Mob Lynching in the Name of Nationalism, Continues

A Lynch mob attacked two Muslim clerics while they were returning home after offering taraweeh prayers on the night of June 10, 2018, in Ranchi, Jharkhand. A group of 20-25 men armed with sticks and rods, brutally assaulted the two friends in Agru village around 10 pm when they refused to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’.

As per the complaint, Maulana Azharul Islam and his friend Maulana Imran Ansari were returning to their homes in Naya Sarai village after offering prayers, when nearly 20 bike-borne men stopped them and hurled abuses. They were reportedly asked to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’. “Just because they refused to chant Jai Shri Ram, they were brutally assaulted with hockey sticks and lathis”, Advocate Shadab Ansari told Newsclick.

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“My brother is a cleric (Imam).He was on his way back home when a mob attacked him and asked him to raise the slogan of ‘Jai Shri Ram’. They hit his head with a hockey stick while my brother’s friend, who was also attacked, tried to escape. However, they managed to catch hold of him as well. They even used derogatory words and slurs. My brother was hit thrice on his head,” said Manzarul Islam, brother of the victim, Azharul Islam.

The victims were taken to the local hospital from where they were further shifted to the Ranchi Medical College and Hospital. The police are reportedly investigating the matter and have launched a combing operation to catch the attackers. “As of now, the police have arrested five people. My brother is still in the hospital. He has to undergone head surgery. Our family is terrified after this incident,” added Manzarul Islam.

Manzarul Islam maintains that nothing like this has happened in Naya Sarai village before and the whole village is in a state of shock after this incident. “My brother is an Imam. He also used to teach children. He has a good relationship with everyone. People are scared now. They think if Imam can be attacked then even they can be attacked any day” , Manzarul further told Newsclick.

“I don’t know who the attackers were, but whoever they are, they must be punished. We don’t want anything else,” said a dismayed Manzarul. However, this is not the first incident of communal violence that Jharkhand has been engulfed to,in the month of Ramazan.

On May 25, 2018, an unidentified mob launched an attack on the Muslim families in the Koderma district during iftarin the evening. Besides, on June 8, a communal clash had broken out between two religious groups in the Jhanda chowk of Hazaribagh district, Jharkhand, over an “objectionable” Facebook post. Both the communities were indulged in heavy stone pelting resulting in injuries on both sides.

Jharkhand is going to hold its Assembly polls next year. In the recent Assembly by-elections, the BJP could not win any seats in the state which is going to polls next year.