Court Demands Police Lodge Complaint Against Assam Chief Minister For Anti-Muslim Remarks
A court in Assam state demanded police to lodge a complaint against senior BJP leader and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma over hateful anti-Muslim remarks he made last year. Sarma had claimed that a violent eviction drive in a majority Muslim village where two people were killed was an “act of revenge.” The callous statement was made despite the national outrage that followed the deaths; one of the victims was a 12-year-old boy, and the other was a man whose bullet-riddled body was stomped on by a government-hired photographer.
“By calling the unfortunate events… an act of revenge… the Hon’ble Chief Minister is giving wanton provocation to people to commit further acts of rioting against the particular community of the state. Through such malignant and provocative utterances, the Hon’ble Chief Minister is intending to cause disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred, or ill-will towards the Muslim population of Assam,” said Abdul Khaleque, a Member of Parliament from Assam who filed the complaint.
“The veracity of the allegations is not something which can be enquired prior to the registration of the FIR. By failing to even register the FIR, it appears that the police has failed in the discharge of its duty,” said Judicial Magistrate B. Baruah.
Abdul Khaleque also stated that Sarma had targeted Muslims in the eviction drives. Sarma is a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which pushes anti-Muslim policies seeking the creation of a Hindu state.
Muslim Men Beaten, Robbed, Verbally Abused With Slurs
Two Muslim men were attacked on Sunday night by Hindu assailants in Gurgaon city of Haryana state, where Hindu extremist groups have been stoking anti-Muslim sentiments for over a year,
The Hindu attackers beat Abdur Rahman and Mohammad Azam, hurled derogatory anti-Muslim slurs, and then stole their phones.
“[One of them] asked us why we were standing there. Azam informed him that we were on our way to Chakkarpur village. The accused then called an accomplice and both started beating us. They snatched our mobile phones and my motorcycle… One of the accused brought a white powder-like substance from the car and forcibly put it in Azam’s mouth,” Abdur Rahman said in the police report.
Gurgaon has become a hotbed of Hindu extremist activity, with Hindu extremist groups actively boycotting and disrupting the Muslim community’s Friday prayers with the intent of shutting down all Muslim prayer sites in the city.
Hindu Extremists File Police Complaint Against Hijabi Classmate After Harassing Her
Hindu extremists in Karnataka state who were caught on video verbally harassing their Muslim hijabi classmate and blocking her from entering an examination hall have registered a police report against Hiba Sheik,18, claiming she and her friends had threatened Hindu students.
The complaint was filed by Kavana Shetty, who is affiliated with the ABVP, BJP’s student wing. Sheik has dismissed the allegations, saying, “If she was threatened she could have filed the complaint on the day when I filed the complaint… I feel they have got a case registered against me as part of a pre-plan.”
“[I] have been receiving threats on social media and have been framed over fake allegations but I would like to tell them that I’ll never give in. #HijabIsMyPride and I’ll continue to fight till the end,” tweeted Sheik after the complaint was filed.
The Hindu extremist students who tried to prevent Sheik from taking her exams were doing so despite the fact that Sheik and other Muslim students had been granted permission to wear their hijabs to school by the principal. However, no action has been taken against the Hindu extremists for their hateful behavior.
Dalit Girl, 16, Raped And Forced To Consume Poison In Uttar Pradesh
In the latest horrific incident in a longstanding pattern of violence against Dalit women, a 16-year-old Dalit girl was murdered in Uttar Pradesh state after she was raped and forced to consume poison by a 19-year-old student, her school senior.
The girl had gone missing from her school on Thursday and was found unconscious in a field on the outskirts of her village later in the day. The family rushed her to the hospital where she succumbed. The accused has been arrested.
“[The victim] said that a senior student of her school took her to a hotel room, raped her, and forced her to consume poison,” a relative of the girl reported. The murderer also verbally abused the girl’s cousin, telling the family that he had dumped the body in a field and that they could “fetch her from there.”
Although the state’s Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath, often boasts about the “improved” law and order situation under his rule, atrocities against Dalits continue to occur at an alarming rate across the state. According to the Data by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), every 15 minutes a crime is committed against a Dalit, and every day, six Dalit women are raped.
