NEW DELHI: A 32-year-old Muslim man was abused, assaulted with rods and swords and forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ by a group of Hindutva fanatics in Indian state of Rajasthan’s Bhilwara district.
According to a local activist, the police have arrested two persons for assaulting Saheb Ali Khan. An FIR has been lodged at Subhash Nagar police station under IPC sections 143, 323, 341, 307 and 295-A.
The FIR says that four days before the assault, Khan had gone to fetch milk from a local shop where the accused, Mukesh Gurjar, was sitting along with his friends. Gurjar called out the victim, abused him, and asked him to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’.
“I chanted ‘Jai Shri Ram’ out of fear. Yet, Mukesh and his friends kept abusing me,” the FIR quoted Khan as saying.
On Saturday, Khan went to have tea at a local shop where again he found Gurjar. Khan asked the latter whether it was appropriate to force others to say religious slogans of others. Gurjar was adamant that it was okay to force someone to say ‘Jai Shri Ram’. Gurjar also abused Khan again calling him “Katwa” (a slur used for Muslims).
“Mukesh Gurjar again started abusing me and called me “Katwa”. And he called his friends. Mukesh Gurjar’s brother Shiva Gurjar and five others came along with swords and rods and started beating me. The Gurjar brothers struck their swords on my head.
Other accomplices used swords, fists and legs to thrash me. The beating made me unconscious and I fell on the ground and the Gurjars and his friends ran away from the spot,” said Khan in the FIR.
Khan said his nephew took him to a hospital where he received 15 stitches. He got injuries on his stomach, legs and hands.
A video of Khan has gone viral on social media wherein he narrates his ordeal. He has bandages on his head and hands.
The Rajasthan unit of All Indian Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) also took up the issue and asked the state Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to take strict action against the culprits.
Jameel Khan, state president of AIMIM, demanded justice and the arrest of the accused.
“In Rajasthan, such incidents are rising under the Ashok Gehlot government. Minorities are feeling unsafe,” said Jameel Khan.
State secretary Kashif Zuberi said that they want a fair investigation and strict action in the case. If the government does not arrest all accused by Friday, the AIMIM will launch a protest across the state, he said.
Please visit our website London Institute of Peace Research for latest peace news
