On Sunday (July 23) afternoon, Islamists pelted stones at a group of Kanwariyas near Shahnoori mosque in the Jogi Nawada locality in Bareilly city of Uttar Pradesh.
As per reports, the incident took place at around 3 pm when Kanwariyas were en route to Budaun to fetch holy water from the river Ganga. The Kanwariya groups were to perform ‘jalabhishek’ at the nearby Vankandinath temple.
However, they were faced with a barrage of stones from Islamists. According to locals, the attack was led by ex-corporator Usman Ali and his supporters, who pelted stones at the Kanwariyas from atop their houses.
Now, Radicals from minority community pelted stones on kanwariyas in Jogi Nawada area of Bareilly.
— Anshul Saxena (@AskAnshul) July 23, 2023
2nd incident reported in 3 days.
Just 2 days ago, a 15 year old boy from minority community was caught & arrested for pelting stones at kanwar yatra in Shergarh area of Bareilly. pic.twitter.com/OiMm3QoPRY
Earlier on Wednesday (July 19), a 15-year-old Muslim boy was charged with ‘attempt to murder’ after he pelted stones at Kanwariya groups in the Shergarh area in Bareilly city of Uttar Pradesh.
As such, the incident on Sunday (July 21) was not the first time when Islamists targeted the Kanwar Yatra of the Hindu community in Bareilly. While speaking about the matter, veteran journalist Deepak Chaurasia said (archive), “Stone pelting on Kanwariyas near Shahnoori Masjid in Bareilly is very shameful.”
He informed, “As per the information, a group of 2000 Kanwariyas was going to take water from Kachla, when the people of other community (Islamists) started pelting stones at them from Shahnoori Masjid. More than 12 kanwariyas were injured in this stone pelting and several policemen were also attacked with stones.”
बरेली में शाहनूरी मस्जिद के पास कांवड़ियों पर पथराव होना बेहद शर्मनाक है.
— Deepak Chaurasia (@DChaurasia2312) July 23, 2023
जानकारी के मुताबिक़ 2000 कावड़ियों का जत्था कछला से जल लेने के लिए जा रहा था, तभी कांवड़ियों पर दूसरे समुदाय के लोग शाहनूरी मस्जिद से पथराव शुरू कर दिया गया. इस पथराव में 12 से ज्यादा कांवड़िए घायल हो गए,… pic.twitter.com/wUIblTQr3f
“The miscreants fled the scene after pelting stones. They should be punished severely. No liberal will react to this incident. All liberals and the ‘tukde tukde gang‘ are silent since it does not fit their agenda. Even the so-called human rights crusaders, who beat their chest in the name of intolerance, are silent on this issue #Bareilly” he added.
Zubair comes to the rescue of Islamists
Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair, who has a notorious history of shielding Islamists, came to the rescue of the stone pelters. He shared a 27-second cropped video to give the impression that it was not the Muslim mob that attacked the Kanwariyas, but it was both parties attacking each other, which is patently false.
“Hello, Deepak Chaurasia, why are you fuelling the fire by showing only one video? This is another video where Kanwariyas can be seen pelting stones in the presence of police force,” he claimed in a tweet (archive).
Zubair, who had earlier unleashed his army of Islamists on ex-BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma by sharing a cropped video of her remarks, sought to defend his co-religionists by suggesting that stones were pelted from ‘both sides’.
He had also attached a video of a police statement to substantiate his claims. The dubious ‘fact checker’ however omitted one key piece of information i.e. the stone pelting was started by Islamists, who were stationed near the Shahnoori mosque.
Zubair also failed to mention that the video of Kanwariyas pelting stones was in retaliation to the unprovoked attack by Islamists. By shrewdly avoiding the context of the video, he thus insinuated that it was somehow a ‘free-for-all’ case of stone pelting.
His outrageous claims were however ‘punctured’ when popular Twitter user Ankur Singh shared a longer version of the video, which was originally procured by Sudarshan News. The archive of the tweet can be accessed here.
इसी वीडियो के शुरुआत का हिस्सा क्यों काट दिया @zoo_bear ?
— Ankur Singh (@iAnkurSingh) July 23, 2023
क्योंकि उसमें साफ दिख रहा था कि पहले पत्थर कौन चला रहा था? जैसे ही जवाब में हिंदुओं में पत्थर चलाया, जुबैर वह हिस्सा काट कर प्रोपेगंडा चलाने लगा।
कांवड़ियों पर थूक और पत्थर फेंकने वालों को जुबैर बचाने आ जाता इसीलिए ऐसी… https://t.co/nuvyHbWwgf pic.twitter.com/5DkMWIvIRP
In the video, a Muslim mob could be seen pelting stones at the Kanwariyas. “Why was the beginning of this video cut off, Zubair? Because it was clearly visible who was throwing the first stone? As soon as stones were pelted at Hindus in response, Zubair cut off that part and started running propaganda,” Ankur Singh wrote.
He further emphasised, “Zubair would come to save those who spit and throw stones at Kanwariyas. This is why such incidents are on the rise. People like him are setting the fire.”
Essentially, Zubair cropped the beginning part of the video where a Muslim mob was seen pelting stones at Kanwariyas to ensure that it was not visible that it was indeed the Muslim mob which started the attack against Hindus. By cropping that part and attempting to “fact check” people calling out Islamists for the violence they unleashed, Zubair clearly hid details that would expose the Islamists, in order to shield them. It is evident that the Muslim mob started the stone pelting and any subsequent stone pelting by the Kanwariyas were a retaliation and/or self-defence.
Statement by Bareilly police
While speaking about the matter, Bareilly SSP Prabhar Chowdhary said, “So far, there is no information about anyone getting injured. A procession of kanwariyas was passing through the area (Jogi Nawada) around 3 pm.”
“As it went past a religious spot, there was a dispute… stones were pelted by some persons. When the footage was examined, it was seen that stones were hurled from both sides,” he added.
थाना बारादरी #bareillypolice क्षेत्रान्तर्गत हुई घटना के संबंध में वरिष्ठ पुलिस अधीक्षक जनपद बरेली की बाइट।
— Bareilly Police (@bareillypolice) July 23, 2023
#UPPolice https://t.co/mZYJWkcT13 pic.twitter.com/FFwCInitrZ
Following the incident, security has been stepped up in Bareilly in and around Shiv temples. According to Prabhar Chowdhary, the law and order situation had been brought under control. City district magistrate RD Pandey informed that additional police force had been deployed in the area.
