Violence after Hindu procession plays music in front of mosque, 63 Muslims booked
Violence broke out in Maharashtra state’s Jalgaon district after Hindu extremists played songs on loudspeakers as part of a religious procession while Muslims were offering prayers in a mosque.
Four people were injured due to the violence. Muslim residents also say that their homes were looted.
However, police have booked 63 Muslims and only 9 Hindus. 45 of them have been arrested.
Jalgaon is one of the several cities in Maharashtra where Hindu extremist groups made hate speeches against Muslims during rallies held over the last couple of months.
Similar scenes of anti-Muslim hate crimes and violence unfolded across India throughout Ramadan last year, which coincided with the Hindu festivals Ram Navami and Hanuman Jayanti in April 2022.
A report on the sharp spike in events leading to communal violence during April 2022 found that the catalyst for the violence in as many as nine states was the same: religious processions celebrating the festivals, followed by targeted attacks on Muslim-owned properties, businesses and places of worship.
Muslim woman activist booked for praying at public space in Uttar Pradesh
The police in Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Uttar Pradesh state have booked a Muslim activist, Uzma Praveen, for offering prayers in a public space and posting a picture of it on social media.
The police have booked her under frivolous charges of “promoting enmity” and “obstruction of public way.”
“I have the right to follow my beliefs and practice prayer or wear a hijab wherever I choose. No power in the world can stop me from doing so,” Praveen tweeted in response to the police action.
Muslims in Uttar Pradesh have faced repeated incidents of discrimination by the police for offering prayers, even in private spaces. In the current month of Ramadan alone, two such incidents have taken place, where Hindu supremacists barged into private residences and disrupted Muslim prayers.
Court slams shoddy police probe, acquits Muslims sentenced to death on false charges
The Rajasthan state High Court slammed a police team responsible for the investigation of a bomb blast case that occurred in 2008, calling the investigation “shoddy” and “incomplete.”
“Apparent manipulations and fabrications have been done during the investigation,” the court said.
The court also acquitted four Muslim men who were previously convicted and sentenced to death in connection with the case. The acquitted are Sarvar Aazmi, Mohammad Saif, Saifur Rahman, and Salman.
“The investigation was not fair and it appears that nefarious means were employed by the probe agencies” during the investigation, the court said.
“This case is a classic example of institutional failure resulting in [a] botched, flawed, shoddy investigation,” said Justice Sameer Jain. “If things are allowed to continue the way they are, this certainly won’t be the last case in which administration of justice is affected due to shoddy investigation.”
