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Three people allegedly intimidated and physically assaulted a Muslim man who attempted to celebrate Independence Day in Bagpat’s Ranchad village, reported the Indian Express. The accused also tore apart the tricolour the man was trying to hoist during the incident.
The assailants issued death threats to the individual identified as Babu Khan, and were reportedly chanting “pro-Pakistan” slogans. According to local news, Khan approached the local police to lodge a complaint, but was turned away.
Bagpat Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Durgesh Mishra told SabrangIndia that an inquiry is being conducted into the incident. However, authorities failed to confirm whether an FIR has been filed regarding the incident yet. The concerned police official is yet to confirm the same.
On Monday, Khan had gone to the SDM’s office with a memorandum. He allegedly threatened to set himself on fire in front of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s residence in Lucknow, if “those responsible for the attack were not arrested soon.”
The hate-riddled month of August
Such attacks on Muslims are unfortunately not new in India, let alone Uttar Pradesh. Already within the last fortnight, several unsettling hate crimes have been reported in the country.
On August 12, three men were arrested in Kanpur for assaulting a 45-year-old Muslim man while chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’. However, the police released the accused the very next day citing “court orders” to release those charged with bailable offences. This despite a video showing the young daughter of the victim clinging to her father during the incident while begging for his life, going viral on social media.
Days before this incident, multiple right-wing groups assembled in the very national capital of India to chant communal slogans against the Muslim community on August 8. This mob gathered near Jantar Mantar, a short distance away from the Delhi Police headquarters. Yet shockingly, the FIR charged in this case spoke of “unknown persons” in spite of widely circulated videos showing the faces of the people at the gathering.
Similarly, earlier this month the All Dwarka Residents Federation (ADRF) wrote to the Delhi Lt-Governor Anil Bajlal asking him to cancel the land allotment made for a Haj House in Sector 22. ADFR’s President Ajit Swami had at that time told SabrangIndia that such a building should be made using funds sourced from the Muslim community rather than the taxpayers’ money. Meanwhile the letter cited “law and order” concerns. When asked to elaborate, Swami had said that traffic and parking issues can lead to such violence.
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