On Monday, Islamists in Murumatu village of Jharkhand’s Palamu district launched an attack on the houses of people belonging to the Mahadalit Musahar community. They destroyed around 18-20 houses and huts belonging to people of Muhasar community and forced them to leave the village. The Islamists also abused and thrashed the victims and threw their valuables in the forest near Loto village of Chhatarpur.
According to the reports, the incident is said to have happened on Monday afternoon in Murumatu village in the area around the Pandu Police Station. Frightened by the attack, as many as 50 people reached the Pandu Police Station and sought justice against the Islamists.
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A stampede-like situation occurred in the area after the attack as many family members and small children ran around to save their lives. Children were seen crying and wandering in the forest of Loto village while many of them gathered the courage to reach Pandu Police Station to seek justice. Reportedly, the Islamists are said to have launched the attack claiming that the Mahadalit Musahar families had illegally occupied the land which belongs to a madarsa.
Meanwhile, the people of Musahar community rubbished the allegations and clarified that they had been staying in the village for around 4 decades and that the land where they had built their huts and houses was GM land (government land). “The administration has settled us here after conducting a survey. People belonging to the Muslim community want to take possession of the land”, the victims were quoted.
Reports mention that around one and a half dozen families have become homeless amid the incident and many others have been forced to leave the village. Victims loaded all their belongings in trucks and transported the same to the forest near Loto village of Chhatarpur. People from nearby villages came to Murumatu to help the people of Musahar community but were restricted to help due to the fear of Islamists.
To note, the incident continued to happen throughout the day but even the Police failed to take any action against the Islamists. The incident was confirmed by Dhuma Kisku who is the in-charge of Pandu Police Station. He said that the matter is of land dispute and that the Islamists want to occupy the land which they say belong to Madarsa.
Taking the cognizance of the event the Bharatiya Janata Party slammed the Hemant Soren government and said that Dalits and tribals were not safe in the state of Jharkhand. BJP State Scheduled Caste Morcha President and MLA Amar Bauri said, “It seems that this news of the attack is from Pakistan or Afghanistan but the truth is that this incident has happened in Palamu, Jharkhand”.
The matter is being investigated by the Jharkhand Police.
