New Delhi: A recent private dispute between two families in an eastern Uttar Pradesh village assumed a communal colour in what is a telling reminder of the impunity enjoyed by Hindutva activists in India’s most-populous state.
What appeared to be a case of forceful encroachment of land that a Muslim man owned in Domariyaganj soon escalated into a show of Hindutva aggression when a mob, comprising mostly supporters of former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Raghvendra Pratap Singh, gathered to support the encroachers, who happened to be three Hindu men.
Speaking to The Wire, Mohammad Islam, who owns the land, alleged that on April 6, Aagyaram Yadav, Gangaram Yadav and Ramcharan Prajapati of the Shahpur Tola came to Islam’s land around 4 pm and forcefully installed an elephant’s statue.
“Later that same day, hundreds of people also came to support the installation,” Islam said.
According to Islam, the mob, led by men allegedly linked to former BJP MLA Singh, gathered around his land in support of the encroachers.
Members of the mob with the elephant statue in question. Photo: Vipul Kumar.
Islam said that there was a private dispute between his family and Prajapati’s about the land’s boundary, but the installation of the statue and the involvement of right-wing leaders has made it a ‘Hindu-Muslim’ issue, weaponising the present political climate in the district. He alleged that he has been receiving constant death threats from the accused.
“The land is my ancestral and legal possession. A legal battle was fought and won by my father and grandfather for this land. I have a copy of the judgments given by the magistrate,” Islam said.
He explained that the old dispute was a family dispute that had been settled through a court order in his father’s favour. However, in 2019, a fresh dispute emerged about the boundary of the land with Prajapati’s family. Islam then went to complain and seek help from the Domariyaganj police, as a court judgement had already ruled in his favour.
“However, police refused to help and said, ‘Tomorrow is MLC elections; we can’t do anything for you today’,” alleged Islam.
On April 9, when Islam went to Shahpur Mandi for his work, Aagyaram, Gangaram and two others, Charan and Manish Agrahari, allegedly attacked him.
“They started abusing and beating me mercilessly with sticks, kicks and punches. They kept beating me for around 20 minutes while I was screaming for help and pleading with them to let me go,” Islam claimed. The assault left scars across his body.
The scars along Islam’s back and a photo of a distraught Islam. Photo: Vipul Kumar.
He also alleged that former BJP MLA Singh’s men were involved in the case.
“Sailesh Singh and Dabloo Sabhasad (two of Raghvendra Singh’s aides) were also there with them while they were beating me,” Islam said.
One of the men seen in the earlier photograph pictured alongside former BJP MLA Raghvendra Singh. Photo: Special arrangement.
Another accused, pictured with the elephant statue, pictured here with Raghvendra Singh. Photo: Special arrangement.
The former BJP MLA, who had once even claimed that after he was elected to the Uttar Pradesh assembly in 2017, 200 acres of land belonging to Muslims was confiscated and their shops destroyed, has been making headlines of late for his many reported videos of hate speech against Muslims.
Many FIRs have been registered against him under various Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections, including 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth); 505(2) (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes); 506 (criminal intimidation); 295A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and others more.
“Since I became an MLA, they (the Muslims) have stopped wearing skull caps. If you vote for me again, they will start wearing tilaks,” he had said in another video, during his election campaign ahead of the recently-concluded Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.
Also read: ‘Hindu Who Doesn’t Vote For Me Has Miyan Blood in Veins’: BJP MLA Threatens Muslims With Violence
More recently in March, Singh was seen leading a rally in which slogans to kill Muslims were made.
Raghvendra Singh lost to Saiyada Khatun of the Samajwadi Party in the assembly elections.
After the assault on April 9, Islam complained to the Inspector of Police at the Domariyaganj station. However, he did not immediately receive a copy of the first information report (FIR). He further alleged that the goons threatened violence against other Muslims in the market if they shared the footage of the violence with the police.
In an application to the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) of Domariyaganj – a copy of which has been obtained by The Wire – Mohammad Yaar, Islam’s father and a retired government servant, asked for the security of his family and his property. He fears that there is a possibility of riots breaking out and of his family being murdered if they were to resist the installation of the statue, since he has been allegedly been receiving death threats from the accused.
The Domariyaganj SDM told The Wire that an FIR has been registered; however, the victim questioned the police’s action, claiming that they registered the FIR only under charges of ordinary assault, despite the attack being lethal and planned.
A copy of the non-cognisable report (NCR), accessed by The Wire, shows that a case has been registered only under IPC Sections 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt – punished with imprisonment of either a maximum term of one year or a maximum fine up to Rs 1,000 or both) and 504 (intentional insults and provocation to an individual – punished with imprisonment of a term which may extend to two years).
When The Wire asked the assistant superintendent of police (ASP) for more details, he said that he didn’t have more information at the moment. No arrests had been made in the case at the time.
Human rights lawyer Tamanna Pankaj, questioning the police action in the case, said, “If in his complaint, the victim has alleged threat to his life and a possibility of communal amity being destroyed in case he tries to take back possession of his land, the police should have framed the charges accordingly. Also, the police should have ideally filed charges against land encroachment as well. Had preventive action been taken in the encroachment case, the man would not have been assaulted so brutally.”
On the evening of April 10, Domariyaganj police tweeted that it had arrested the accused and the land’s ownership was being ascertained. However, Islam told The Wire that the accused got bail in a matter of hours and, again, tried to intimidate his family.
Vipul Kumar is a freelance journalist and a student at the Faculty of Law, University of Delhi.