On February 5, one self proclaimed journalist named Mohammad Tanvir referred to Hindus singing bhajans on a train as Mujra. Others also chipped in and drew false equivalence to namaz in public places. In his tweet, Tanvir shared a video of Hindus travelling to Ayodhya in a train and tagged Rail Ministry while complaining about it.
He said, “Hello Ministry of Railways, why Bhajan Kirtan is happening on this train travelling to Ayodhya from Indore? If a Muslim has offered Namaz for five minutes, he would have been arrested by now. If offering namaz on the train is wrong, how is Bhajan Kirtan acceptable? Hello Ashini Vaishnaw, will any action happen against this?”
In a follow-up tweet, he used derogatory language and said, “The person in Khadi who is participating in Bhajan Kirtan is a prominent Congress leader from Indore. He is taking people to Ayodhya for free and getting Mujra done in the train.” Mujra is a dance form performed by courtesans during Mughal era for the Mughal rulers, nawabs.
Tanvir writes for Report Look. His tweet was amplified by journalist Rohini Singh.
Another journalist Ahmed Khabeer of The Jamia Times questioned, “If offering Namaz in train is a crime then what is this?”
A so called social media activist Shahnawaz Ansari said, “This is a video of Shri Ram Bhakts travelling from Indore to Ayodhya. Everything is allowed for them on the train. If a Muslim offers namaz for ten minutes on the train, his videos go viral and FIR gets registered against him and he gets arrested. People suffering from Islamophobia then debate on it.”
Congress MLA Sanjay Shukla had organised pilgrimage
The video was initially shared by Congress MLA Sanjay Shukla. Every year, he arranges a religious trip to Ayodhya for devotees. This year, 600 devotees accompanied him from Indore. From ticket, lodging, and travel to darshan at Ayodhya, everything was arranged by Shukla.
जय जय सियाराम 🚩🙏#AyodhyaYatra #Ram #ayodhyamandir #mlasanjayshukla #Indore pic.twitter.com/CTdGYrVF3L
— Sanjay Shukla (@SanjayShuklaINC) February 3, 2023
Speaking to OpIndia, Shukla, who expressed his dismay over the comment, said, “This is their mentality. I do not want to comment on this. I am fulfilling my duties. They can do whatever they want to do. I am doing whatever I feel is right. It is for Dharma. I am doing it for Dharma and I will continue to do it.”
राम भजन में मन लगा,,, 🚩
— Sanjay Shukla (@SanjayShuklaINC) February 4, 2023
प्रभु श्री राम के दर्शन हेतु इंदौर रेलवे स्टेशन से अयोध्या के लिए प्रस्थान से पहले सभी श्रद्धालु जय जय सियाराम के जयकारों के साथ ढोल नगाड़ों की ताल पर झूम उठे।
जय जय सियाराम 🚩🙏 pic.twitter.com/B1oS8oM1Ml
As 600 devotees were travelling together, it is highly unlikely any other passenger was there in the bogey at the time the video was shot.
राम धुन पर थिरकते हुए श्रद्धालु निरंतर अयोध्या नगरी की ओर बढ़ते जा रहे हैं। माताओं बहनों ने अपने मधुर भजनों और नृत्य से इस यात्रा को यादगार बना दिया।
— Sanjay Shukla (@SanjayShuklaINC) February 4, 2023
जय जय सियाराम 🚩 pic.twitter.com/pYlHnXMDiV
Hindu pilgrims were singing bhajans and dancing to religious music as part of worship in a train privately booked but Islamists used the opportunity to mock the faith of Hindus.
Legal action demanded against Mohammad Tanvir
Lawyer Vikas Pareek commented on Tanvir’s post and said he would file an FIR against the journalist for using derogatory language. In a tweet, Pareek tagged UP Cyber Crime unit and said, “Use of such derogatory words like Mujra for ‘Bhajan Kirtan’ not only hurts the religious sentiments of Hindu communities but also digress into the dignity of women. Please take cognisance of the offence and appropriate legal action to be taken against the offender.”
@CybercrimeSp Use of such derogatory words like Mujra for ‘Bhajan Kirtan’ not only hurts the religious sentiments of Hindu communities but also digress into dignity of women. Please take cognisance of the offence and appropriate legal action be taken against the offender.
— Vikas Pareek (@Capt_Pareek) February 6, 2023
In a follow-up tweet, he said, “Those who feel appropriate legal action be taken against @TanveerPost, please write a complaint tagging respective police. You may even file an FIR at your respective Police Station. Make sure that no other criminal dares to offend any other religion. Give him a befitting reply.”
Those who feel appropriate legal action be taken against @TanveerPost , please write a complaint tagging respective police. You may even file an FIR at your respective Police Station.
— Vikas Pareek (@Capt_Pareek) February 6, 2023
Make sure that no other criminal dares to offend any other religion.
Give him a befitting reply
Speaking to OpIndia, Pareek said, “I am very much interested in filing FIR against him. The kind of remarks used by him, they were not respectable.”
The language used by this handle for Hindu women ! Please take action @sharmarekha @NCWIndia https://t.co/ou07gAZif7
— 🪷 LotusAni 🪷 (@ShrivastavAni) February 6, 2023
Twitter user LotusAni urged NCW to take action against him and said, “The language used by this handle for Hindu women! Please take action.”
They are neither disturbing Muslim nor others as coach booked by Hindus only as a barati.
— विवेक वर्मा (@Verma1121Vivek) February 5, 2023
In namaz video one Muslim guy stoping hindu to seat on birth which is really a crime.
Lawyer and journalist Vivek Verma said, “They are neither disturbing Muslims nor others as coach booked by Hindus only as a barati. In the namaz video, one Muslim guy stopped a Hindu from a seat on berth which is a crime.”
