During the Islamic Holy month of Ramadan, a Muslim cleric in India’s Maharastra was attacked with a blade, given anesthesia, and cut off their beard after he refused to chant Jai Shri Ram (Victory to Lord Rama) when ‘unidentified’ men entered in a mosque on Sunday evening while he was reading the holy Quran, reports said.
As per reports, locals found an Islamic cleric outside a mosque in an unconscious state and rushed them to a government hospital in Sillod.
Later, he was taken to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in Aurangabad, where he is currently undergoing treatment.
Police in the Jalna district of Maharashtra said it received a complaint that an Imam from Anwa village was attacked by unidentified individuals who entered his place of worship and beat him up.
The incident took place on Sunday at around 7.30 pm when Imam, Identified as Zakir Sayyad Khaja was sitting inside the mosque reading the Quran, India Today reported.
The mob allegedly asked the Imam to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’; after his refusal, they attacked him with a blade, it said.
These three unidentified individuals were masked and when Imam refused to chant the Hindu slogan, he was taken outside the mosque and thrashed, it reads.
As per the victim, the attackers used a chemical-laced cloth to make him unconscious. When he regained consciousness, he realized that his beard had been cut off.
Police have registered a case against unidentified individuals who have been booked under Sections 452 (trespassing after preparation for hurt, assault), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), and 34 (criminal act by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The complainant Riyaz Shah has requested police to deploy personnel for communal harmony in Anwa village.
As per Wikipedia, ‘Jai Shri Ram is a slogan for adhering to the Hindu faith. The expression was used by right-wing nationalist organizations and their cohort which embraced the slogan in the late 20th century as a tool for increasing the visibility of Hinduism in public spaces. The slogan has since then been employed for the perpetration of communal violence against people of other faiths.’
