Hindu supremacist mobs vandalize Muslim-owned shops in Uttarakhand amid mass rally
Hundreds of Hindu extremists were part of a mass rally organized in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Uttarakhand state during which many shops owned by the Muslim community were vandalized.
As many as 40 Muslim-owned shops were shut down earlier this week and Muslim shop owners had left town amid fear of Hindu extremist retaliation after allegations that two men, one of them Muslim, attempted to elope with a minor girl.
Meanwhile, the increase in communal conflicts in the state has not gone unnoticed. Earlier this week, a group of Supreme Court lawyers had written an open letter to Uttarakhand governor Lieutenant General Gurmit Singh about the government’s inaction on repeated instances of hate speech in the state.
Dalit man’s thumb chopped off by Hindu supremacists
Seven Hindu supremacist men from an upper caste Hindu community chopped off the thumb of a 30-year-old Dalit man with a sword in Gujarat state.
The brutal attack comes after he had objected to members of the upper caste Hindu community scolding his nephew for picking up a cricket ball when they were playing in a school playground.
The Hindu supremacists struck him with a sword, chopping off the thumb of his left hand and wounding him on his right hand. They also beat him up badly and left him there unconscious.
Government drivers suspended for halting bus to allow Muslim passengers to pray
A driver and a co-driver of BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh state’s transport body were suspended with immediate effect after they halted a bus for a few extra minutes to allow two Muslim passengers to offer prayers.
One of the passengers took a video of the incident and uploaded it on Twitter, following which the driver K.P. Singh and co-driver Mohit Yadav were suspended.
The driver, meanwhile, said there were only 14 passengers in the bus and a few of them wanted to use a roadside toilet, hence he stopped the vehicle. Then two other passengers expressed their wish to offer prayers and he agreed to halt the bus for five more minutes for them.
Muslims in Uttar Pradesh have faced repeated incidents of discrimination by the police for offering prayers in both private and public spaces.
