Inside Delhi: beaten, lynched and burnt alive
He lay in a bloodied ball on the floor, but the baton blows kept on coming. As the 30 strangers beat him without stopping, Mohammad Zubair closed his eyes, brought his forehead to the ground and prayed. “The blows kept raining on my head, hands and back,” said Zubair, 37. “I did not ask them to stop beating me. I became silent, tried to hold my breath and stiffen my body.”
As he spoke, tears rolled down his face. “First I asked, ‘Why are you attacking me? What wrong have I done?’ But they did not listen to my words and went on hitting me from all sides. They were shouting maro shaale mulleko [kill the bastard Muslim] and jai Sri Ram [a Hindu nationalist slogan]. There were many other men who stood by who did not come to save me.”
The photo of Zubair being ruthlessly beaten in broad daylight in the streets of Delhi by a mob of young Hindu men was one of the most shocking images of the brutal religious riots that engulfed Delhi, where Hindus were pitted against Muslims, thousands were injured and 43 [now 53] people killed. … The police have been accused of enabling, encouraging or even joining in with Hindu mobs.…
SEE ALSO
Molested, beaten, and in shock: Women and children recount surviving the Delhi carnage (Mar 7, 2020, News Laundry)
Delhi Violence: Man Forced to Sing Anthem Dies, Cops Dilute Case (Mar 5, 2020, The Quint)
Arrested and jailed in Delhi violence – even though he is just 14 (Mar 6, 2020, Scroll.in)
Delhi riots: Relief workers detained, questioned by police; journalists told to go back (Mar 8, 2020, National Herald)
