There have been reports of communal tensions in Nepal’s Sarlahi district as a Muslim mob disrupted the government’s development work. After the obstructors were forced away, they targeted Hindu homes in the Muslim-dominated area. Stones were pelted from the roof of Zahir Tailor. Other accused names include Nawazuddin, Jabir, Tariq, Imamul, and Ghulam. The majority of the afflicted Hindus belong to the Scheduled Caste (SC) category in India.
Hindu organisations were outraged over the incident, accusing the administration of protecting the violent Muslims and scheming to suppress the issue.
This incident occurred in Godaita Bazaar, Sarlahi District, Nepal. On Tuesday, 25th June 2024, a road approved by the Nepal government was under construction in Ward 8. It has been alleged that during this time, some Muslim people arrived. They intimidated the contractor and labourers, demanding that they stop doing the work. Reports say that the Muslim side did not have any official documents or land in possession at the location where they wanted to halt the work.
After some time, tensions arose between the two clashing sides and labourers were also threatened. Notwithstanding their antics, the contractor refused to halt the work. According to reports, both parties engaged in abuse and scuffles at the time. Eventually, people banded together and drove away the Muslim mob that had come to disrupt the work. Meanwhile, the local administration was also alerted about the situation. The ‘Hindu Samrat Sena’ claims that the Nepali administration, driven by appeasement politics, failed to take any serious action against those who went to disrupt government work.
The Muslim mob became enraged after failing to halt the work. The mob reached Sarlahi’s Muslim-majority areas including Paswan Tola. It is claimed that after arriving here, the Muslim mob directed its rage onto innocent Hindus who had nothing to do with delaying or carrying out the government’s road construction work. The mob chanted inflammatory slogans and hurled stones at Hindu houses. For some time, the affected Hindus were unable to comprehend the cause of the attack. The majority of the Hindus who were attacked belonged to castes identified as Dalits in India.
The thatched roofs of the Hindu community’s kutcha homes were destroyed during this sudden onslaught. Several bikes were vandalised. In a viral video, a man named Vinod is heard lamenting that his house was damaged despite not having any involvement in the matter. While some people have described this as a personal conflict rather than a communal dispute, the victim Vinod, denies these claims. Vinod asked, “Did we abuse or insult anyone? So why was our house targeted? The Hindus who were attacked include Vinod Mahato, Jai Kishore Mahato, Chander Das, and Rajendra Das, as well as their families.
This stone pelting occurred from the roof of Zahir who lives in Sarlahi and works as a tailor. The names of the other assailants are Nawazuddin, Jabir, Tariq, Imamul, and Ghulam. According to eyewitnesses, dozens of individuals pelted stones on his roof. In this video, the victim Vinod describes how he was injured in the unexpected stone pelting but managed to save himself. Allegedly, the attackers also broke down the gas cylinders. Those attacked on the 25th June claimed that the victims were Hindus while the attackers belonged to the Muslim community. The person asking the question took the name of a driver about whom the victim Vinod did not know.
A “Hindu Samrat Sena” official informed OpIndia about this incident. We were told that this incident would not have occurred if the administration had taken stricter action against people who were obstructing government development projects in Nepal. He claimed that the present communist government’s Muslim appeasement tactics are to blame for the ongoing attacks on Hindus in Nepal. Rajesh Yadav asserted that no action has been taken against individuals who pelted stones at Hindu houses. The ‘Hindu Samrat Sena’ also sought security for Hindus living in Muslim-dominated areas.
