Muslim student attacked, labeled ‘Bangladeshi’ by Hindutva men in West Bengal
Kolkata: A 27-year-old Muslim student was brutally assaulted by a group of Hindutva men on a train in West Bengal accusing him of being Bangladeshi.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the victim, Rezaul Islam Mondal, a final-year M.Tech student from Aliah University was returning from the Bishwa Ijtema religious gathering in Bangladesh with friends when the incident occurred on a train from Gede station to Sealdah. The attackers beat him, pulled his beard, and threatened to throw him off the train.
The altercation began when a passenger asked Mondal to remove his trolley bag from the luggage rack. Despite complying, a group of men attempted to force him out of his seat, hurling communal slurs and calling him a Bangladeshi. For nearly an hour, a dozen people attacked Mondal, despite his repeated claims of being an Indian citizen. He was punched, kicked, and had his skullcap removed. Some attackers even encouraged others to throw him off the moving train.
Mondal’s friend, Sajid Mirza, was threatened with being thrown off the train when he attempted to record the assault. After receiving medical treatment, Mondal tried to file a complaint at Haripal police station, but the officers refused to register it.
The incident has drawn strong political reactions, with CPI (M) Rajya Sabha MP Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya linking it to the growing influence of RSS-backed politics in West Bengal. Indian Secular Front (ISF) MLA Nawsad Siddique condemned the attack, criticizing both the BJP’s Hindutva ideology and the Trinamool Congress government for its inaction.
