Jharkhand: Muslim Man Made To Chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ And Lynched
RANCHI A youth who killed on suspicion of theft in Jharkhand’s Kharsawan district and beaten up for hours before being handed over to the police on June 18, succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital on Saturday. The man was identified as Tabrez Ansari, 24.
A Hindu mob thrashed him ruthlessly because he refused to chant ‘Jai Sri Ram’. Is this NDA 2.0’s New India? Yeh kaunsa tareeka hai sabka vishwas jeetnay ka (what kind of a process is this to win everyone’s trust?,” People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said in a tweet.
Five men have been arrested and two police officers suspended amid outrage across the country over the fatal mob attack on a man in Jharkhand last week. The police are on the lookout for at least one more person accused of beating 24-year-old Tabrez Ansari last Tuesday for allegedly stealing a motorcycle.
Tabrez Ansari was going home to Saraikela-Kharsawan’s Karsova from Jamshedpur along with some friends on Tuesday, when they were attacked by a mob barely 5 km from home, a relative said.
Accused of stealing a two-wheeler, Tabrez was tied to a pole and beaten for hours. Videos of the beating that have been widely circulated show his attackers forcing him to chant “Jai Shri Ram” and “Jai Hanuman”. He was handed over to the police only when he fell unconscious. He was declared dead when he was brought to a hospital on Saturday, after four days in police custody.
His family has alleged that despite their appeals, the police had not arranged for proper treatment of Tabrez, that they were not allowed to meet him, and that he died long before he was taken to a hospital. The family has demanded action against all concerned, including the police and the doctors.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief and Member of Parliament Asaduddin Owaisi said such incidents now followed a familiar pattern. “This is the pattern with almost all lynchings. First, a Muslim is murdered by cow lovers. Then the most ridiculous excuses begin: a ‘suspicion’ of beef possession, theft, smuggling & love jihad. So much for sabka vishwas when we can be killed over mere ‘suspicions’,” he said in a tweet.
Four more persons were arrested and two police officers suspended in connection with the death of a 24-year-old man, who was thrashed by a mob in suspicion of theft and seen in a purported video being forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram” and “Jai Hanuman”, according to reports.
Yesterday, one of the accused, identified as Pappu Mandal was taken into custody following the death of Tabrez Ansari, who was declared “brought dead” by doctors at the Tata Main Hospital in Jamshedpur on June 22. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been set up to look into the matter.
Talking about the latest developments in the Jharkhand mob lynching case, Saraikela-Kharsawa Superintendent of Police Karthik S , “The officer-in-charge of Kharsawan Police Station and one assistant sub-inspector have been suspended for not understanding the gravity of the matter. We have also arrested five villagers in connection with the same”.
A case has also been registered against the villagers under IPC Sections 302 (murder) and 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religions or religious beliefs), who beaten Tabrez to death, among others.
On June 18, Ansari and two others had entered a house in Seraikela village at night allegedly with an intention to commit theft. Meanwhile, the occupants of the house woke up and raised an alarm, following which villagers caught hold of Ansari and “manhandled” him, while his accomplices managed to flee.
Ansari was found to be in possession of valuables, which he and his associates had allegedly stolen from other villages. However, Tabrez, in the purported video clip, is heard denying the charges till the very end, saying the two other men still those stuffs and he did not know anything about the same.
Tied to an electricity pole, Tabrez, was beaten up mercilessly with wooden sticks for over 18 hours and was later handed over to police. He had been in the judicial custody since June 18 and was taken to a hospital on June 22 after his condition deteriorated. At the Sadar Hospital, he was diagnosed with multiple injuries and was subsequently referred to the Tata Main Hospital in Jamshedpur.
The video in question, circulated widely on social media platforms, was handed over to the police by Ansari’s family members and it was being investigated. Ansari’s wife, Shaista Praveen, has accused the police of taking the deceased to jail first, instead of a hospital.
Meanwhile, the opposition Congress said it had formed a seven-member team to probe the incident. “We demand Rs 25 lakh as compensation to the family of the victim and a job for his wife,” a Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee (JPCC) member said. The incident has triggered angry reactions from various political parties across the country.
The incident also found mention in the Rajya Sabha, when senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said Jharkhand had become a “lynching factory”. “Dalits and Muslims are being killed there every week. Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi, we are with you in the fight of ‘sabka saath sabka vikas’, but it should be there for people to see it. We cannot see it anywhere,” he said.
Speaking about the incident, a minister in Jharkhand said that it was wrong to politicise mob killings. The trend these days, minister CP Singh said, was to “associate such incidents with the BJP, RSS, VHP and Bajrang Dal. It is a time of ‘cut and paste’ – who fits what words where is difficult to say”.
After reports of the incident yesterday, Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehboonba Mufti tweeted: Is this NDA 2.0’s New India? Yeh kaunsa tareeka hai sabka vishwas jeetnay ka? (With Agency Inputs ).
