?Muslims burnt everything, I am left with nothing except the clothes that I am wearing?, said a victim after Muslim mob set ablaze a Dalit colony in Uttar Pradesh?s Jaunpur
Published by
Archive Manager
Jun 14, 2020, 12:46 pm IST
Houses belonging to Dalits were set on fire by the Muslims after a clash at Batheti village in Jaunpur District of Uttar Pradesh on the night of June 9. More than 37 have been arrested including a Samajwadi Party leader.
Firtu Ram, victim of Jaunpur Dalit colony burning by a Muslim mob tells that he is left with nothing expect the clothes he is wearing
A brawl among children of two communities took a violent turn followed by communal tension in Batheti village of Jaunpur District in Uttar Pradesh wherein houses owned by Dalits were burnt down by Muslims. In the clash, even animals were also not spared and reportedly, three goats and one buffalo were burnt alive.
Narrating the story of the horrific incident, Pooja, a resident of Batheti Dalit basti and victim of the incident spoke to Organiser and said, “Jab Musalanmano ne hamla kia tb humlog ghar ke andar hi the. (We were inside the house when Muslims attacked us). When we locked ourselves in, Muslims started pounding the gates to barge in. They were in large numbers. Initially they attacked us with lathis & rods, pelted stones and bricks on us. Then the bullets were fired from outside. They looted our money, jewellery, our shops and then torched our houses. Whatever valuable we had, they took everything away.”
“The mob tried to burn us alive, but by god’s grace we are safe”, she added.
Victim Pooja says that more than 500 Muslims attacked the Dalits and burned the entire colony
Pooja said they were so scared of the mob that they remained hidden in the burning house until the mob left the spot. Soon after the mob departed from the area, she, along with others somehow escaped the blazing house and moved to a nearby village. They spent the night there.
Meanwhile, the police have arrested 37 of the 57 named in the FIR filed on a complaint by the Dalit community. While additional police force has been deployed in the village, the district administration has removed the Station House Officer of Sarai Khwaja Police Station, Sanjiv Mishra, and transferred him to Police Lines.
Cause of the Clash
While police said that the clashes erupted after two groups of Dalit and Muslim boys had an argument over cattle grazing. Local claims that the dispute started when Muslim boys hurled casteist remarks on Dalit boys for plucking mangoes.
The fight again started when children from the Dalit community were grazing their buffalo in a field near a pond where the children from the Muslim community were also grazing their goats. While grazing, it seems a buffalo hit a goat that led to an argument again among the children.
The Muslim children returned to their homes and narrated the story to their parents. Soon the people from the Muslim community went to the Dalit locality armed with sticks and iron rods.
Around 500 Muslims attacked the Dalit locality that led to severe injuries to Dalit men. The attackers started burning the houses of Dalits. In the attack, many people lost their belongings along with their shelters.
Victim of the incident, Firtu Ram told Organiser, “mere pas kuch bhi nahi bacha, tan par kapde ke siwa, mohammadano ne sab jala diya (Muslims burnt everything, I have left with nothing except the single clothes that I am wearing)”.
“Around 400 to 500 people came to our basti and set ablaze everything. After that we left our place and moved to another place to protect ourselves from the Muslim mob”, he added.
Even animals were not spared by the Muslim mob which tried everything to burn the Dalit colony down
Another local said that at first the matter was settled with the intervention of the village pradhan Aftab alias Hitler but late evening the pradhan along with his son Saleem and others attacked the Dalit basti.
According to the police the fight between Dalit and Muslim boys began after the latter hurled casteist slurs on the Dalit boys. The Muslim boys beat up Dalit boys when they protested it. The FIR alleged that when family members of a Dalit boy went to the house of a Muslim boy to lodge a complaint, they were also abused. According to the FIR, 57 were identified and 20-25 unidentified Muslims, armed with weapons, attacked the Dalits. Dalit women and children ran to the neighbouring village for shelter.
On request for anonymity, a villager told Organiser over phone, “After attacking the Dalit basti, most of the male members of the Muslim families have left the village for fear of being arrested by the police.
Samajwadi Party leader Javed Siddiqui arrested
Copy of the FIR which mentions nearly 58 names of the members of the Muslim mob which burned the Dalit colony
According to police, more than 35 people were arrested in connection with the clashes including Samajwadi Party leader Javed Siddiqui.
Siddiqui had once unsuccessfully contested assembly elections from Jaunpur Sadar assembly seat on Samajwadi party ticket.
While police have booked the accused for rioting, attempt to murder and breach of peace, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered the police to invoke the Nation Security Act (NSA) and Gangster Act against the perpetrators.
Samajwadi Party leader Javed Siddiqui, Noor Alam and others have been arrested for setting ablaze the houses of Dalits in the Dalit Basti. Yogi Adityanath has ordered the authorities to invoke the stringent NSA and Gangster Act against the culprits who were involved in arson.
The accused have also been booked under Section 7 of the CLA Act, Disaster Management Act, Epidemic Diseases Act and under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Compensation to the Victims
On being asked about the government help, Puja, a girl from the Dalit basti, said, “Right now, the government is providing food to us. They have also promised to give us monetary support and our houses will be rebuilt through government funds. I am happy that the government is taking stringent action against the perpetrators”.
Looking at the damages received by the Dalit community in the clash, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed the district administration to provide houses to the affected families under the Chief Minister Awas Yojana. In a statement issued by the government, the affected families should also be given Rs 1 lakh as compensation through the social welfare department.
CM Yogi Adityanath has announced a compensation of more than Rs 10 lakh as financial assistance to the victims to compensate for the losses.
Jai Bheem Jai Meem, an Eyewash
Recent incidents of Muslims over Dalits punctured the much-touted “Jai Bheem Jai Meem” narrative which Leftists and some so-called Dalit leaders like Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad have been propounding for quite some time now. While certain Dalit and Muslim leaders may seem united for their personal gains and political benefits, the ground realities are totally different.
The evil gang always chose to maintain silence when the perpetrators are Muslims. Recently former Judge Pawan Kumar, who headed an investigation team to probe the atrocities on Hindus and Dalits in Haryana’s Mewat said that there is no difference between Pakistan and Mewat.
Pawan Kumar remarked that Mewat of Haryana is becoming a graveyard of Dalits and there are many reports of women being abducted, raped and forcibly converted in the region.
According to the investigation team report, “It is the conclusion of this inquiry committee that the life of Dalit community in Mewat has become thorny and unbearable. Their religion, their real-estates and wealth, dignity of their womenfolk and nothing else are safe today. Even after 73 years of independence, they have not been truly independent…”
“Jai Bheem Jai Meem” was coined with the sole agenda dividing Hindus and bringing together Dalit Hindus-Muslims together to wage war against upper-caste Hindus and to create a division in the society. Those who coined the term wants to use Dalit Hindus for their political gains. The silence of this gang on the recent atrocities on Dalits (Bheem) by Muslims (Meem) in Haryana’s Mewat and Uttar Pradesh has exposed them completely.
Leave a Comment