Huneza Khan
LUCKNOW—A mosque was vandalized and many Muslim houses were set on fire during the Durga idol immersion procession in Ibrahimpur village in the Sultanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, where the government is headed by a Hindu monk Yogi Adityanath aka Arvind Kumar Bisht.
A Hindu mob carrying swords and other weapons attacked the Muslims and set their homes on fire. However, Muslims alleged that instead of controlling the miscreants assaulting Muslims, the police attacked the Muslim houses and looted valuables and cash.
Local Muslims allege the Inspector of the local police station allegedly delivered a hate speech against Muslims and incited the mob to take to violence.
While Muslims are victims, police named 50 Muslims and one Hindu in the FIR. As many as 32 Muslims were arrested till the writing of this report.
One of the victims identifying herself as Ishrat Jahan, told India Tomorrow that Hindu vandals set her home afire.
A widow and mother of three children, Ishrat alleged that her house was set on fire in police presence.
“They looted everything. We have been hungry for three days. They cleared all the evidence of arson. The police are raiding homes in search of Muslim men. The attackers are our neighbours. I can recognize all of them by their names,” narrated Ishrat.
She accused the police of tearing women’s clothes for not telling the whereabouts of their men.
Narrating her tale of woe, the widow said that she lost everything except the clothes on her body and that of her children.
How did the violence break?
After the evening or Maghrib prayers, the Durga idol immersion procession was taken on October 10.
She alleged that the men in the immersion were armed with iron rods, lathis, and swords. In addition, they had a truck loaded with rubble.
“This indicates that the violence was pre-planned. They blocked the Masjid gate with the Durga idol. The Muslim worshippers requested them to give way, but the other side started violence instead. First, they beat Muslims, then Muslims defended themselves and ran to save their lives,” said Ishrat.
Hindus removed the flags set to celebrate the Eid Milad-un-Nabi a day before the violence. But Muslims did not react.
“The violence further unfolded with the hate speech. The crowd cheered Jai Mata Di (Glory be to Durga) and “Jai Sri Ram” (Glory be to Lord Ram) when Police Inspector Amrendra Bahadur Singh of Balderai Police Station said, “Musalmano Ko Mitti Mein Mila Dunga” (I will bury Muslims in the ground). The arson and police brutality followed afterwards,” said Ishrat. The village comes under the jurisdiction of the Balderai police station.
She also alleged that the attackers vandalized Jama Masjid, set it on fire, and damaged several copies of the Holy Quran. She demanded justice for herself and her children.
Before the idol immersion, Balderai Police Inspector Amarendra Bahadur addressed the Durga procession. In a video that went viral on social media, Amarendra can be seen giving hate speech against Muslims. He says, “Unko (Muslims) chun chun kar Marunga, Unke ghar bulldozer se girenge. (I will kill the Muslims and raze their homes with bulldozers.)
Another victim Shameema (40), broke down while recounting what happened to her. It was around 10 pm when the mob set her single-story building on fire. Shameema was alone with her daughter when the attack took place. She saved herself and her daughter by exiting from the backdoor.
“The mob burnt everything. When the police arrived, they asked me to lock the door. My home kept burning for the whole night. It was extinguished in the morning. I had strained relations with the attackers. They used it as vengeance against me,” said Shameema. She alleged attackers looted valuables before setting her house on fire.
The mob also vandalized the house of one Safiunnisa(45) and severely beat her and her daughter with lathis. She alleged the police also joined the crowd in beating the mother and daughter.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind office bearer Maulana Mutahharussalam said that as many as 86 Muslims had been named in the FIR, and out of them, 36 have been arrested.
Out of a total of 300 houses in Ibrahimpur, 100 are Muslim families.
JUH leader said that Muslim men had left the village after violence and police crackdowns in their homes.
The police didn’t even take an FIR from the Muslim community. “One man has lost his eye, and another has got a severe injury in the head. There’s a sense of fear among Muslims. Whoever went out to file an FIR was arrested by the police. We have raised a complaint about this one-sided action to District Magistrate,” said Maulana.
He expressed his severe disappointment over a police inspector making an anti-Muslim speech, provoking violence against Muslims.
Maulana also said, “The Muslim accused persons were attacked by Hindu lawyers when they were produced in Sessions Court in Sultanpur”.
According to police, a total of 52 persons have been named in the FIR filed, and 32 have been arrested.
A police officer was infuriated when questioned about the inspector making a “bulldozer” statement. He said, “Ministers and Chief Minister also talk about bulldozers. Can you stop them?” He immediately disconnected the call after this.
When questioned about the hate speech delivered by the police inspector, an official in the office of District Superintendent of Police said, “It was stupid on the part of the inspector. Such statements are unacceptable.”
