On 2nd July, several notorious Islamists and Muslim ‘journalists’ resorted to spreading false claims about the death of a Maulana in the Koderma district of Jharkhand. Posts on social media claimed that Maulana Shahabuddin was mob lynched over allegedly hitting a Hindu woman Anita Devi on the road. The deceased was an Imam at Basramo Turkabad in the Barkatha area.
A report published in The Observer Post 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.
Islamists peddle mob lynching claims to build a narrative that the Maulana was attacked due to his Muslim identity
Soon after, the Islamists online started peddling a false narrative that a Hindu mob lynched the Maulana due to his Muslim identity. In a video going viral on social media, the Maulana is seen bleeding on his face.
A ’journalist’ Naseer Giyas dubbed Shahabuddin’s death as the seventh “mob lynching” of a Muslim a month insinuating that the Maulana was beaten to death due to his Muslim identity.
“This is the seventh mob lynching of a Muslim in a month in India. Maulana Sahabuddin an Imam from Raghuniyadih in Koderma district Jharkhand was lynched by a mob while returning home on his bike,” Giyas posted.
Another ‘journalist’ Waris Masih blamed the Modi government and the ‘godi media’ for the Maulana’s death asserting that the Modi government’s ‘hatred’ for Muslims has fuelled intolerance and violence.
“Modi government & Godi Media are responsible for the tragic death of Maulana Sahabuddin, whose relentless hatred against Muslims & minorities has fueled violence & intolerance. If this tide of hatred isn’t stemmed, a day will come when no one is safe. Wake-up silent majority,” Masih posted.
One Mahmood Ahmad went a step ahead and dragged Hindutva into the matter to insinuate that the Maulana was lynched by a violent ‘Hindutva mob’.
“Jharkhand: Maulana beaten to death by mob in Koderma Maulana Sahabuddin’s bike collided with an auto due to which his bike hit a woman. Her husband Mahendra Yadav called youths from a nearby cricket ground and allegedly beat them up. Hindutva is indeed violent,” Ahmad posted.
Meanwhile, “Hate Detector” also peddled the mob lynching claims in the Maulana’s death case.
“Maulana Sahabuddin, a resident of Raghuniyadih in #Koderma district #Jharkhand was lynched by a mob. He was returning home on his bike when, under the pretext of hitting a woman on the road, a mob brutally beat him to death. No action has been taken so far by @JharkhandPolice,” the X user posted.
One Shahnawaz Akhtar who writes for leftist propaganda portal Scroll, Qatar-based Islamist publication Al-Jazeera among others also copy pasted Meer Faisal’s post to pass off Maulana Shabuddin’s death in accident as a mob lynching.
In an X post, Washington Post columnist Rana Ayyub said that the lynching of Muslims has been normalised to such an extent that it does not get enough media attention. “Pehlu, Aklaq and Junaid received the bare minimum crumbs in this country that their lynching evoked shock and outrage and made national headlines. The lynching of Muslims on the streets normalised to the point that they are not even footnotes in newspapers,” the donation scam accused ‘journalist’ posted.
Pehlu, Aklaq and Junaid received the bare minimum crumbs in this country that their lynching evoked shock and outrage, made national headlines.The lynching of Muslims on the streets normalised to the point that they are not even footnotes in newspapers
— Rana Ayyub (@RanaAyyub) July 2, 2024
https://t.co/jvWkGyt6H9
Jharkhand Police refutes mob lynching claims
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.
It is pertinent to recall that a similar narrative was peddled earlier this month over separate incidents of killings wherein the victims happened to be Maulanas or Imams. OpIndia reported that Islamists used the killings of three Maulanas in separate incidents to peddle a fake narrative that after elections Muslim clerics are being “targeted and killed” by Hindus over voting for Congress and I.N.D.I. Alliance, however, it turned out that there was no communal angle in any of these cases.
