A tragic event unfolded in Hajipur, Bihar, which lies under the jurisdiction of Garaul thana on July 17th, when a Muslim procession took to the street to peacefully conduct the Muharram rituals. Reportedly, a Hindutva mob attacked the procession with batons and abused them.
The event took place a day after a controversial talk over raising a “Muharam flag” at a pole near Kabristan (Graveyard) happened. The pole next to the graveyard had the flag of the 12th Rabi al Awwal until the hindutva group requested to raise the flag of Ram Navami. Reportedly, the Muslim community unanimously agreed to it. On July 16, the Muslim community “requested” the Hindu community to remove the flag so that they could raise theirs on account of Muharram.
In response to which the Hindu community revoked the request. The next day (17th July) when the Muharram procession took to the streets of Hajipur, the Hindu mob chanted “Jai Shri Ram” and abused them. There were attempts to provoke the ones taking part in Muharram Akhada which led to a clash between two groups.
On 18th of July, the hindutva mob reportedly attacked the Muslims of Hajipur and vandalised their shops. Videos where the mob could be seen attacking the shops of Muslims and abusing their community are making the rounds all over social media. The scene of terror can be seen in the visuals. “We never had a problem with them, but they abused us and our Mohramm,” said Pervez, a resident of Hajipur, over a phone conversation with FoEJ Media.
“They destroyed our Shops, Buried Livelihood”
On talking to FoEJ Media , the locals said the mob specifically targeted them and destroyed their shops and livelihood.
A chicken shop owner who wishes to maintain anonymity said that his shop has been vandalised, and his hens were killed by the mob. After killing all the hens, they buried them in the soil.
“They destroyed our shops and buried our livelihood,” he said.
He told FoEJ Media how the scene of terror is spreading across Hajipur and the Muslim community is being “targeted” for their identity. He further revealed that the mob is beating people, destroying shops, and the police are watching the scene of violence.
“They Didn’t Even Leave innocent Animals”
speaking to FoEJ, Parvez said that the mob destroyed everything. They did not even care about the innocent animals and innocent people. They killed the animals of a chicken shop owner, “they didn’t even leave innocent animals,” Parvez said.
Reaction of Police
The locals and the eyewitnesses revealed to the FoEJ media that the police did not take any action initially. The police watched the scene of terror and chose to act like a silent audience. A purported video shows that three cars of Police officials were present at the scene of violence but they did not try to stop the violence. After that, when the incident was out of control, the DM imposed Section 114.
On being asked about the number of vandalised shops and injuries, the locals told FoEJ Media that the data has not been revealed till now and the investigation is underway.
