Muslim man beaten to death by brutal Hindu extremist mob, second lynching in two weeks
In the second lynching incident in two weeks, a Muslim man was beaten to death and another severely injured after they were attacked by a violent mob of Hindu extremists in Maharashtra state.
The victim has been identified as 32-year-old Affan Abdul Ansari.
Ansari and his friend Nasir Ghulam Hussain Qureshi were traveling in a car when they were stopped and lynched by Hindu extremist cow vigilantes, who claimed they were carrying cow meat.
Visuals shared by several Twitter handles show a car damaged and the two men bleeding and lying on the road.
This hate crime occurred merely a week after another incident in the same district, where a 23-year-old Muslim man named Lukman Suleman Ansari was lynched to death by a Hindu extremist mob.
Hindu militant mobs have increasingly been targeting Muslims over baseless accusations of crime. These mobs, also known as cow vigilantes, are known for attacking and often lynching Muslims accused of transporting cattle or consuming beef with impunity.
Police arrest Muslim man for leading prayers inside educational institute in Uttar Pradesh
Amid the increasing criminalization of Muslim symbols and practices by the Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, a Muslim man was arrested for leading congregational prayers inside an educational coaching institute in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh state.
Maulvi Shaukat Ali was arrested by police in Ghaziabad district over a complaint from Hindu supremacists who were opposed to Muslims offering their prayers.
The police have said that Ali runs an Islamic seminary inside the educational institute and prayers were being offered there.
A local resident who also runs an educational coaching institute said that Ali is a respectable man and had been a cleric of the mosque in the area in the past.
“Ali doesn’t run a coaching institute; instead, he operates a madrasa where he also imparts modern educational teachings,” he said. “Praying collectively should not be grounds for arrest.”
Indian military personnel enter mosque in Kashmir, force Muslims to chant “Jai Shri Ram”
Indian military personnel entered a mosque in Kashmir’s Pulwama district during pre-dawn prayers and forced Muslims to chant “Jai Shri Ram”, a Hindu religious slogan that has been turned into a warcry by Hindu extremists.
According to a villagers’ accounts, in the early morning, the call for prayers from the Rajab Sahib mosque was interrupted. The villagers reported that while a member of the mosque was halfway through the call to prayer on the loudspeaker, a group of soldiers entered the mosque and forced him to chant “Jai Shree Ram,” or “Glory to Lord Ram.”
A villager said that some of the soldiers also assaulted residents. Political leaders in Kashmir have expressed outrage over the incident and demanded an investigation.
