The leftist-liberal-friendly media has recently been showing keen interest in the case where three Islamists, including two juveniles, were arrested in July last year for spitting on the Baba Mahakal procession held in Ujjain last year. The sudden interest emerged after the Madhya Pradesh High Court on January 18, granted bail to one of the accused Islamist Adnan Mansoori.
These leftist media outlets went hammer and tongs against the witnesses in the case who reportedly withdrew their statement against the accused. They harped on the suffering that the Muslim teen endured as a result of their ‘false’ testimonies given by the witnesses. The witnesses, however, confirmed to Dainik Bhaskar that they were being constantly threatened by the family of the accused due to which they retracted their statements.
Notably, the case suddenly gained special attention of the leftist media as soon as the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court granted bail to one of the accused Adnan Mansoori on January 18, five months after he was sent to judicial custody for spitting on a Hindu procession last year. The other two accused, who were juveniles, were released last year only. The media reports claimed that while granting bail, the court said that the witnesses in the case, who had earlier testified against the Muslim teens, turned hostile and retracted their statements.
The leftist media lamented how the life of the Muslim teen- Adnan Mansoori, was turned upside-down because of the ‘false’ testimonies the witnesses earlier presented before the police and the court, which they retracted now. They bemoaned how Adnan Mansuri had to spend 151 days in judicial custody and how, due to the false accusations, the Madhya Pradesh government had gone on to demolish the house of the accused, not mentioning that only the illegal portion of the house which was marked and highlighted by the municipal corporation had been demolished.
The leftist media, in their obvious adulation for the Muslim community, further went on to admonish the Indore police claiming that the primary complainant in the case Sawant Lok said that he was pressurised by the police to sign his portion of the FIR.
Ultra leftist media portal Newslaundry was quick to weave an empathetic narrative about the Muslim teen, who was behind bars for spitting on a Hindu religious procession. The article was headlined: Life turned upside-down for Muslim teens arrested for ‘spitting on yatra’
Several other news outlets like News24online, The Quint, India Today, also published reports after the Muslim teen was granted bail. All the articles were carefully worded to make sure that the Muslim teen, Adnan Mansoori, appeared to look like the victim in the case. Every media house reported how the witnesses retracted their previous statement, but none actually bothered to report the witnesses side of the story.
‘Fact-checking’ website Alt News’ out on bail co-founder Mohammed Zubair and several other Islamists, who were ecstatic about the chance to play the victim, joyously shared the news.
Witnesses reveal that the constant threat they and their families received from accused’s family forced them to retract their statements
Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar, however, spoke to the witnesses in the case and presented their version. The witnesses told the Hindi publication the actual reason behind them retracting their statements. Swant Lok, the case’s prime witness and Ajay Khatri, the second witness, both informed the media outlet that they were compelled to alter their testimony against the accused because they were constantly receiving threats from the accused’s family.
On July 17, last year, Sawan Lot, a Ujjain resident, filed a complaint at the police station against three Muslim teenagers who had spat on the Mahakal procession as it was pasisng through their neighbourhood. Sawan had recorded the act on camera as well. Following his testimony in court, the accused were sent to jail.
Speaking about his earlier statement and the reason he went back on it, Lot stated that whatever he had testified in the beginning against the three Muslim teenagers was correct and that he had genuinely seen the accused spitting on the Yatra. He was, however, being pressurised and threatened by the accused’s family to retreact his statement and he eventually gave in to the pressure.
“For the past six months, my family has been putting pressure on me to drop the case. They were pushing me away from all of these issues. They would constantly question, “What will happen to us if something untoward takes place?” but I was always at odds with them. Recently, my father’s health started declining. He sobbed and told me to avoid getting involved in the case, after that, I went to the court and retracted my previous statement,” Sawant Lot told Dainik Bhaskar.
In response to a question about whether he had erred due to fear and pressure after the accused was given bail, Sawant Lot acknowledged that he had. He said that he realized his mistake only after the accused was given bail. He lamented that his vulnerability allowed those who had offended their god to be set free.
He continued by saying that he would now contact the police and file a report over the threats that the accused’s family has been sending to him and his family. He continued by saying he would go to the police and truthfully testify against the accused once again.
The second witness, Ajay, was questioned by Dainik Bhaskar about why he had altered his testimony in court. He responded, “I own a flower and prasad shop close to the Ujjain temple. Ujjain is fifteen kilometres away from my village. From here, I head home alone. A group of boys wearing masks stopped me one day and threatened me with dire consequences if I did not withdraw the case. My friend Sawant’s father was also getting threats. Out of fear, Sawant and I withdrew our statement without informing the police.”
He added, “My family members were also being threatened due to which we had fights in our house everyday. They feared that our lives were in danger so they pressurised me to alter my statemnet in court.
Ajay said that the juvenile court was yet to record their statement. Furthermore, the three other witnesses in the case have not yet recorded their statements before the High Court. He said that Sawant and he would now both testify in court once more, this time speaking the truth, and the other three witnesses would also testify against the accused.
The Mahakal Yatra spitting case
On 17th July, Ujjain Police arrested three Islamists, including two juveniles, for spitting on the second Baba Mahakal Procession. As per reports, a group of young men were spotted spitting water on the procession. On the second Monday of Sawan month, the procession of Baba Mahakal was traveling along the Shipra River when it crossed the Kharakuan Police Station area near the iron tank. It is a Muslim-dominanated area.
When the devotees asked them to stop, they did not pay heed and continued. The devotees made videos of them as proof of the derogatory act. Later, after the procession was complete, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal activists reached the police station and filed a complaint under Sections 295A, 153A, 296, and 505 of the Indian Penal Code.
Based on the complaint, the police arrested Adnan Mansoori and two other juveniles. Later, the two juveniles were released and Adnan Mansoori was sent to judicial custody by the court.
Later, on Wednesday (19 July), the residence of one of the three accused who spat on a Hindu religious procession ‘Mahakal ki Sawari’ from the rooftop, was torn down by a bulldozer. Additional Superintended of Police Ujjain Akash Bhuriya said, “The action has been taken against those who tried to disturb communal harmony and peace. The illegal portion of the house which was marked and highlighted by the municipal corporation was demolished.”
