Arrested Cleric Umar Gautam’s Son Too Arrested By Uttar Pradesh Police On Fake Charges
The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) condemns the arrest of Abdullah, the ailing son of Islamic preacher Umar Gautam who himself is behind bars on a totally false charge of carrying out forced conversions.
Abdullah was arrested on November 7 when he was being taken to a hospital in Noida, near Delhi, as he was unwell. “The police pulled out my sick son from our car and put him in their vehicle,” his mother, Razia Gautam said. The Uttar Pradesh Police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) later said Abdullah was arrested in connection with a “conversion racket” in which his father Gautam is a prime accused.
Uttar Pradesh is ruled by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Elections to the state assembly will be held in the next four months. The BJP is targeting Muslims only to polarize votes of the majority Hindu community as it has no record of governance to show for its five-year rule of the state.
Three Critical After Hindu Extremists Attack Christian Families In Village In Chhattisgarh State
A Christian community in Chhattisgarh state was brutally attacked by a mob of radical Hindu nationalists on November 6. The attack left nine Christians seriously injured, including three who are currently hospitalized in a critical condition. About 50 extremists attacked 14 Christian homes in Metapal village, located in the Dantewada district. Local Christians report that the mob was led by four men named Joga, Lakhma, Magda, and Sukka. The mob went from house to house attacking Christians, saying they want to make it a “Christian-free” village.
Wielding fists, wooden clubs, and other objects, the extremists beat the Christians, including women and children. The injured Christians suffered broken bones, dislocated joints, and head injuries, according to International Christian Concern (ICC), a US-based nonprofit organization. “Santu, a teenage boy, was carried by four people to the hospital like a dead body,” Pastor Susheel Kumar, a survivor of the attack, told ICC. “He suffered multiple fractures to his legs and hand.” As usual, the police have made no arrests despite registering an FIR.
Police Inaction Despite Viral Video Shows Hindu Extremist Threatening Muslim Shopkeeper
The IAMC condemns the Delhi Police for failing to arrest a member of the Hindu extremist militia, Bajrang Dal, who has been recorded in a video threatening a Muslim worker at a roadside eatery for keeping his shop open on Diwali, a Hindu festival. This despite the fact that the man threatening the Muslim identified himself as Naresh Kumar Suryavanshi.
This is the usual police behavior across India, where they do not arrest or even question the Hindu extremists attacking Muslims and Christians. Suryavnashi is heard telling the Muslim workers at the eatery that the neighborhood, Sant Nagar, was a “Hindu” area and so Muslims had no business keeping their shops open on the day of Diwali. The eatery owner and his workers closed the shop soon after.
