On Sunday, October 13th, a clash erupted between two communities in Rehua Mansoor village, located in the Hardi police station area of Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, during the immersion of a Devi Durga idol. The conflict began when Muslims objected to the DJ music being played during the procession. As the situation escalated, a Hindu man, 22-year-old Ram Gopal Mishra, was shot and killed by Islamists, while several others sustained injuries from stone-pelting.
According to the police, tensions rose significantly after Mishra’s death. Superintendent of Police Vrinda Shukla stated that the violence started with an argument between the two communities as the procession passed by a mosque in a predominantly Muslim area of Maharajganj in Mahasi. During the argument, chaos ensued, leading to Mishra being shot. Following his death, tensions escalated, resulting in the suspension of the Visarjan ceremony at several locations, and some individuals attempted to exploit the situation to incite further unrest.
Hours after Islamists killed the Hindu man, their intellectual brethren came to their rescue, sharing a video of the man from the Durga Visarjan rally, which appeared as an attempt to justify his cold-blooded murder.
Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair, infamous for either shielding his co-religionists’ criminal activities or dog-whistling them against assertive Hindu voices, shared a video of the man shot dead in UP’s Bahraich.
“A video of Gopal Mishra in the Bahraich violence has surfaced. He is seen forcefully removing a Green flag and replacing it with a saffron flag. The mob can be seen shouting slogans and encouraging him to remove the flag. Gopal was shot dead later,” Zubair tweeted along with the video.
A video of Gopal Mishra in the Bahraich violence has surfaced. He is seen forcefully removing a Green flag and replacing it with a saffron flag. The mob can be seen shouting slogans and encouraging him to remove the flag. Gopal was shot dead later. pic.twitter.com/hh8iqKP9yk
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) October 14, 2024
‘Journalist’ Wasim Akram Tyagi also shared the video of the man removing a green flag from atop a building. Tyagi also alleged that Mishra, the man in question, was being provoked by the bystanders who were reportedly vandalising and ransacking the nearby shops.
बहराइच के महसी में हुए बवाल में जान गंवाने वाले युवक का वीडियो सामने आया है। इस वीडियो में दिख रहा है कि एक युवक टीन के सहारे छत पर चढ़कर हरे झंडे को फाड़ रहा है, इस दौरान छत लगी रैलिंग भी गिर जाती है, युवक उसी छत पर भगवा झंडा फहराता नज़र आता है। नीचे खड़ी भीड़ दुकानों में… pic.twitter.com/1CilH0CHtn
— Wasim Akram Tyagi (@WasimAkramTyagi) October 14, 2024
Aasif Mujtaba, the founder of the Miles2Smiles Foundation and named as a co-conspirator by Sharjeel Imam, pulled out the victim card and demonised demonstrators for taking to the streets demanding justice for Ram Gopal Mishra.
The law & order situation in Uttar Pradesh is abating every day. After a Hindu youth who was part of violent mob that attacked Muslim houses, was shot dead in #Bahraich ,situation is becoming tense. pic.twitter.com/dMjSUQZMdS
— Aasif Mujtaba (@MujtabaAasif) October 14, 2024
Another propagandist masquerading as ‘journalist’ didn’t mince his words in blaming the victim himself for his ruthless murder. Shyam Meera Singh, a YouTuber these days, claimed that Gopal Mishra himself was responsible for his death because he “trampled on and humiliated the dignity of others with his shoes.”
गोपाल मिश्रा की हत्या में बहुत से लोग दोषी हैं। एक ख़ुद गोपाल मिश्रा जिसने दूसरों की इज्जत को जूते से कुचला, अपमानित किया। दूसरे वे जिन्होंने अभी तक जितने गोपाल मिश्रा हुए उन्हें सजा नहीं दीं। तीसरे ये भीड़। चौथे इस भीड़ को संरक्षण देने वाले लोग। अगर ये चीजें ना होती तो कुछ ना…
— Shyam Meera Singh (@ShyamMeeraSingh) October 14, 2024
While attempts are underway to normalise the killing of Hindus for standing up against Islamist diktats of turning off the music system while passing through their ‘areas’, it is worth noting what the eyewitness accounts of the incident said that Islamist apologists wouldn’t share lest it punctures their propaganda.
According to an eyewitness, Gopal was dragged inside the house of one Abdul Hamid and shot dead. Multiple bullet injuries were found on Gopal’s body. The eyewitness also said that it was Abdul’s house from where stones were being pelted at the Durga Visarjan procession which triggered a violent confrontation between the two sides.
Statement of an eye-witness pic.twitter.com/GHmvsxi1zZ
— Swati Goel Sharma (@swati_gs) October 14, 2024
However, these details weren’t shared by ‘journalists’ and ‘fact-checkers’ claiming to uphold the truth. The context that the altercation broke out over the DJ system played by the Hindu participants of the Durga visarjan procession and the subsequent escalation in the form of stone-pelting against the procession vitiated the communal atmosphere was missing as Mishra was painted as a hooligan responsible for his predicament. It is a textbook case of how violence against Hindus is normalised and Islamists are shielded for their criminal activities, thereby encouraging them to further indulge in such unlawful behaviour.
