Muslim man assaulted in Gurugram, asked to remove skullcap, chant 'Jai Shri Ram'

A 25-year-old Muslim man has claimed that he was attacked while on his way home after offering namaz at a mosque in the Sadar area of Gurugram. According to reports, on May 25, Mohammed Barakat Alam was returning from evening prayers when he was set upon by a gang of four to five people who knocked off his skullcap and ordered him to chant "Jai Shri Ram". When he refused, they manhandled him, NDTV reported.

"I was returning from namaaz when a man came up to me and told me I was not allowed to wear my cap. I refused to remove it but then he hit the back of my head and removed it and started cursing me," he told NDTV.

Alam said he is from Begusarai in Bihar, which voted for BJP leader Giriraj Singh to parliament over CPI and former Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader Kanhaiya Kumar.

The incident came a day after three Muslims, including a woman, were mercilessly thrashed in Madhya Pradesh’s Seoni for allegedly carrying beef in an auto. The incident that took place within 24 hours after the verdict of the Lok Sabha elections is a brutal reminder of the terror of cow vigilantism. According to latest media reports, five men including chief a fringe right-wing organisation, have been arrested following the incident. The police sprang into action only after the video of the incident went viral on social media.

Among the politicians, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen Asaduddin Owaisi was one of the few leaders who took note of the incident. Slamming the incumbent government, Owaisi retweeted the video. Tagging the Prime Minister’s Office, Owaisi wrote, “This is how Muslims are treated by Vigilantes created by Modi voters welcome to a New India which will Inclusive and as @PMOIndia said Secularism Ka Niqaab (sic).” News Nation cannot independently verify the authenticity of the video.

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The Gurugram incident occurred on the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during a speech from Parliament's Central Hall, asked National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders, lawmakers and Chief Ministers to seek the trust of minority communities who had been "made to live in fear".

“One of the men called me with an offensive word and told me that skullcap was not allowed in this area. When I told him that I was returning from a mosque, he slapped me. He also asked me to chant Bharat Mata Ki Jai and Jai Shri Ram. When I refused, he threatened to feed me pork,” Alam told The Hindu. He had come to Gurugram earlier this month to learn tailoring.

Alam claimed that the man allegedly picked up a stick and hit him and also abused him.

He said as he cried for help, other people from his community rushed to help him, when the assailants fled.

"We have received a complaint about the incident and registered an FIR under sections 153, 147, 149, 323 and 506 in the city police station. We have also conducted medical examination of victim," said Gurguram City ACP Rajiv Kumar.

While section 153 of the IPC pertains to causing enmity between people of different religions, sections 147 and 149 define offences of riots and unlawful assembly respectively.

Sections 323 and 506 deals with offences of causing hurt and criminal intimidation.   

"We are also scanning the CCTV footage of the area to identify the accused. Effort are on to nab them," ACP added.