On 2nd July, the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) released a report claiming that incidents of anti-Muslim crimes have increased in India following Lok Sabha Election results. The report was used by several media houses including Free Press Journal, Clarion, Muslim Mirror and others to make similar claims.
There are two infographics based on APCR’s report available. The following infographic was released on 2nd June and shared by Kafila.
The second infographic was released by APCR and is available on their Facebook page.
The truth behind Aurangzeb’s death
In the infographics shared by APCR and other portals, the Aligarh incident of the death of Aurangzeb alias Farid was mentioned. The report read, “Aurangzeb alias Farid was beaten to death by a group of Hindu men in Aligarh leading to communal tension. 10 days after the lynching, he and eight others were booked by the police for dacoity.”
On 18th June, Mohammad Farid alias Aurangzeb died in district Aligarh of Uttar Pradesh. Several Hindu traders and businessmen were accused of the murder. The family members of Farid filed a case against ten identified as the accused claiming it was a murder. Several of the accused were arrested by the police. However, there was much more to explore in the case. As per OpIndia’s ground report, the families of the Hindu accused in the matter stated that Aurangzeb was a thief who invaded their homes with the intention to steal.
On 20th June, several businessmen submitted a memorandum to the local BJP MP, claiming themselves to be victims of the thefts. In the given case, they have alleged that the Hindu members are unnecessarily being targeted under the wrong sections for raising their voices against Halal products.
It was reported that Aurangzeb was caught while stealing. Following this, people got angry and beat him up. The accused say that Aurangzeb was turned over to the police alive. If Aurangzeb dies later, a case should be made for culpable homicide, which is not murder and does not fall under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code.
According to the memorandum handed to the BJP MP by local traders in Aligarh, the goal of disseminating such propaganda is to ensure that if theft or other problems occur at their location in the future, they will not report out of fear. All of them agreed that numerous robbers had previously been apprehended here, the majority of whom belonged to a specific community (the Muslim population).
In another ground report by OpIndia, it was revealed that Aurangzeb and his three accomplices barged into the house of a Hindu businessman with the intention of stealing. They molested the women in the house and took the family members hostage. In a written complaint, the wife of one of the accused stated that on the day of the incident, her husband noticed a noise from the roof. At the same time, 4-5 armed men barged into their house through the stairs. The armed intruders took the victim and her family hostage in a room, threatening to shoot and kill everyone if they called for help. When the intruders demanded cash and jewellery, the terrified victim took them out of the safe and handed them over.
It is said that the robbers looted Rs 2,50,000 to 3,00,000 from their house. They handed this money to some of their accomplices on the roof. One of these accomplices is identified as Jameel, also known as Alfa Tailor. After giving the looted money and jewellery to Jameel, two suspects re-entered the victim’s house. They then grabbed the victim and another woman in the house with malicious intentions. Both the accused tore the clothes of the victims and attempted to rape them.
When the family members cried for help, people from the locality gathered. The thieves tried to escape and one of them fired shots at the neighbours creating a chaotic situation. During this commotion, one of the fleeing robbers fell on the stairs and got injured, while his accomplices managed to escape. The injured person turned out to be Aurangzeb, alias Mohammad Farid. The neighbours caught hold of him and during questioning, he revealed the names of his accomplices as Salman, Tufail, Asif, and Jameel alias Alfa Tailor. Aurangzeb further said that he and his gang conduct reconnaissance in Hindu-populated areas to identify wealthy families. They had done a recce of the victim’s house for four days.
Despite clarification from the police, several Islamists and propagandists painted the matter as “lynching of a Muslim by Hindutva mob”.
थाना गांधीपार्क-दि0 18.06.24 को पुलिस को सूचना प्राप्त हुई मुस्लिम युवक द्वारा चोरी करने के आशय से हिन्दू के घर में घुसा था, जिसके साथ मारपीट की गई,उपचार हेतु अस्पताल ले जाया गया, जहां मृत घोषित किया गया,जनपद में कही पर पथराव नही हुआ है,मौके पर पूर्ण शांति है~ #SSP_Aligarh बाइट pic.twitter.com/VtPbsDJoE3
— ALIGARH POLICE (@aligarhpolice) June 19, 2024
Death of Salman Wohra
Another incident mentioned in the report was the death of Salman Muhammad Hanif Whora. The report read, “Salman Vohra, who had gone to watch a cricket tournament match in Chikhodra, Gujarat was mercilessly beaten to death by a group of men.” Notably, there was no communal angle to the matter as shown by the report and other news portals and propagandists. Portals like Makhtoob Media claimed that the incident happened because Hindu spectators were not happy that Muslim players were performing well. On 1st July, OpIndia published a ground report explaining what happened on the fateful day of 22nd June. On the day of the incident, 23-year-old Salman went to watch a cricket tournament that was being played at Chikhodara, late in the evening.
A person named Imroz Abdul Rahim got into an argument with the accused in the case over the issue of bike parking. Soon it turned into a fistfight between them. Salman intervened to defend Imroz. It was alleged that the accused assaulted them with a bat and other sharp weapons. Afterwards, both of them were shifted to a hospital for treatment. However, 23-year-old Salman died during treatment. Nine accused were arrested by the police in the matter and a case under Sections 143, 147, 148, 149, 302, 324, 323, 504, and 506(2) of the IPC and Section 135 of the Gujarat Police Act.
It was evident that there was no case of communal tension between the accused and the victims but the fight was about a bike parking. However, leftist media including The Wire, The Quint, Maktoob Media, The Kashmiriyat, and some other portals tried to paint this whole incident in a communal colour. They claimed that Hindutva supporters were angry at Muslims who were playing well and they killed a Muslim man. They further claimed that Hindus gathered in the crowd and were chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans during the match. They went further to claim that at the time of the incident, Hindus in the crowd were inciting the killers.
The claims made by these media houses were categorically dismissed by DSP Jayesh Panchal. Speaking to OpIndia, he said, ” “The kind of communal angle that the media is talking about is completely wrong. Police are continuously investigating after the incident. We have interrogated the arrested accused, they also did not say any such thing, the statements of the people present in the field during the incident have also been taken. Even the eyewitnesses have not recorded anything like this in the statement.”
During the conversation, he further stated, “Not only this, the person who is the complainant in the incident has also not mentioned any such incident in his complaint.” When OpIndia asked him about the slogans of “Jai Shri Ram” and the claims about the Hindu crowd during the cricket match, he outrightly denied it. He said, “In the investigation so far, no incident of this kind has come to our notice, either in the statement of the complainant, the witness, or the accused. ” He noted that there was a clash over a motorcycle and added that the claims made in the media were false.
Not only the police officer but local Muslim leader Ismailbhai also denied the claims of communal angle. Speaking to OpIndia, he said, “The slogans raised during the match have nothing to do with the murder. There is no communal angle in this whole incident. What has happened is very wrong. The deceased was recently married. The assailants hit him in the kidney and seriously injured him. All we want is that those who are responsible should be severely punished.” When OpIndia asked him about the religious angle in the murder, he said, “Look, the incident is very bad and serious. But let’s not be wrong, there is no communal element in this. The angle does not appear.”
Missing information from death of Christian woman in Chhattisgarh
The report further talked about the murder of a Christian woman in Toylanka village in the district Dantewada of Chhattisgarh. The report read, “A Christian woman was murdered in Toylanka village in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada after she and some of her family members had converted to Christianity.”
A crucial piece of information was missing from the report as the murder was committed by the family members (Hindu) of the woman. The report left a scope of misrepresenting the information as the murderers in the matter could interpreted as non-family members or locals.
As per Dainik Bhaskar’s report, the murder of the Christian woman happened after she converted to Christianity. Her family members were not allowing her to farm on their ancestral land. The victim, identified as Bindu Sodhi was working on the farm when some of her family members along with villagers reached there and asked her to stop which led to an argument between the two sides. The matter escalated and Bindu was attacked with axe and other sharp weapons. She was seriously injured and rushed to hospital by the police.
Bindu died while receiving treatment at the hospital. Furthermore, the family members and villagers did not allow her body to be buried inside the village. The matter reached court after which an order was passed allowing the body to be buried in the village as per Christian rituals. Forced conversion is a serious matter in Chhattisgarh and reports of disowning and communal boycotts of converted families are common.
While APCR report tried to portray it as if the incident was linked to Lok Sabha Elections, it has nothing to do with BJP coming back to power.
Death of Irshad Alam
Another case that has been mentioned in the list was the death of Irshad Alam in West Bengal. The report read, “A 37-year-old Irshad Alam, who worked in a television repair shop, was forced inside a student’s hostel in Bowbazar, Kolkata, and beaten up with a cricket bat and hockey sticks. He was rescued by police and taken to a hospital, where he died.”
Interestingly, there was no mention of the reason behind the assault which left a loophole of it being considered a hate crime against Muslims. However, in another graphic that was shared by Kafila, there was a mention of “phone theft”. This particular graphic, which was shared by Kafila, is not available on the website or any social media platform linked to APCR. The graphic shared by APCR has no mention of phone theft.
On 28th June, a 47-year-old man (age wrongly mentioned by APCR) identified as Irshad Alam was detained by students of state-run Udayan Hostel in Kolkata over suspicion of mobile phone theft. Irshad, who was a resident of Belgachia, used to work as a mechanic at an electronics shop in Chandni Chowk of Kolkata. Police rushed to the hostel after learning about the incident and rescued Irshad. He was shifted to the hospital where he died while receiving treatment.
BJP criticised the West Bengal government over the incident and accused it of letting unauthorised persons live in the state-run SC/ST hostel. Union MoS and state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said in a statement, “There are reports that some people residing in the north Kolkata hostel were not students but unauthorised outsiders staying there for years. This issue is further complicated as some boarders of the SC/ST hostel were also implicated in the case… Security concerns arise when there is no CCTV footage available of the alleged incident.” 16 people were arrested in connection to Irshad’s death. The details of the case revealed that there was no communal angle to the matter. However, the incident was projected as a lynching of Muslims by several portals. For example, Siasat wrote, “A Muslim man named Irshad Alam was tied up and beaten to death,” without giving the background of the story.
Interestingly, the matter was mentioned twice in the inforgraphic made by APCR which shows how serious they are about their research work.
Death of Maulana Sahabuddin in Jharkhand
Another matter listed in the report is the death of Maulana Sahabuddin in Koderma Jharkhand. The report read, “Mob Lynching in Jharkhand’s Koderma Maulana Sahabuddin, a resident of Raghuniyadih in Koderma district and an Imam at Basramo Turkabad, Barkatha area, was lynched by a mob. He was returning home on his bike when a mob brutally beat him to death. No action has been taken so far by the Police.”
The lies about Shahabuddin’s death were spread by several media outlets and journalists including The Observer Post, Naseer Giyas, Waris Masih, Rana Ayyub and others. It was claimed that Shahabuddin was beaten to death by a mob on 30th June when he was returning to his house on his bike near Ghuthari Kariya. The report claims that Shahabuddin was attacked after his bike hit an auto in which a Kathuri Kar resident, Anita Devi was seated along with her husband and brother-in-law. In the accident, the Hindu woman sustained injuries to her nose and hand.
The report further adds that Anita’s husband and brother-in-law gathered some residents and boys playing cricket nearby, who then assaulted the Imam with sticks and batons. The report claimed that the deceased person’s son Mohammed Parvez Alam and Suraj Das, a local leader of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) alleged that it was a mob lynching and not an accident.
While the Islamists online are giving a communal colour to the incident, Jharkhand Police has denied the claims and said that there is no communal angle. The police confirmed that the Maulana, who was rushed to the hospital after the accident, succumbed to his injuries on the way.
“The Imam received injuries due to the accident. There is no communal angle here. He was transported to the hospital in a police vehicle but succumbed to his injuries on the way. His body has been sent for a postmortem,” the police said.
Death of Firoz Qureshi in Shamli, Uttar Pradesh
Yet another false propaganda spread by the APCR report was about the death of a Muslim man in Shamli, Uttar Pradesh. The report read, “In Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli, a Muslim man was beaten to death by a mob on Thursday. The victim was identified as Firoz Qureshi from Jalalabad. His brother filed a complaint against Pinki, Pankaj, and his partners. FIR registered but no arrest made.”
Several journalists and Islamists were peddling a narrative that Firoz Qureshi’s death is the latest incident of targeted mob lynching of Muslims, especially after the election, Shamli Police issued a statement bursting this sinister narrative. In its statement, the police said that on 4th July, Firoz broke into Rajendra’s house in an inebriated state triggering a scuffle between the two parties. However, Firoz’s family took him to their home soon after where he died. The police said that there were no serious injury mark marks on the body of the deceased.
Later, Firoz’s family member complained, based on which an FIR was registered and Rajendra was booked under Bharitya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) 105—culpable homicide. In addition, the deceased’s body was sent for post-mortem examination. The police said that the postmortem report stated that the cause of Firoz’s death was not assault. Firoz had entered Rajendra’s home on the night of 4th July in an intoxicated state resulting in a scuffle. Notably, even in his complaint, Firoz’s brother Afzal stated that Firoz used to consume intoxicants sometimes. The police said that despite this, the incident was given a communal colour and passed off as a case of mob lynching.
“It was also informed earlier that it is clear from the post-mortem report that the cause of death was not assault. The deceased had entered the accused’s house drunk. Despite this, the incident was deliberately given a communal colour and it was posted on social media as mob lynching to spread ill will. Action will be taken in the FIR registered as per the post-mortem report. An appropriate FIR has also been registered against the malicious post. The accusations are irrational and hence refuted,” Shamli Police said.
The police stated that since the cause of death is unknown, the deceased’s viscera has been preserved and the report is awaited. Meanwhile, the inspector in charge of the Thana Bhawan police station has been directed to take strict action against the five individuals accused of posting fake news. A case against Zakir Ali, Wasim Akram Tyagi, Asif Rana, Saif Allahbadi and Ahmed Raza Khan was registered for spreading fake news on social media.
Shop of Javed vandalised in Himachal Pradesh
The case of Javed’s shop being vandalised has been reported by APCR with misleading information. The report read, “A mob looted and vandalized a textile shop belonging to a Muslim man named Javed in Himachal Pradesh’s Nahan after he had reportedly shared a picture of animal sacrifice on his WhatsApp status. A week Shamli police arrested the shop owner Javed for promoting enmity.”
The shop was indeed vandelised by agitated Hindus but APCR skipped the information on which animal’s sacrifice was shown in the status. Javed, who was a resident of Uttar Pradesh, was running a cloth shop in Himachal for several years. On Bakrid, he published photos of a sacrificed animal, which appeared to be a cow, on his WhatsApp status. The locals came to know about it and some of them got agitated. There was no need to publish images of the dead body of the animal with its head on WhatsApp status and it was seen as a provocation.
The incident took place in district Simaur of Himachal Pradesh. On 17th June, Javed uploaded images of an animal slaughter, which appeared to be a cow, on the event of Bakrid. Javed, originally from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, has been operating a ready-made garments shop in Nahan, Himachal Pradesh, for the past 1.5 years. Hindu groups protested and called for action when they arrived at Javed’s garments shop in Nahan.
Furthermore, they stated that Javed should never again be permitted to work in Nahan. There were rumours that some participants in this rally turned violent. In Nahan, a rally has also been planned by Hindu organisations. Since the incident, Javed has absconded from Nahan. Later, on 23rd June, he was arrested by Shamli police. Notably, police stated that it was buffalo, not cow in the images. However, the images were still intolerable.
Communal tension over Eidgah gate in Jodhpur
In another reported incident, APCR claimed that communal tension erupted in Jodhpur over the construction of a gate near Eidgah. The report read, “Communal violence reportedly took place in Jodhpur’s Soor Sagar area. The violence took place concerning the construction of a gate near an Eidgah at Rajaram Circle of the city.” Interestingly, there was no mention of why the tension erupted as opening the Eidgah gate should not agitate anyone. The reality is that the proposed gate was in close proximity of a Hanuman Mandir and Hindus were against opening the gate. The matter was shown as if it happened after Lok Sabha Election results but in reality, it is a 15-year-old case. Section 144 was imposed in the region after the communal clash.
The violence erupted from a longstanding dispute between Hindu and Muslim communities over a gate being constructed at Eidgah near Rajaram Circle in Sursagar. The new gate is being opposed by the Hindu community as it’s in proximity to the Hanuman Temple. The construction of the gate sparked similar controversy 15 years ago and the project was halted.
On the evening of 21st June, one faction broke the previous agreement and resumed construction of the gate. When Hindus learned about it they gathered and staged protests. The two communities sat together and concluded that the gate would not be constructed. However, radicals in the Muslim community insisted that they would open the gate at any cost.
The arguments between the two communities led to the instances of clashing late at night. Stones were pelted for over two hours during the violence. One shop and tractor were burnt. A jeep was damaged. The authorities are monitoring the situation closely and have ensured that the law and order situation is under control. A Hindu woman, who tried to save her grandson got injured during stone pelting and lost vision in one eye. APCR conviniently skipped that detail as well.
Court-ordered demolition drive in Akbar Nagar of Lucknow reported as anti-Muslim
APCR simply mentioned it as “A large-scale demolition was carried out in Akbarnagar in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow.” No background was mentioned. No mention of a court order behind the demolition drive and no mention of the fact that the residents were properly compensated by the state government.
After a massive demolition drive undertaken by the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) and Municipal Corporation, all the illegal encroachments in Akbar Nagar were cleared on the 18th of June. Over 1,169 unlawful residential properties and over 100 commercial structures were demolished with heavy machinery, including bulldozers. Late at night, action was initiated to demolish an illegally erected mosque and madrasa in Akbarnagar. Previously, action has been taken against a temple.
In the visuals, an illegally constructed four-storey mosque can be seen being razed to the ground in late-night action. The last leg of the demolition drive was started on 10th June and completed on Tuesday. The delay was caused due to Bakrid. The entire area was closed, and traffic was diverted to allow for the demolition drive on Tuesday. The demolition drive to remove an illegal encroachment on 24.5 acres of land began in December of last year. Over 1,320 illegal buildings including religious sites of Hindus and Muslims have been removed in the area.
It is pertinent to note that families in Akbarnagar who have lost their homes have been provided with alternate housing in other parts of the city through the PM Awas Yojna. Nearly 1,800 affected families have received accommodation. The LDA in the year 2023 had asked the residents to vacate their homes to carry out the anti-encroachment drive by sending notices and letters. The residents of Akbar Nagar in Lucknow then knocked on the doors of the High Court getting a breather ahead of the demolition drive in the area. As per the court orders, the demolition drive was initiated after marrying out rehabilitation efforts for the affected individuals. It is evident that all sort of religious, commercial and residential structures irrespective of religion were demolished in the drive. However, it was projected as if it was anti-Muslim and happened because the BJP came back to power.
Attacks on Hindus between 4th June and 10 July
As it has been proven that APCR used selective information to project several incidents as anti-Muslim which was far from reality, it is important to assess the situation on a broader scale. APCR projected as if only Muslims or Christians were victims of violence since Lok Sabha Election result were announced. However, Hindus also become targets of violence.
On 7th June, at around 9:15 PM when the victim Vipin was walking outside after having dinner, Shahbaz and Karim who are residents of Bhavi Chhidwa village reached there. Looking at Vipin, both of them started abusing him and said, “Bwa* keep chanting BJP-BJP. Modi-Yogi Kya ukhaad lenge? BJP ki M** k* B*.” After hurling abuses they launched an attack on Vipin. Iron rods and sticks were used in the attack. Due to a head injury, Vipin began to lose consciousness. Seeing his relative being assaulted, Aman raised an alarm. At that moment, Mobin, Jameel, Sagir, Farukh, and Afsar, also joined the attackers. They also launched an attack on the family members of the victim who were sleeping. During the attack, they also hurled casteist slurs and abuses at the victims. Vinod, Santosh, Pawan, Suraj, Bhola, and Manju Devi sustained serious injuries during the assault.
On 25th June, Mausam, Shahid and Arfat attacked a Hindu family allegedly for voting BJP in Lok Sabha Elections.
On 25th June, a disturbing video surfaced on social media platforms from Muzaffarpur, Bihar. In the video, a 15-year-old boy was forcibly detained, brutally beaten, and humiliated. The incident took place in Batraul village of Motipur town. The shocking video showed that the teen was forced to chant “Miyan Saheb Zindabad” and “Allah-Hu-Akbar”. Furthermore, the teen was forced to lick spit off the feet of the attacker. Police have filed a case and arrested Munna, Sahil, and one other person.
On 29th June, a Hindu family was attacked in Hardoi, Uttar Pradesh by a mob of 10-15 Muslims. They barged into their house and attacked them using firearms and sticks. One of the victims, Aman Rajput died while several others were injured. The attack happened over a transaction matter. Around 10 months ago, Aman had lent Rs 1 lakh to Abrar, one of the attacker’s son Rizwan. Aman was demanding his money back but Rizwan was not returning it. On 15th June, there was a dispute between the two parties and police intervened. However, on 29th June, Abrar, Rizwan, Ishtiyak and Rehman attacked them.
The list of attacks on Hindus is just the tip of the iceberg. There are several cases of Love Jihad, forced conversion and more that must be included in such incidents. Selective reporting by APCR is a clear indication that the organisation is playing its part in creating a communal rift in the country and projecting a bad image of India on international platforms.
