Reports of members of Hindutvawadi organisations entering a mosque while the namaz prayers were on and assaulting five worshippers including the Maulvi have come in from Kodarma district of Jharkand. The village with a 300 strong population is in a thickly forested area. The assault was launched on Ram Navmi day (April 4) after the Hindutvawadi organisations issued an ultimatum that there should be no namazi or iazaan (call to prayers) between the two evening prayers on that day. The refusal of the local Muslim population to comply with this ‘ultimatum’ led to the attack, while prayers were on, inside the mosque. Five persons were brutally injured while the Maulvi of the mosque is serious, it is learned. A social organisation called Insaf India reached the spot and has been trying to register an FIR regarding this assault that took place.
Jharkand, like Rajasthan and UP is governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Repeated efforts to contact the police have so far not been successful.
This report is based on one authored by Tashhirul Islam in Teesri Jung and carried after verification with modifications. The original may be read here.
