In a shocking incident, three men were lynched by a mob in Assam’s Karimganj area on suspicion of stealing cows. The men suspected of being Bangladeshi may have sneaked by cutting the wire fence along the border.

According to India Today, the incident took place at Bhubrighat Tea Estate under Patharkandi police station near the Indo-Bangladesh border. Karimganj district Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Prasanta Dutta told media persons that a group of people entered the area from the Bangladesh side. While three were killed by the mob, the others managed to escape. The police have recovered fence-cutters, rope, bag, wires, biscuits and bread manufactured in Bangladesh from the site.

Meanwhile, Indian Express reported that in a written statement, Kumar Sanjit Krishna, Karimganj Superintendent of Police, stated, “Three unknown suspected Bangladeshi nationals were killed last night by some unknown miscreants at Bogrijan tea estate under Patharkandi police station. On enquiry it is revealed that the said Bangladeshi nationals crossed the border with a motive to steal cows from the Bogrijan area.” The process to repatriate the remains of the dead with their country of origin has been initiated.

This is the second such incident in recent times. On June 1, one man was lynched by locals after he allegedly attempted to steal cows from a house in Putni tea estate. He was later identified as 43-year-old Ranjit Munda. He was allegedly trying to steal cows with the help of three Bangladeshis and two Indians. In August 2019, yet another alleged Bangladeshi cattle smuggler was gunned down in an encounter with the Border Security Force (BSF). In May 2019, an Indian man allegedly attempting to smuggle cattle into Bangladesh was arrested by the BSF. A few days later, an alleged Bangladeshi cattle smuggler was arrested in the Cooch Behar region of West Bengal that is near the border with Assam and Bangladesh.

The India-Bangladesh border, though sealed with a wire fence, still remains extremely porous in areas along rivers, tea estates and forests. In fact, elephants in the Patharia reserve forest are known to often venture into Bangladesh. Before the British rule, the entire region was one where people moved around freely between places that are now known as West Bengal, Assam and Bangladesh.

Related:

Two men killed over suspicion of cow theft in Bengal

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In keeping with what seems like insidious designs to communally polarise Bihar, well orchestrated violence that uses the festive occasion of Dusshera was recently unleashed on the unsuspecting residents of Sitamarhi district. The All India Bedari Karvan, which had sent out a fact-finding team to the affected villages has released a report that confirms what seems like a diabolical conspiracy, allegedly overseen by senior BJP leaders, aided and abetted by the district administration and propelled by rumours, that leads to a whirlwind of mindless violence in which an elderly man lost his life. The details are unfortunately all too familiar. Eighty-six year old Zainul Ansari lost his life after a brute lynch mob attack while Sabir Ansari and Moinul Haq are lynched, and left for dead. They survive with serious injuries. Bihar is seeing a complete break down of the rule of law. The social media is being used to ‘celebrate’ the attack.
 
In Madhuban village for instance attempts are made to change the Durga idol’s immersion route on Dusshera, from the one sanctioned by the district administration to one that ominously passes through minority neighbourhoods. This being thwarted, the immersion passes off peacefully. But the very next day, using the pretext of a rumour, a mob attacks Muslim neighborhoods. And, even though the police headquarters are just five-seven minutes away, allegedly, the police only appears after 40 minutes. Surprisingly, the police not only enters the scene through the minority area, it also beats up members of the community and forces young men inside their houses at gunpoint. Needless to say, the perpetrators of the violence roam free. The report names former MLA Pintu Prashant, a member of BJP, as the mastermind of the entire incident. Since justice eludes the victims, the village remains, to date, in the grip of fear and trepidation.  
 
The violence that is avoided on the day of immersion at Madhuban village is unforutnately unleashed in the nearby village of Murgia Chak. Here, the immersion party sports a mike wielding hate monger who at the end of spewing venom aimed at the minorities, while passing through their lanes, declares that the idol has been attacked. This leads to a frenzied attack on Muslim establishments and the local mosque that continues unabated for hours. Police does not intervene.
 
But it is the events at Goshala Chak that truly exposes the extent at which the local police is allegedly involved. 86 year old Zainul Ansari, about to visit his daughter, is stopped near the gates of Goshala, assaulted, dragged by a mob and after severing his hands and legs and slitting his throat, is burnt right on the street. For two days after the incident, the distraught family is mislead by the police. On the third day, when internet services are restored briefly, photos and videos that have since gone viral, showing the entire incident, is discovered by the family. At this point the police admits that it had found the body but proceeds to hush up the matter by forcefully conducting his last rites at the nearby city. Again, despite the videos and photos that perhaps many in the entire country have seen, the perpetrators roam free. 
 
In a similar manner, violence racks the villages of Punaura and Mirzapur and unsuspecting passer-byes Sabir Ansari and Moinul Haq are lynched by a mod and left for dead. Both survive with grievous injuries.

    
 
The report also details how the Muslims of these villages have been facing unprovoked and shocking violence since only a single, common road exists and at the smallest of pretexts, Muslims are identified, dragged out of vehicles and beaten up. 
 
If this is not an example of jungle raaj in Bihar, what is. But are we really surprised? Because the most shocking aspect of the report mentions how Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, the most high profile BJP leader in Bihar, had visited this very area barely ten days before the violence had broken out . What was his message to his partymen?  Are we to look for answers in the blood and mayhem that is left behind ?

Read the whole report in Hindi here. 
 

 
Related articles:
No end to communal violence in Bihar: A report on Sitamarhi
NewsCentral Exclusive: “Give Us One Hour, We Will Finish Muslims…”
 
 
 

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An FIR under section 302 has been reportedly filed in the case of the lynching of the eight year old Mohd Azeem and four persons also arrested. Nadeem Khan (United Against Hate) has been reporting on fb live about the killing of a child from Madarsa. He is also following up the case. This is the information posted by him on his wall
 https://www.facebook.com/wasiq.nadim. Sabrangindia had posted this story earlier which may be read here. The Video of the Manager of the Madrassa posted on FB has now over one lakh views.

Newsclick reports that Madarsa teachers and students said police paid no heed to complaints about drinking and gambling by some Balmiki Camp youth inside the premises.
 
Mohamamd Azeem, an eight-year-old boy studying in a madarsa in Begumpur locality of South Delhi, was beaten to death by some minors on Thursday evening. Azeem, who hails from Rithath, Haryana, used to study hifz (memorised Quran) at Jamia Faridya Jama Masjid in Malviya Nagar. The incident took place around 1 p.m, during the lunch break, when some students were playing inside the premises. 
 
Nearly, seven youth, including four minors from the Balmiki Camp, allegedly attacked and killed Azeem. They reportedly repeatedly attacked him with a stone, punched him and later, threw him on a bike where he collapsed and died on the spot. Azeem was rushed to hospital where he was declared dead. Five other students  sustained injuries. The Balmiki camp is adjacent to the madarsa and shares the same boundary wall
 
Azeem was the youngest in his family and had left at a very early age to pursue his education in a madarsa. After the incident, Newsclick went to the spot and talked to people from both sides. As per eyewitness accounts, the people who killed Azeem were the ones who used to barge into the madarsa and would use its premises for activities like gambling, drugs and liquor. “They used to even throw liquor bottles in the compound. It wasn’t once or twice but a daily affair now,” said one of the eyewitness.

 Begumpur Madrassa

As per the madarsa teachers and students, since a very long time, the people of  madarsa had complained to the police about the ill behaviour of some youth from the Balmiki Camp. “The police has not been taking any action, has been trying to dodge the matter and was completely negligent til this grotesque incident took place,” said a man from  the madarsa on the basis of anonymity.
 
Speaking to Newsclick, Mohammad Mustafa, Azeem’s elder brother, who also studied in the same school said, “At least seven people beat my brother to death. They have a problem with our dress (kurta-paijama), they would taunt us for wearing skull caps. They always used to disrupt the namaz.”
 
Recalling Thursday’s incident, Mustafa said in a choked voice: “They always used to threaten Azeem that one day they would kill him. The controversy erupted when our teachers and madarsa head asked them not play cards and drink inside the premises. They said ‘Sab karenge, jo ukhdna hai ukhad’ lo (we will do whatever we wish to, do whatever you want to) .People who lives around the are also asked them not to indulge in these activities, but they wouldn’t pay heed and mentally harass us.”
 
Azeem’s senior and close friend, Mohd Anas told Newsclick,“Whenever we go to the Balmiki Camp to buy our daily stuff, they would tease us, taunt us for our religion and threaten to kill us. After drinking, they would throw the empty liquor bottles inside our hostel. Our campus is open, so it’s very risky at night. Even our principal had complained to the Delhi Police but there was no action. I don’t know why they do not like us. Do we look different?,” he asked.

Courtesy: Newsclick
 
 
 

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