Delhi: In a very unfortunate turnaround, the murder of a 51-year old Delhi based businessman, Dhruv Tyagi, has got a communal colour. Tyagi was hacked to death after he stood up to a man who had allegedly made lewd remarks about Tyagi’s daughter. Tyagi’s son was also brutally assaulted and has undergone multiple surgeries.
According to The Quint, the Tyagi family had organised a prayer meet on May 16, in Delhi’s Basia Darapur area. Unfortunately, the meet, organised for praying for Tyagi’s soul, turned into a communal brawl, after a group of strongmen, some in saffron robes, turned up at the meet for what they called a ‘mahapanchayat.’
The Tyagi family reportedly said that the men raised inflammatory slogans asking for eviction of all Muslims from the locality. Tyagis suspect them to be from Hindu right-wing groups like RSS and VHP.
In a video, published by The Quint, a Hindu leader, Swami Narsimhanand Saraswati, is seen provoking the crowd against the Muslims. He says, “Jab tak musalman yaha rahege, aaj ek Tyagi mara hai, kal dusra marega, parsu teesra marega fir chautha.” (As long as Muslims are going to stay here, today one Dhruv Tyagi lost his life, tomorrow another one will lose life followed by another death day after tomorrow and so on.)
The sheer reason of marginalizing and othering the entire Muslim community is that the accused, Shamsher Alam and Jehangir Khan, are Muslims. Notably, the victims were taken to the hospital by another Muslim local- Riyaz Ahmed.
The Tyagis were so disturbed by this incident that they pleaded the mob to keep calm and not let Dhruv’s death become a Hindu-Muslim tussle.
Ved Tyagi, Dhruv’s father, said “..someone spread the word that it was a mahapanchayat. So Jats, Gujjars and other communities showed up and it became a Hindu-Muslim matter.” Dhruv’s brother, Tapeshwar, said “Some people were trying to disrupt the peaceful prayer meet by being aggressive and raising inflammatory slogans. I asked them to leave, and even had a fight when they refused.”
Regrettably, even the politicians didn’t act sensitively and played their usual blame-game.
“Shocked to hear of the murder of Dhruv Tyagi and attack on his son by those who harassed his daughter. There has been no response from the AAP govt, that has turned blind in their thirst for power. I condemn the heinous crime. The culprits will not be spared,” said Vijender Gupta, BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly.
“CM Arvind Kejriwal who tweets on every national and international issue has not written a word on the incident in Delhi. Is he silent because he practices vote bank politics. Do you only speak after knowing the religion of the accused. Shameless,” a tweet by BJP Delhi said.
The Delhi Commission for Women has sought a report from Delhi Police regarding the murder, following which Kejriwal tweeted, “Delhi Police must take strong action against the guilty.”
Reportedly, police has arrested six members of the family, including two women, in connection with Dhruv’s murder.
When asked about their message to groups trying to polarise the public, Tapeshwar Tyagi said “With folded hands, I request you to sympathise with us and not use us for your own gains. We only want peace. We don’t want a fight between Hindus and Muslims.”
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