Radical Muslim mob besieged Police station after burning vehicles, attacking locals over the issue of building an illegal mosque in Atmakur, Andhra Pradesh

There was a huge gathering of supporters for mosque construction. Their number increased rapidly and were carrying local weapons. The supporters made religious slogans and started abusing and threatening locals, followed by a physical altercation and hurting some.

Imagine a situation where a radical mob of thousands holding weapons surrounds you, shout slogans to hurt & kill you, attack you, pelt stones at you, burn your vehicles. When you go to the police station, they besiege the police station, swearing to bring it down to kill you at midnight.

It is the worst nightmare any person can ever imagine, which actually happened on (January 8) in Atmakur, Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh. A radical Muslim mob attacked locals, BJP district president, and besieged the police station.

Why?

Mahamadullah wants to build an illegal mosque on which is in the name of his wife, who died on July 9, 2020. The land is behind Padmavati school. The area is mainly a Hindu majority, and no permission was taken to build a mosque in that land. Locals in that area objected to the illegal construction of the mosque as it was being constructed without prerequisite permissions. The objection was raised by local residents and the management of the school. They asked to take needed legal permissions from the authorities before construction. Locals complained to police and local planning authorities about the same. The construction work was stopped on August 27, 2020. Efforts were intensified to build a mosque, and locals repeatedly approached the responsible authorities. The authorities assured no construction of a mosque would happen.

Hundreds gathered on January 8 morning and started the construction work again without taking permission. Locals again objected and went to the construction site. They approached Nandyal Parliament president Dr Budda Srikanth Reddy, who went to the construction site along with them in the late evening.

The night which became 'NIGHTMARE'

There was a huge gathering of supporters for mosque construction. Their number increased rapidly and were carrying local weapons. The supporters made religious slogans and started abusing and threatening locals, followed by a physical altercation and hurting some.

BJP Nandyal President and locals decided to go to the police station to lodge an official complaint. The crowd became violent and started attacking the president and locals with stones and local weapons. Dr Budda Srikanth Reddy left the site in his car, escaping the ambush. One stone was thrown by a mosque supporter, which accidentally fell on another, and a boy was injured. Dr Budda Srikanth Reddy went to the police station, and false news was spread that a boy was killed due to crushing under the car of Dr Budda Srikanth Reddy. Allegedly, PFI was involved in spreading false rumours.

On that night, thousands of Muslims gathered around the police station in late hours with weapons like axes, sickles, etc. They pelted stones, broke windows and vandalized a part of the police station. The mob became violent, raised slogans to bring down the police station, kill the BJP district president and locals. The mob demanded to hand over Srikanth Reddy to kill him. Police switched off lights to hide in safety till additional forces arrived.

The district president's cat was burnt & five motorcycles were vandalized. Five police were attacked and injured. Roads were blocked with protesters causing inconvenience to the general public. The entire town was gripped with terror overnight. The Superintendent of Police reached the police station by midnight. Police had to fire in the air at midnight to disperse the mob. The mob dispersed early morning.

The Paradox and Aftermath

The biggest paradox is the improper portrayal of incidents. Even a famous regional media channel believed the false rumour about the death of a Muslim boy and displayed the same information for some time. No media told the way incidents unfolded. Most media channels portrayed the incident as a scuffle between BJP president supporters and others.

The victims who had severe physical, mental and financial agony were levied charges by police. BJP president and locals were charged with several sections and the urgency with which police filed cases on them was not shown in providing medical care. They were arrested and jailed.

The biggest paradox is police made preemptive arrests of those affiliated with BJP, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal, etc. Ruling party YSRCP Deputy CM Amzad Basha, MLA Hafeez Khan and other leaders went to Atmakur.

The Bitter and Harsh Truth

Secularism implies equal treatment of all religions. For most political parties, secularism has a different definition, ill-treatment of Hindus and appeasement of rest.

The ruling YSRCP government has raised all bars in appeasement politics, as evident by various acts like paying pensions to Imams and pastors, building churches, giving lands to Mouzans, renting shops of Srisailam temple to Muslims, withdrawal of cases and charges against Muslims for rioting, raising prices of tickets of Hindu temples, putting auction of various lands of the temple, vandalization of hundreds of Hindu temples & idols. The state government was not able to identify any culprit in the temple vandalisation case.

Such blatant appeasement will embolden the radical forces in society, who will take advantage of any situation to create communal tension and disturb the social fabric. It looks pre-planned as thousands gathered within a few hours equipped with weapons. Even the police were threatened and injured. The incident could have been easily averted by legally taking permission and respecting the sentiments of locals'. Government officials should have acted when locals complained about the unauthorized, illegal construction. Allegedly, there was political support for those who wanted to build a mosque.

Constructing a mosque without permission is illegal; questioning that is not. Attacking people for asking them to follow the rules is illegal; following rules is not. Supporting anarchy is illegal; averting is not. Treating and listening to victims is legal, not filing cases in a reverse way. The feelings of the majority should be respected on par with that of minorities. Truth should be told in a true way.