Jamaatis under attack, 19 cases filed in Hry

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 11

From firing at mosques to being beaten inside their homes for ignoring the ‘lights off’ call of the PM to hate campaigns on the social media, Muslims in Haryana have been at the receiving end ever since Tablighi Jamaat members were found to be infected with the coronovirus.

Till date, 19 cases have been registered against 89 and 28 persons arrested for attacks on the Muslim community in Haryana, even as107 of the 1,608 Jamaatis traced so far have tested positive. In Panipat, 72 persons have been named in seven cases while 13 have been arrested.

On April 2, eight persons allegedly attacked Karamvir’s family with sharp-edged weapons at Dhansanauli village and then entered a nearby mosque and beat up a man. “We ran upstairs and bolted the door. The police arrived after an hour despite frantic calls. They (attackers) kept saying the Muslims must be expelled as they are spreading the virus,” recalled Karamvir, 64. He has now moved to Panipat city with his family.

In the same village, Firoz Rubaan and his wife Mohsina were allegedly attacked on April 3 by a group of six persons, also involved in the attack on Karamvir’s family. Rubaan is recuperating in a hospital.

In Kundli, Sonepat, Mohammad Shakir told the police that some youths attacked Naruna Masjid gates and damaged CCTV cameras on the night of April 6. “They threatened to kill us.” At Sonepat’s Badwasani village, Nasruddin complained that 30 persons ransacked the village mosque on April 4.

In Gurugram, some youths, who were reportedly looking for Jamaatis, opened fire at Dhankot mosque on the night of April 4. Three people were arrested in Bhiwani and in Jind six for attacking a Muslim family for ignoring the PM’s “light off” call.

In Devdu village of Sonepat, a hate campaign was launched via TikTok while in Kaithal a case was filed after a Facebook post called for expulsion of Muslims.

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HATE CAMPAIGN

-72 FIRs filed against 93 persons and 43 arrested for fake/ hate messages on social media

“Most incidents have occurred in rural areas. DCs and SPs have visited these villages. Immediate registration of FIRs has given confidence to the minority community”— Manoj Yadava, DGP

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“We have zero tolerance for such incidents. We have approached peace committees in various districts. Wherever attacks have taken place, we have enhanced security. ” — Navdeep Singh Virk, ADGP, Law & Order