Representation Image / AFP

An old video of seven Muslims offering Namaaz in the open ground of Sanskriti University is being circulated on social media by the extremist Hindutva organisation All India Hindu Mahasabha, in an attempt to stir up controversy by falsely claiming that its Kashmiri students offer Namaaz in the open on the campus every day. The Hindu Mahasabha used a month-old video of seven Muslims offering Namaaz as part of a demonstration at the district collector’s office on Saturday and handed a memorandum to officials alleging the university was facilitating "Namaaz on the campus."

It is worth noting that the Yogi Adityanath government banned all religious activities in public places in Uttar Pradesh in 2021. As was provided by the Telegraph, the Mahasabha treasurer Dinesh Sharma, who was also a part of the demonstration, claimed that there are 82 Kashmiri students at Sanskriti University and they offer Namaaz in the open on the campus every day. They then issued a warning that “We want the district administration to stop this immediately or we will proceed to recite the Hanuman Chalisa there as well as at the Idgah mosque in the city,” as reported by the Telegraph. Referring to the open offering of Namaaz as an alarming and criminal incident, the Hindu Mahasabha members also said that the Sabha will purify the grounds with gangajal.

The video can be viewed here: 

This is from #Mathura, #UttarPradesh.#Muslim students offering prayers on #SanskritiUniversity’s campus have sparked outrage from #Hindutva groups, who are seeking action and threatening to recite the #HanumanChalisa in the university.#HateCrime pic.twitter.com/ImFCuaQMxI

— Hate Detector 🔍 (@HateDetectors) March 26, 2023

As reported by the Telegraph, a senior administrative officer of the University provided that the Mahasabha are showing an old video in which seven students in the university uniform (white shirt and grey trousers) are seen offering Namaaz on an open ground on the campus. He added that “We are a reputable private university imparting education in engineering, medicine and the humanities in an excellent atmosphere. Some people are trying to derail our purely academic venture.”

Vivek Srivastava, another administrative officer of the Sanskriti University, said some students had indeed offered Namaaz in the open on the campus a month ago, as per the Telegraph. Pursuant to the incident, the administration had spoken to them and the issue was resolved amicably. The college administration had also informed the district administration about this through the local intelligence unit of the police at the time.

Vivek further said that “Some people are showing an old video and alleging that Namaaz is being offered here in the open every day. This is baseless and wrong.”

A separate incident of violence against Muslims was reported from the state of Madhya Pradesh, where an altercation between two groups of youth resulted in local Muslims being attacked and having stones thrown at them while praying in a mosque. A video of the incident, which occurred in Temikhurd, Khandwa, is making rounds on social media. In the video, a man is seen lying on a hospital bed with multiple injuries all over his body. The incident was described by a few people. According to them, some abusive messages were exchanged between the young members, as a result of which a crowd pelted stones at the Muslims while they were inside the mosque offering prayers. Some members were injured and taken to the hospital.

What's more shocking and concerning is that local Muslims claim that when police arrived, they lathi-charged them. According to the locals in the video, the Muslims called the police to protect them, but the police began lathi charging them without even listening to their complaint. Locals claimed that they broke down their doors, dragged young Muslims from their homes, and beat them up. Thus, in addition to the mob pelting stones at the Muslims offering Namaaz inside the mosque, the police also abused them violently.

The video can be viewed here: 

This is from #Temikhurd, #Khandwa, #MadhyaPradesh.

Local #Muslims allege that they were attacked and stones pelted at them when offering prayers in a mosque. Some members were injured and hospitalized.#HateCrime #MPPolice pic.twitter.com/9DPiP6ftkQ

— Hate Detector 🔍 (@HateDetectors) March 26, 2023

Another incident of physical abuse was reported from Uttar Pradesh was reported. In the said incident, Dalit youth were mistaken to be Muslims and beaten up by extremists over allegations of cow slaughter in Bargaon Village of Saharanpur district in Uttar Pradesh. A video recording of the beating, shot by the goons themselves, was uploaded on social media, where a man can be seen beating another youth and saying “yogi ke raj mei yahi hoga musalmaano ka (this is exactly what will happen to Muslims while Yogi government is there)”

The same man then beats up three more young boys. The person recording the video can be heard instigating the abuser and saying that these Muslims should be beaten up more as they steal and slaughter cows.

The video can be viewed here:  

Dalit youth mistaken to be #Muslim beaten by extremists over allegations of cow slaughter in #Bargaon Village of #Saharanpur district in #UttarPradesh.pic.twitter.com/xssode7JjC

— Hate Detector 🔍 (@HateDetectors) March 26, 2023

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