of the country and has become a cause of grave concern for all the peace-loving and law-abiding citizens.
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – The country is grappling with a dangerous surge in hatred and violence against religious minorities – especially Muslims, Christians and Dalits – sparking serious apprehensions about religious tolerance and communal harmony.
Recent incidents in various parts of India highlight an urgent need to address the issue which is tearing the secular and democratic fabric of the country and has become a cause of grave concern for all the peace-loving and law-abiding citizens.
A noticeable increase in hate attacks on Muslims has been seen in the runup to and post inauguration of Ram Temple in Ayodhya on January 22.
In several cases, Muslims have found themselves to be at the receiving end as the state machinery either connived with the mobs or looked the other way at the violence .
Some recent cases are enumerated below:
A Muslim teenager was assaulted and paraded naked by a mob chanting Hindu religious slogans for “disrespecting” a saffron flag in Telangana’s Sangareddy district.
The mob put fire on the 19-year-old victim’s private part and put out its video on various social media platforms.
The mob’s ghastly act occurred as Prime Minister Narendra Modi was inaugurating the temple built on the ruins of the Babri Masjid.
In Mumbai, mobs ransacked shops belonging to Muslims and assaulted several people, days after violence broke out in the city’s Mira Road suburb on the eve of the temple inauguration.
Clashes erupted between Muslims and Hindu groups after the latter insisted that their procession be allowed to pass through a Muslim neighbourhood despite police objections. Some people got injured during the clashes. Several individuals were arrested and the authorities’ bulldozed Muslim shops on Tuesday in Mira Road’s Naya Nagar, a Muslim-dominated area.
Earlier, a Muslim shop manager faced harassment by a group of Hindus over a poster of Hindu deity Ram at a store in Dehradun, Uttarakhand,
The police have initiated legal action following the incident wherein a mob objected to the poster of the Hindu deity at Aman General Store, owned by Rakesh Borai, and misbehaved with the Muslim manager.
The mob hurled communal slurs and also attacked two Muslim employees, Mohammad Ayub Khan and Girish. A case has been registered under the Indian Penal Code for promoting enmity between groups and hurting religious sentiments.
In Mudigere in Karnataka’s Chikkamagaluru district, two Muslim teenagers, Mohammad Munaz and Sameer, were brutally attacked by a group of right-wing individuals. A video of the incident, suggesting a planned and targeted attack, went viral.
Sameer had previously faced a kidnapping attempt. The attackers, claiming to be cousins of a Hindu girls, resorted to violence, leaving Munaz severely injured. The attacks are allegedly linked to Sameer’s conversion to Islam.
In Mawana, Uttar Pradesh, 28-year-old Mohammad Bilal died after an alleged “shootout” with the police. His family contests the police statement, claiming he was an innocent vegetable seller. Doctors reported complex injuries, and the family asserts Bilal was killed in a fake encounter, raising questions about the circumstances of his death.
In Lucknow, a catering contractor, Pradeep Kumar Gupta, filed a police complaint against one of his customers, Madan Lal Vajpayee. The customer allegedly refused to pay the agreed dues of Rs 70,550 after getting to know that Yash Caterers had employed some Muslim waitress at his daughter’s wedding party.
Gupta took legal action when Vajpayee failed to pay the remaining amount, highlighting issues of discrimination and non-payment.
On the day of the inauguration of the temple, a mob hoisted a saffron flag carrying a picture of Ayodhya’s Ram temple on a church in the Jhabua city of Madhya Pradesh.
The incident gained widespread attention after a video surfaced on social media platforms capturing miscreants placing the flags atop the church amidst chants of “Jai Shri Ram.”
A Muslim youth, Mehdi Hasan, was brutally attacked and killed in the Uttar Pradesh city of Noida on the same day.
The incident at the city’s Gram Barola area in Sector 49 came to light after activist Kashif Arsalan shared a CCTV footage of the disturbing development on the social networking website X. The video shows two individuals, identified later as Anuj and Nitin, assaulting Mehdi Hasan with a knife. Subsequently, they tied a rope around the victim’s leg and dragged him throughout the village.
The assailants continued their merciless act until Mehdi Hasan breathed his last.
In Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh, miscreants attempted to vandalise the 400-year-old shrine of Pathan Shah Baba in Tajpur Nokas locality, sparking public outrage.
The police have initiated an investigation into the matter, registering a case against unknown individuals involved in the act.
The shrine, situated in Sadar Kotwali’s Tajpur Nokas, holds significant historical and cultural importance, standing as a symbol of the region’s rich heritage for over four centuries. The vandalisation attempt stirred anger and disappointment among the public.
These incidents underscore the pressing need for authorities and society to address rising religious intolerance, discrimination, and violence, reaffirming the values of religious acceptance and communal harmony.