Dalit colony in Bhadethi village in Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh was engulfed with raging conflagration on June 9 as Muslims in the region launched an attack against the Dalit settlements. At least 35 people, including Samajwadi Party leader Javed Siddiqui, have been arrested in connection with setting ablaze the houses of Dalits in the Dalit Basti in a Jaunpur village.
In the aftermath of the dreadful incident, many Dalit victims have come forward to recount their ordeal and the atrocities meted out by the Muslims against them. A video of one of the victims, Pooja, narrating her tribulations is doing the rounds on the social media.
Giving an account of her suffering, Pooja said, “We were inside the house when the communal clashes broke out. When we locked ourselves in, manic Muslim crowd started pounding the gates to barge in. They hurled brickbats and stones at the gate. Shots were fired outside. As we remained inside the house, the frenzied Muslim mob set the house on fire from all sides.”
https://twitter.com/azad_nishant/status/1271675575522873345?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwPooja said they were so scared of the rampaging mob that they remained hidden in the burning house until the rabble-rousers left the spot. Soon after the mob departed from the area, she, along with others somehow escaped the blazing house and hightailed it to a nearby village. They spent the night in the neighbouring fearing persecution at the hands of the Muslim mob on return.
She further added, “We are too scared because they were in huge numbers. Approximately 500-1000 of them had attacked us. Initially, they attacked us with batons. After that, stones and brickbats were hurled at us. Then, the bullets were fired. They looted all of us. Shops were ransacked, jewellery was stolen, whatever valuable we had, they took everything away.”
Communal flare-up in Jaunpur
A minor argument among the children turned into a deadly communal clash in a village of Jaunpur, that led the destruction of more than a dozen houses that were owned by Dalits after they were was set blazed. Massive damage was caused to the scheduled caste community. Even the domesticated animals were not spared. Reportedly, three goats and one buffalo were burned alive.
According to the reports, a boy named Shehbaz in the village reportedly had an altercation with the children of Dalit colony regarding grazing of the goats. The altercation led to a ruckus between the members of the two communities. However, as soon as the dusk descended, members of Muslim community launched an attack against the Dalits.
Around 8 pm, some 100 people from the other village raided the Dalit locality again and attacked the locals in which three Dalit men- Ravi, Atul, and Pawan were injured. The assailants started burning the houses. Many people including Nandlal, Nebulal, Rajaram, Jitendra, Sewlal lost their belongings along with their shelters.
UP CM Yogi Adityanath took cognizance of the incident and ordered the police officials to invoke the Gangster Act and slam NSA on the culprits- Noor Alam and Javed Siddiqui. The CM also called for strict action against the SHO of the local police station as he failed to control the situation.