Elderly shop owner harassed over religious identity in Mumbai
Mumbai: An elderly Muslim shop owner, Rafat Hussain, has alleged that he was harassed and verbally abused by a group of women in the Juhu area of Mumbai.
According to Kashmir Media Service, Rafat Hussain said that he was targeted because of his religious identity.
He said four women walked into his store around 3:30pm on June 13, asking about sherwanis (long, formal, coat-like garments) and suits for a wedding.
The conversation, he said, quickly soured. “They began using abusive language. Then they stood up and started insulting me, targeting my religious identity,” Rafat Hussain recounted. The calm of the boutique gave way to hostility as the women allegedly told him, “You are a Muslim, you live in a certain way, and you do things in the wrong way.”
Feeling threatened, Rafat Hussain left the shop and rushed to the nearest police station. What followed, he claims, was even more alarming. Within 20-25 minutes, a crowd of nearly 150 people gathered outside the station, raising slogans often heard during communal flashpoints. He said that 20-25 young men tried to force their way into the station to attack him.
Police escorted him to safety, but Hussain said officers appeared reluctant to take action against the women. Instead, an FIR was reportedly filed against him by the women.
While inside the station, Rafat Hussain reached out to All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leaders Waris Pathan and Imtiaz Jaleel for help. He said that after speaking with Pathan, the officer on duty, identified as Bushan More, seemed indifferent and denied the presence of the crowd despite the noise outside.
Now shaken, Hussain said he is afraid to stand in his own showroom. “My only crime is that I am sitting here sporting a beard and wearing a cap,” he said, his voice heavy in the viral clip.
He believes the episode was pre-planned. “How could they mobilise such a large crowd so quickly if they had genuinely come for shopping?” he asked. “Seeing what is happening with the Muslim community across India, this seems like a planned attack. I feel a contract was given to target me, but I escaped by running to the police station.”
