A case of assault and kidnapping of a Dalit Hindu man, identified as Vivek, by five Muslim men has come to light from Nizamabad district, Telangana. Notably, Nizamabad is a Muslim-majority region in the state. As per the reports, the incident took place on September 8 and came to the notice of the police on September 11. The police have registered the case under various sections and arrested four men, members of so-called ‘Sharia Police’. Two prime accused are still at large.
https://twitter.com/TimesNow/status/1437653934517063680?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwOn September 8, a Hindu man was travelling with a Mulsim woman on a bike to Nizamabad Government Hospital located in Nizamabad town to collect some documents required to submit at IIIT Basara for their salaries. Both of them are reportedly employees of IIIT Basara located in district Nizamabad, also known as Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies.
https://twitter.com/Aranya_parva/status/1437688458550513665?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwA group of five men who were travelling in a car stopped them on the road. According to the video of the incident, they were seen brutally assaulting the Hindu man. The Muslim men also slammed the woman for roaming around with a Hindu man, accusing her of bringing a bad name for the Muslim community. One Muslim man was heard saying in the video, “kaum ka Naam badnaam ho Raha hai tumhari wajah se (The name of religion is getting discredited because of women like you).” While the woman kept asking them there was nothing going between her and the Hindu man, the mob slapped him. The Muslim man kept assaulting the Hindu man while saying, “Yeh saazish hai Musalmano ke khilaf? (Is this your conspiracy against Muslims?)”
He was later allegedly kidnapped and taken by the five Muslim men to a nearby locality and kept hostage for few hours.
https://twitter.com/Aranya_parva/status/1437688454066814978?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwThe Hindu man was released only after the brother of the Muslim woman arrived at the spot and explained that he had sent her with the man to collect the documents. The accused are said to be residents of Telangana’s Bainsa town.
On September 11, the case came to the notice of the police, and a case was registered against the accused under Sections 295A, and 365 (kidnapping) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of SC/ST ACT were added to the complaint as the victim belongs to Dalit community. So far, police have arrested four men who were sent to judicial custody. There are two more suspects in the case that are at large, and the police are looking for them.
While talking to Times Now, the victim said, “They said it does not matter if you belong to ST community. You are Hindu. How can you travel with a Muslim woman? They brutally assaulted me.” TRS leader Khaleeq UR Rehman while talking to Times Now claimed his party is against any such incidents and moral policing but he refused to call it a communal hate crime. When the anchor asked her that the victim is clearly saying he was assaulted for being Hindu, Rehman said, “You are actually trying to put words in my mouth.” he added, “It was a crime I agree” but he refused to consider it a communal crime.
RSS condemned the attack
OpIndia approached local RSS officials to learn more about the case. The RSS spokesperson said that Vivek and the Muslim lady are employees of IIIT Basara. They needed a few documents to attach to their application for salaries which they had to obtain from the Government Hospital. While they were travelling to the Hospital, the Muslim men started following them and asked them to stop.
He further added when Vivek identified himself as Hindu, they started beating him. He requested them not to beat him as they only went for official work. However, they dragged him to a nearby locality where he was threatened to kill. He was later released when the woman’s brother intervened. It was only after the intervention of local Hindu leaders that FIR was registered two days later against the accused. Two of the accused are still at large.
Videos of similar incidents shared on social media
A Twitter user with the username Aranya_parva shared a series of tweets in which similar incidents allegedly took place where Muslims stopped Hindu men from travelling with Muslim women. In a video he shared, a few Muslim men were seen stopping a bike on which a Muslim woman was travelling as a pillion rider. The group of men not only threatened the man not to ride with a Muslim woman but also tried to snatch the phone out of his hand.
https://twitter.com/Aranya_parva/status/1437688456570814469?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwIn another video, a Hindu biker riding with a Muslim woman was chased by the Muslim men riding on another bike. When finally the Hindu man stopped the bike, he was repeatedly asked to reveal his identity and the woman was asked for the parents’ number.
https://twitter.com/Aranya_parva/status/1437688751593902085?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwIn another video, the ‘Sharia Police’ teams are seen talking to the parents of a Muslim girl who was travelling with a Hindu man after stopping them. They slammed the parents for sending their daughter with a man from different community, and advised them to send their girl with Muslim men only. They told the girl’s mother that the girl should not be allowed to go out with non-Muslim men.
The Sharia Police squads are also taking photos and videos of Muslim girl with non-Muslim boys, and threatening to upload them on social media to shame them.
OpIndia tried to get in touch with the police and local administration for more information on such moral policing, but could not get any response.
Attempts to paint picture of ‘reverse love Jihad’
While the cases of Grooming Jihad are coming out across the country where Muslim men change their names to lure Hindu women into affairs and marriage to convert them, there are attempts to project a picture of such cases in reverse. Several attempts have been made where Muslim leaders try to show that it is Hindu men who are trying to lure Muslim women into a love affair and convert them. Recently, a video of AIMPLB’s Sajjad Nomani emerged in which he alleged reverse ‘Love Jihad’ and claimed over 5000 Muslim girls converted to Hinduism. However, there is not any evidence of Hindu men pretending to be Muslim to lure Muslim girl. In all the cases, the Muslim girls were aware that they were with Hindu, so these incidents can’t be equated with grooming Jihad where Muslim man pretend to be Hindu.