Imam assaulted over refusal to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ in UP
Lucknow: An imam of a local mosque has said that he was severely assaulted for refusing to chant the Hindutva slogan ‘Jai Shri Ram’ in the BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh state.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the imam of a mosque in Lakhanpur village of Aligarh district, identified as Mustaq, said he was brutally beaten by Hindutva extremists after refusing to raise the slogan.
Mustaq’s family said the attack by a group of about a dozen people was clearly motivated by his religious identity, even though the police maintain that there was no religious angle to the incident. Several locals also confirmed that the imam was badly injured in the assault, which they said stemmed from religious hate. They added that the attackers pulled the imam’s beard and forcefully removed his skullcap.
Videos and images circulating online show the injured man being assisted by neighbours while crowds gathered at the scene. Several users said the imam was beaten “mercilessly” and forced to repeat the slogan. These accounts are being widely shared across local networks.
The victim said he had been targeted for refusing to chant religious slogans. “For the past few days, some boys had been bothering me,” he said.
“They stopped my bicycle and asked me to say ‘Jai Shri Ram.’ When I refused, they took out sticks and beat me for nearly half an hour. They wouldn’t let me get up and said, ‘Yahi dafnado’ (Bury him here).”
