Sunday, May 19

‘Government Emboldened Unemployed Youth To Vent Their Anger At Muslims’: Mehbooba Mufti

Edited by Fazal Rahman Chembulangad
'Govt Emboldened Unemployed Youth To Vent Their Anger At Muslims': Mehbooba Mufti (Photo on X Mehbooba Mufti @MehboobaMufti)

Sharing a recent hate crime incident against a Muslim Imam in Uttar Pradesh, People Democratic Party (PDP) chief and former Chief Minister of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti today took to her social media platform and attacked the BJP government for mounting atrocities against the minority Muslims in the country.

The incident occurred in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar district on March 28. An Imam, Mohammad Kamran was attacked by a group of Hindutva goons. As the masjid committee members and other men present around the spot rushed in rescue of the Imam, they too suffered the attack, with one person getting severely injured at the head, according to a report.

The attackers reportedly filed a false complaint through a woman alleging that her house was attacked by Muslim men. The police allegedly refused to register FIR against the perpetrators, and instead, they booked the Imam, trustee and residents of 15 Muslim houses around the Masjid. Those who were booked also included minor students of Madrasa. The police were allegedly barging into the resident’s houses and creating a ruckus, creating a prevailing fear in the area.

However, the PDF chief in her post on X (formerly Twitter) further noted that the BJP claims it has replaced stones with laptops in Kashmir. “But just a glance at what is happening in the rest of the country is ample proof that they’ve emboldened disgruntled unemployed youngsters to wield lathis & dandas at Muslims only to vent their frustration,” Mehbooba Mufti said, referring to the increasing hate crime across the country.

The PDP chief further lambasted the government saying that instead of fulfilling the promises of two crore jobs, the government has reduced the youth to dangais & gundas. “What makes it even more tragic is the fact that these young men are okay with their futures being destroyed as long as they get to punish & humiliate Muslims,” the former chief minister wrote.

On March 24, another imam from Maharashtra’s Jalna district was allegedly assaulted and forced to chant Jai Shree Ram while he was reciting the Quran in the Masjid.