A group of Hinduvta workers belonging to the Hindu Raksha Dal group attacked slum dwellers in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh accusing them of being ‘Bangladeshi infiltrators’. The slur is commonly used by Hindu right-wingers to attack Muslims.
The incidents occurred on August 8 near a railway station. The attackers hit them with sticks and destroyed their shanties.
A video of the incident has gone viral on social media prompting the arrest of Hindu Raksha Dal chief Pinky Chaudhary and one more.
One of the slum dwellers who was beaten up told the Indian Express, “I was cooking outside my jhuggi. Suddenly, a group of people came and started beating us with wooden sticks.”
He said that there were 15 jhuggis in the area where mostly rag pickers resided.
According to assistant commissioner of police, Kavinagar (Ghaziabad), an FIR has been registered under sections 191(2) (rioting), 354 (act caused by inducing person to believe that he will be rendered an object of the divine displeasure), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 117(4) (causing grievous hurt), 299 (outrage religious feelings), 324 (5)(damage to public property) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Court should take cognizance: Akhilesh
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has urged the courts to take cognisance of the assault on a group of people in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad by members of a Hindu right-wing outfit. He asked if this was a new way to “vacate” land.
In a post on X on Saturday night, Yadav said, “Even the government does not have the right to take the law into its own hands, then how can its associates and henchmen have the right to do so. The honourable court is requested to take suo motu cognisance of this violent matter.”
Akhilesh Yadav asked if this is not arbitrary violence. “Is this also a game of the ‘Bharatiya Jameen Party’, which is devising this unique way to vacate the land?” Yadav said targeting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is power in Uttar Pradesh and at the Centre.
“Such incidents are tarnishing the image of Uttar Pradesh. This misdeed that happened so close to the country’s capital should be investigated to see if this is the result of a fight between two parties,” he said and also shared a video of the incident.
Bangladesh crisis
For the last few weeks, Bangladesh has witnessed an unprecedented crisis where thousands of protested against the government’s controversial quota system. During the course of the protest, over 300 young lives were lost and scores injured.
On August 5, the country descended into chaos after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina surreptitiously resigned and fled the country in a military aircraft while the Army stepped in to fill the power vacuum. Hasina is currently in India.
(With PTI inputs)
