On Thursday night, a Muslim mob reportedly entered a temple in Ghasauli village, Meerut, and beat up a group of Dalit men who had put up loudspeakers in the temple for playing devotional songs. The Muslim community had objected to the loudspeaker on temple premises, which is near a mosque after the men from Dalit community put them up.
Later, the mob attacked the temple and beat up the Dalit men with lathis and sticks. They also reportedly attacked them with a sharp object and even started pelting stones. Over half a dozen people inside the temple were injured and the communal tensions escalated.
Police officials from nearby thana arrived on spot and controlled the situation before matters escalate. The injured were moved to a hospital and six people, Akram, his brothers Karim and Saddam, Zulfikar s/o Sayeed, Abdul Rahim Pudhh Nawabuddin and Arif s/o Riyazuddin were arrested.
As per reports, the initial police investigation has revealed that people from Muslim communities had attempted to spoil the atmosphere in the village by attacking Hindus on the pretext of loudspeakers.
A similar incident had taken place in Pilbhit, Uttar Pradesh when a mob had ransacked a temple to oppose loudspeakers. The mob broke the loudspeaker and took away the idols of the temple along with them. Five men – Mehboob, Monis, Israel, Azaad and Alanoor were arrested and a case has been registered for trying to create enmity between religious groups.
Similarly, in November last year, a 68-year-old priest of the Sai Baba temple Devulla Satyanarayana Sharma was attacked and killed by an Imam named Sayeed Sadhiq Hussain for playing devotional songs on loudspeakers at a local Shiva Sai temple in Pochamma Maidan, Warangal. Imam Sayeed Sadhiq Hussain threatened the Hindu priest to switch off the loudspeaker and thrashed the age-old Satyanarayana mercilessly when he had refused.