Days after Mamata Banerjee suggested Hindus not celebrate their festivals in so-called Muslim areas, a video of an incident has gone viral on social media in which a journalist is hackled by Muslims in a similar so-called Muslim area and is forced to stop the reporting. The incident took place in Ghaziabad’s Khoda colony where Keshav Malan, who works with ‘Khabar India’ had visited to get reactions of Muslim people on Asad Ahmed’s encounter and subsequent statements by politicians like Asaduddin Owaisi and Akhilesh Yadav.
On February 24, 2023, goons killed Umesh Pal. The faces of the shooters were revealed on the CCTV. Not only Umesh Pal but his two bodyguards were also killed. Umesh Pal was a witness in the murder of MLA Raju Pal in 2005. Prayagraj mafia Atiq Ahmed was associated with both incidents.
On 13th April 2023, the Special Task Force team of the Uttar Pradesh police killed Asad Ahmed in an encounter near Jhansi. Asad Ahmed was the son of the mafia Atiq Ahmed. Asad Ahmed was wanted in the Umesh Pal murder case and carried a reward of Rs. five lakhs on his head. His accomplice Mohammad Ghulam who was also a wanted criminal in this case was also killed in this encounter.
AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi condemned this and said that the incidents of encounters reduce people’s faith in the Constitution of the country. Journalist Keshav Malan, who works with ‘Khabar India’, faced a fierce mob of Muslims when he reached Ghaziabad’s Khoda Colony to get the reaction of Muslims to this statement of Asaduddin Owaisi on 14th April 2023. From “You take this camera to your house” to “How dare you speak up”, the journalist faced questions in the middle of a crowd of Muslims.
One Muslim in the mob even asked him, “How did you come here today?” suggesting that a journalist should avoid Fridays to go into Muslim areas for reporting. Another Muslim in the mob threatened the journalist and said, “You’re standing in front of my house, you get out of here.”
In the video, it can be seen that some Muslims gathered and started asking him to leave, shouting at him. In the street near Noorani Masjid, people talking to the journalist protested against Asad Ahmed’s encounter and supported Owaisi’s statement. The Muslim youths said the law should have punished Asad and not the police. One of them blamed Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s government for the murder of Umesh Pal. Most Muslim youths were seen calling it a one-sided action and asking why the court judges are there.
One of the Muslims talked about ‘Hindu Rashtra’ and said that the culprits will be released here and innocents will be encountered. One Muslim even demanded the arrest of cow protector Monu Manesar and started referring to other incidents. Meanwhile, a Muslim man with a skull cap got angry and said that we have nothing to do with Assad or anyone. After this, he grabbed the journalist’s hand and started pushing him.
A young kid also told Keshav Malan ‘Quietly go away’, which can be seen in the video. Some Muslims were seen shaking the mic. One of them even said, ‘The biggest mafia is Yogi, he has 150 cases registered against him’. Most Muslims were seen avoiding speaking on this, saying that it was time for prayers. “You can’t stand within 100 metres of a mosque” – this statement of a fanatic Muslim youth in the video is becoming quite viral on social media.
The OpIndia team talked to Keshav Malan after this whole incident came to the surface. He said that he saw 3 big mosques in that area within 300 meters. He said that as Owaisi said on Asad Ahmed’s encounter that this was being done on the basis of religion, so he felt that it was necessary to take the reaction of Muslims on this. Keshav Malan said that it is important for Muslims to have a public opinion because it can also be a case that leaders like Owaisi are misleading. With this very thought, he reached the mosque.
He said that he sensed the difference in the situation as soon as he reached there. He did not anticipate it to be so hot of a discussion. He also confirmed the scuffle with him and cameraman Mohit Singh. He said that as they were carrying the camera, there was less misbehaviour, otherwise anything could have happened to them. Keshav Malan said that when he returned after the coverage, people from his channel also asked him to be careful, and that there is no need to take such a risk.
However, Keshav Malan believes that there is no such thing as a risk in this because there is fear while reporting many times in Delhi and in Rajasthan too, there is similar fear. However, with regard to Uttar Pradesh, he said that he is not afraid to go to Muslim-dominated areas for reporting. He credits Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s government for this. Keshav Malan says that there is a rule of law under Yogi Adityanath and if anything happens, he is confident that justice will be done.
He said that even in Muslim-dominated areas in UP, he reports easily without fear. He said that the things that were said to him in Ghaziabad’s Khoda Colony were in a way a threat to him. Keshav Malan said that most of the Muslims he spoke to in that locality were saying that Asad Ahmed had been persecuted. They were also denying the fact that Asad was seen in the CCTV footage of Umesh Pal’s murder.
एक सवाल पर इतनी बौखलाहट🤔🤔 एक बात समझ नहीं आ रही एनकाउंटर अपराधी का हुआ है और घर-घर मातम जाती, समुदाय देखकर मनाया जा रहा है। #AsadAhmadEncounter#AtiqAhmed #Muslims@myogiadityanath @ajeetbharti @anupamnawada @IAbhay_Pratap @SarikaJainBJP @Sadhvi_prachi @BJP4UP @thebharatpur pic.twitter.com/ShQGiiDrVY
— Keshavmalan (@Keshavmalan93) April 14, 2023
Mohit Singh was the cameraman during this entire episode. The OpIndia team also talked to him. He told that he was constantly being asked to turn off the camera, so he flipped the camera but did not turn it off. He informed us that he was also being hit. As soon as Atiq Ahmed’s name was mentioned, people were getting agitated. According to Mohit, there was a fear that how would he get out of there. He said that Muslims were fairly large in number.
It is clear from this episode that a direct message is being given to journalists that they should not report in these so-called ‘Muslim areas’. Will only the ‘Shariat’ law be applicable in the area around the mosque? Roads or other public properties belong to the government, and no one can claim them. Are there many small Pakistans already formed in the country? If so, it’s definitely a wake-up call. What will happen if Hindus start talking about the ‘Hindu areas’ like this?
