Muslim youth jailed for offering call to prayer at 250-year-old mosque in UP
A Muslim man, Umar Qureshi, was arrested and jailed for reciting the Muslim call to prayer at a historic mosque in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled Uttar Pradesh’s Shamli. The structure is referred to as a Mughal-era mosque by Muslims, while Hindus associate it with ancient Hindu kings.
The incident is part of a greater push to criminalize Muslim worship, traditions, and expressions of faith throughout India.
Christian-run school attacked by Hindu militant group
A Christian-run school in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh’s Betul district was attacked by members of the violent Hindu militant group Bajrang Dal. Members of the group barged into the school and accused Christians of conducting “forced religious conversions.” The incident comes just days after police arrested several Christians in Khargone, Alirajpur, and Betul after Hindu extremists stopped Christian prayer meetings over baseless allegations of Christians forcibly converting Hindus.
Hindu extremists beat Muslim man for accompanying Hindu woman
In Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, a Muslim man who was seen accompanying a Hindu woman was beaten by members of a Hindu supremacist group, who baselessly accused the man of “love jihad.” Love Jihad is an anti-Muslim conspiracy that claims Muslim men have an agenda to seduce and convert Hindu women. Despite being debunked, it remains a rallying point for Hindu extremists against Muslims.
Police open fire at alleged “cattle smugglers,” victims sustain bullet wounds
In separate incidents in Shahjahanpur and Rampur in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, police fired at alleged “cattle smugglers,” who sustained bullet injuries in their legs. The incident is the latest in an ongoing trend of violent attacks against predominantly Muslim cattle traders by law enforcement. Over the last month, multiple instances of injuries and the death of a Muslim man due to police firing have occurred over the same allegations.
