SRINAGAR — Two Muslim farmers were brutally thrashed by a Hindu mob on saturday in a village in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir, according to their family and police Clarion India reported.
A video of the attack has surfaced on social media showing a group of men kicking and pouncing on a man lying down in a field.
The victims have been identified as Mohammad Asgar, 40, and his relative Javid Ahmad, 25, of Ghari Khas in Arnas police limits in Reasi district.
Station House Officer of Arnas Police Station told Clarion India that Police have registered an FIR in the incident. “We are working on the case and will share the details later,” he said.
Clarion India spoke with Asghar’s nephew Nazir Ahmad who said that it was a “pre-planned” attack in which “Hindus of the area ganged up against Muslims.” He said, “It is a case of communal violence.”
According to Nazir, a day before the incident a cow of a Hindu family had walked into the agricultural land belonging to Asghar when he was away from his village. Some children in Asghar’s family spotted the cow grazing the crop and pelted stones on the cow to drive it away. This enraged the Hindu community.
When Asghar returned home the following day, the head of the village Amar Chand called him on phone and asked him to report at a gathering at the house of a Hindu family. “He was reluctant to go but they insisted they just needed to talk.”
Javid, Azghar’s relative accompanied him to the gathering. But as soon as they reached there, the villagers pounced on the duo.
“They first beat them at the house and then they took them to the fields on the village outskirts,” said Mushtaq Ahmad, another relative of Asghar. “They beat them ruthlessly with the obvious intention to kill.”
Asghar desperately pleaded with the villagers that he was ready to pay any fine or compensation but the irate mob kept thrashing them, beating them black and blue.
Thankfully, Mushtaq said, the police finally arrived on the scene and rescued the duo. “Had they not intervened, both Ashghar and Javid would have been dead.”
After the attack the duo were taken to a hospital in Arnas where they were given first aid. Mushtaq said while Asghar’s foot is badly injured, Javid has a fracture in his arm. Photos shared with Clarion India show the bruised back of Javid which suggests that the mob used lashes to beat them.
The attack has triggered fear in the Muslim community of the Jammu village. They are reluctant to take the duo to the town hospital for better treatment despite advice by the doctors at Arnas. “We are planning to go to the District Hospital in Reasi town but we heard that the men from Hindu community are waiting on the way to attack us again,” he said.
This is the latest incident of hate crime and mob violence against the Muslims by Hindu extremists who, according to activists, are having a free run under the current BJP regime Clarion India reported.
