Lessons From Mongolpuri

February 10, Wednesday, was like any other day for Radha, 47-year old mother of Rinku Sharma. She was unusually more happy these days as she had successfully convinced her eldest son Rinku to get married. But she didn’t know her happiness would be so short-lived.

Rinku was murdered by his Muslim neighbours on the intervening night of Wednesday-Thursday i.e. February 10. He was only 25. But the chain of events started on August 5 last year, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the Bhoomi poojan for Bhavya Shri Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Out of sheer enthusiasm like millions of others, he shouted the slogan of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ a little longer that day. He would often tell his friends he never thought there would be a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya in his lifetime.

“He was very emotional about Shri Ram. If anyone shows disrespect towards Shri Ram, he would immediately request the person not to do so. He regretted not attending the pooja in Ayodhya,” Vishal, one of the close friends of Rinku, told Organiser.

Because of the Covid-19 restrictions, only very few people were allowed to attend the Bhoomi Poojan in Ayodhya. He had a minor scuffle with his Muslim neighbours that day. Elders intervened. Rinku thought the matter was over. But it was not to be.

In January, Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra, a trust constituted to look after Bhavya Ram Mandir’s construction in Ayodhya, started a massive fund drive to collect money from temples.

But such rallies had become a cause for envy for the Muslim community. There were several instances of attacks on such rallies that ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans were raised. Three rallies in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain, Indore and Mandsaur had come under heavy stone-pelting in December. Several people were injured. People participating in the rally in Gujarat’s Gandhidham in January were beaten with rods and sticks.

There were many rallies and programmes organised for the drive. One such programme was organised in Mangol Puri too. It was like a dream come true for Rinku. He not just participated but led it.

The victim’s family alleges the perpetrators had made up their mind by now. Wednesday night, February 10 just provided them the opportunity they were looking for. The accused, Mohammed Mehtab, Tasuddin, Zahid, Nasheruddin and Mohammed Islam, live just four houses away from Rinku’s.

The feelings of Rinku for the accused family could be understood from the fact that just a few months back, he had donated blood to Nasheruddin’s pregnant wife. Manu, the younger brother of the victim, told Organiser, “We never thought they would take away his life too.” The accused family had also approached Rinku for getting their Corona test done.

On Wednesday’s fateful night, the accused family approached the victim’s house armed with rods and sticks. Manu told Organiser, “They came prepared to kill us. Why else would about 20 people come to my house armed with rods and sticks?”

They banged on the door. Before Manu could gather himself and lock the door again, they dragged Rinku out. He ran for about 20 metres. “My brother tried to enter someone else’s house. But, it was all locked. Before he could move further, he was stabbed. Only if I could have dragged him inside in time, he could have been saved,” said Manu.

Both Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital and Raj Park Police Station are just 100 metres from the victim’s house. “Even inside the hospital, the accused thrashed Manu, tried to pull out the knife from Rinku’s back,” Vishal told Organiser.

The police have been denying the religious intolerance as the reason for murder, rather telling the stabbing as a result of fighting in a birthday party. This was a God-gifted opportunity for pseudo-liberals to defend the Muslim accused. Every attempt was made to establish the murder as a result of a business dispute. A theory was floated that there was a fight going on between the two households for some restaurant business. It was busted in no time. Manu told Organiser, “We don’t have Rs 3,000 to repair the broken door of our washroom. Where would we get the money from to invest in the restaurant business?”

Sonu, whose birthday party Rinku attended the same night, told Organiser, “About 12 of my friends were attending the party. There was a fight between two friends. But, Rinku had nothing to do with it. Just once or twice he requested both the friends, who were fighting, calm down.”

The victim’s family barely manages to survive. poor health, Rinku’s father is unable to work. So, when Rinku started working as a lab technician in a private hospital, Radha, the mother of the victim, was happy for two reasons. First, it would make it easier for her to manage household expenses. And more importantly, she thought it would be easier for her to convince her eldest son to get married. “I had never imagined my dreams would be shattered like this,” she told Organiser. She has a poor heart condition and is diabetic. She was just hoping for a more helping hand in the kitchen.

Many leaders visited the victim’s family to offer their condolences. Surprisingly, there is no statement or tweet from Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The visit is out of the question. The stoic silence of Kejriwal is bewildering. Is it not the Delhi government’s responsibility to provide relief to the victim’s family in this hour of need? “Kejriwal can go to Dadri to meet the family of Akhlaq. He can go to Hyderabad and Rajasthan. But, he is unable to go to Mangol Puri, which is just 20 minutes away from his place. Why?,” asked Delhi BJP leader Kapil Mishra.

Not only did Kejriwal go to these places, but he also provided monetary relief to some of these families. In Akhlaq’s case, not only did Kejriwal go to Dadri, but he did make it a point to live-tweet his journey. His government gave Rs 1 crore as compensation to Akhlaq’s family. But, no such thing in Rinku’s case. It can’t be a coincidence that the Delhi chief minister could not visit any Hindu victims’ families. The BJP leader, Kapil Mishra crowdsourced Rs 1 crore and provided it to the family. The Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party provided the monetary relief of Rs 5 lakh.

In February last year, Dilbar Negi, a 20-year-old young boy was burnt alive by a Muslim mob in the anti-Hindu riots of Delhi. His hands and legs were cutoff by the Muslim mob before setting him on fire. An Aam Aadmi Party leader, Tahir Hussain, was one of the masterminds of the anti-Hindu riots. Kejriwal’s party defended him till the very last and made every attempt to prove him innocent.

Mangolpuri is a sleepy town in Delhi’s North West district. The district has a population of 40 lakhs of which about 10 per cent are Muslims. With about 2 lakh electorate, Mangol Puri assembly constituency has been a reserved seat for Scheduled Castes since 1993. It has about 40 per cent Scheduled Castes population. The Congress’ Raj Kumar Chauhan represented the constituency in the Assembly from 1993-2013. Since 2013, Aam Aadmi Party’s Rakhi Birla has been representing the seat.

Piyush 17, was murdered in the same area two months back. His aunt told Organiser, “There are not many Muslim families in my lane. But their activities have shocked us beyond belief. Where should we go to save ourselves?”

Rinku was associated with Bajrang Dal. The victim’s mother could not control her tears when Surendra Jain, Joint General Secretary of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, visited the family to offer his condolences.

Surendra Jain told Organiser, “Dhruv Tyagi. Ankit Saxena. Dilbar Negi. Ankit Sharma. You can add many more names. These are no isolated incidents. Always, the motive is to teach Hindus a lesson.”

If this is so, the question looms large: Who next and where?