After the conclusion of the Lok Sabha election 2019, the earlier prevailed incidents of religious hatred resumed in a sporadic way detrimental to the secular principle adumbrated in the Indian Constitution.
Haryana: A young man was allegedly beaten up, his skull cap thrown to the ground and he was told to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ when he was returning from a mosque after offering namaz at Jacubpura, Gurugram.
The tailor aged 25, Mohammed Barkar Alam was returning to his shop around 10.00 pm after offering prayers at Jama Masjid when half a dozen men allegedly accosted him. Alam says “one of them addressed me with an offensive word and told me that the skull cap was not allowed in this area. When I told him that I was returning from a mosque, he slapped me to chant ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and ‘Jai Shri Ram’. When I refused he threatened to feed me with pork.”
Alam claimed that the man allegedly picked up a stick, hit him and abused him. He said the man did not let him go and though there were many people around, no one intervened. When he sought help, the others just laughed at him. When Alam tried to push the man and run away, the youth allegedly tore his shirt.
A case has been registered at police station on charge of promoting religious hatred, causing hurt, criminal intimidation and unlawful assembly among others.
Alam told ‘The Hindu’ that he had told the police about being forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’, but the police did not mention it in the FIR. He also claimed that the man was not drunk, but the police in the FIR wrote otherwise. He said he was too scared to confront the police on this
Bihar: On 20th May 29 a Muslim man, Mohammed Qasim was shot at in Begusari district allegedly after the assailant asked his name.
Qasim, 28, was shot at in Kumbli village allegedly by a local criminal Rajiv Yadhar. The victim, a detergent salesman had gone to the village on his bike to collect money from customers.
The video clip of the injured Qasim speaking about the incident had gone viral on social media.
“I was stopped by Rajiv Yadav and he asked for my name… when I told him, he fired on me saying, “What are you doing here? You should go to Pakistan.” Qasim says, “Rajiv Yadav was drunk and when he started loading another cartridge in his pistol, I pushed him and fled leaving my motor cycle.”
Shot in the back, Qasim said none of the bystanders came to his rescue at first. However, when Yadav left the spot after firing in the air, some villagers took him to the police station and the police then admitted him to the local government hospital. Later he was shifted to a private nursing home. His brother says, “He is still critical. Doctors are scheduled to operate on him to remove the bullet.” Further his brother told ‘The Hindu’ over phone,
“Yes, we are feeling threatened after the incident. The accused has not been arrested yet.”
Source: ‘The Hindu’
The above two incidents are not different but with a common motive of religious hatred. The saffron functionaries spoke earlier like this in public platform. It encouraged the religious fanatics in public causing injuries to persons belonging to other religion simply on the basis that the attacked do not belong to the religion of the attackers.
Is it not the imperative duty of the State to give protection and safety to all its citizens irrespective of their religious identies?
