Mosque Imam beaten, beard cut off for refusing to chant Hindu religious slogan
An imam in Maharashtra state was attacked by a violent mob of Hindu extremists who entered the mosque and beat him up for refusing to chant “Jai Shri Ram,” a Hindu religious slogan that is used as a warcry during mob attacks.
The violent mob barged into the mosque and coerced the imam, Zakir Sayyed Khaja, to chant “Jai Shri Ram” while he was reciting the Quran. When the Imam refused to comply, three Hindu extremists dragged him outside and brutally beat him.
Khaja said the Hindu extremists rendered him unconscious with a cloth laced with chemicals. Upon regaining consciousness, he realized that his beard had been chopped off.
Violent attacks on Muslims and other minorities by Hindu supremacist mobs have escalated since ruling Hindu supremacist Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014.
Hindu supremacists forcibly shut Muslim-owned meat shops for Hindu festival
A viral social media video shows Hindu supremacists, along with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ashok Chhabra, forcibly closing down Muslim meat vendors’ stores and Muslim-owned restaurants in Hindu supremacist BJP-ruled Haryana state.
In the video, Hindu mobs threaten Muslim owners to close meat shops and restaurants due to an upcoming Hindu religious festival, without any official notice.
This is not the first time Hindu supremacists have forcibly shut down meat shops in BJP-ruled states. In 2021, members of the Hindu militant group Bajrang Dal closed down meat shops forcibly in Haryana state.
Last year, in September, the Hindu supremacist administration of Haryana state issued an order directing meat shop owners to close their establishments for nine days due to a Hindu festival. In 2018, 400 shops of meat sellers were shut down during a Hindu festival by members of a Hindu supremacist group.
Christians arrested after Hindu militants falsely accuse them of forced conversions
Three Christians were arrested in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh state on false charges of forcibly converting Hindus to Christianity.
In a viral video, members of the Hindu militant group Bajrang Dal barged into a Christian-owned house, shouting that the home is being used for forced religious conversion.
Recently, a Christian hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpur district faced an imminent shutdown as the hospital administration reported that the staff, doctors, and nurses were facing constant harassment by Hindu supremacists and the police over false allegations of forced conversion.
Twelve out of 28 states in India have implemented anti-conversion laws, leading to increased harassment and violence against minorities.
