On October 16, Organiser reported a case of the recovery of a minor Dalit boy from Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh with a changed name and religion. The minor boy was recovered from an Adhar Card Centre where he was sent to change his name from Vishal to Mohammad Umar in Adhar Card. After biometric identification, the operator informed the police and they recovered him. His family had lost all hopes of getting him back over the years.
Notably, after we highlighted the case and talked to the father of the minor boy, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) raided the madrasa, Jamia Usmania Islamia, where the minor was once kept and converted to Islam. The madrasa is located in Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh.
Minor Hindu boy returns home after 8 years
It is noteworthy that, Virendra Kumar is a native of the Hardoi district of Uttar Pradesh, almost eight years ago he moved to Chandigarh Raipur Kalan for work and there his son went missing, who was just 9 years old at that time. They tried tracking him a lot but failed and ultimately returned home.
On October 8, 2023, he received a call from the Muzaffarnagar police stating his lost son had been recovered. He rushed to the police station and got his son back home. The boy is now 17 and a converted Muslim, he has been circumcised and offers namaz five times a day.
NCPCR takes cognizance
On October 16, Organiser requested the intervention of NCPCR Chairperson, Priyank Kanoongo in this case. Kanoongo taking cognizance of the matter talked to the family. From his official X account, he informed, “A 9-year-old boy from a Hindu migrant laborer family resident of Hardoi had gone missing from Chandigarh 8 years ago. Now that the child has been identified during the biometrics check for making an Aadhar card in a village in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, he is now seventeen years old. During this, he was converted into a Muslim in a madrasa in Saharanpur and circumcision was also performed. Police have registered FIR; cognizance is being taken by the Commission.”
हरदोई निवासी एक हिंदू प्रवासी मज़दूर परिवार का 9 वर्षीय बालक 8 वर्ष पूर्व चंडीगढ़ से ग़ायब हो गया था।
अब जा कर उत्तरप्रदेश के मुज़फ़्फ़रनगर ज़िले के एक गाँव में आधार कार्ड बनवाने के लिए बायोमेट्रिक्स की जाँच के दौरान बालक की पहचान हुई है,वो अब सत्रह साल का है।इस दौरान
सहारनपुर… pic.twitter.com/OZlruYmVMy— प्रियंक कानूनगो Priyank Kanoongo (@KanoongoPriyank) October 16, 2023
Organiser accessed the FIR and also talked to the minor’s father who informed his child was even forced to child labour.
Organiser talked to the minor’s father
A First Information Report (number–347/2023) was registered at the Charthawal police station of the Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh on October 14, 2023. The victim’s family on the other hand lives in Hardoi.
In the FIR, the minor’s father named Pradhan Afsaroon, clerics of Jamia Usmania Islamia, Matloob, and cleric Mukram Jamal as the accused who conspired in this conversion trap for the minor.
Based on the complaint by Virendra, the accused were booked under IPC section 420 (cheating) and sections 3 and 5(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act.
Kanoongo’s inspection drive
On October 18, NCPCR head Kanoongo went on an inspection drive at the madrasa in Saharanpur where this minor was once kept and converted. He told Organiser, as soon as the team reached the madarsa, everyone was gone and a lock was hanging on the door. It had to be broken to get inside and seize the documents.
मदरसे का मैनेजर फ़रार है,बच्चे भी वहाँ से हटा दिए गए हैं।
ज़िला प्रशासन को अंदर जाने के लिए ताला तुड़वाना पड़ा। https://t.co/T8ikmggztb pic.twitter.com/Pr9TEZlecX— प्रियंक कानूनगो Priyank Kanoongo (@KanoongoPriyank) October 18, 2023
As of now, the investigations are on in this matter, he added.
Saharanpur is adjacent to Deoband and there are over 50 madrasas in the region. In the village itself, there are multiple madrasas.
Kanoongo also met the students studying at the madrasa. Readers should know that demands have erupted from time to time regarding the reversal of the syllabus in madrasas and a check on the irregularities committed there.
Some visuals from his drive are attached below:
About the inspection, Kanoongo informed on social media platform X, “The manager of the madrasa is absconding, the children have also been removed from there. The district administration had to break the lock to get inside.”
Organiser will keep updating their readers about this matter. A detailed report on the recovery of the minor and his hardships can be read here.
