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On 13th October, violence erupted in the Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh, When a young Hindu man named Ram Gopal Mishra was attacked and killed by an Islamist mob during Durga Murti Visarjan procession. Following Mishra’s murder, leftist and Islamist media in the country ran a propaganda campaign portraying the devotees participating in the Durga Murti Visarjan as the villains.
They propagated a narrative that Maa Durga devotees united and attacked houses and shops belonging to the Muslim community. Even the Bahraich police did not initially demand evidence in the matter. However, when OpIndia investigated the incident on the ground, the reality turned out to be the opposite. It was, in fact, the Hindu community that had been victimised following the Islamist mob attack.
Victim lost his way while escaping police lathi-charge
OpIndia spoke to multiple victims of the violence and their relatives. One of them was Prabhakar Tiwari, the brother of Sudhakar Tiwari, a victim of the violence. He told us that his brother was part of the Maa Durga Murti Visarjan procession and had a video showing him peacefully participating in it. During the immersion, the police lathi-charged the crowd, causing Sudhakar to lose his way. Prabhakar explained that his brother accidentally ended up in a Muslim-dominated area while trying to escape the police lathi charge. The area he entered was filled with shops selling meat.
According to Prabhakar, Islamists spotted Sudhakar in the area and attacked him. They struck him on the head and jaw with sticks and sharp weapons. Sudhakar started to bleed profusely and collapsed, losing consciousness. Prabhakar believes that the Islamist mob assumed Sudhakar was dead and left him. Later, he was found unconscious near a mosque and rushed to a local hospital in a government ambulance. Prabhakar emphasised, “Most of the attacks happened near the mosque.”
Serious condition of the victim led to referral from Bahraich to Lucknow
Prabhakar further shared with OpIndia what happened after reaching the hospital. He said that his brother was beaten so brutally that the local hospital had to refer him to Bahraich Medical College for treatment. Upon arrival at the medical college, the doctors deemed his condition critical and referred him to Lucknow. Prabhakar added that no police personnel accompanied them during the journey to Lucknow. Sudhakar underwent treatment at Lucknow Medical College for five days, and his life was eventually saved.
OpIndia accessed some photographs of Sudhakar being transported to the hospital in an ambulance. In the images, his jaw was visibly split open, with blood pouring out. Sudhakar’s family bore the initial costs of the treatment, including a CT scan. Later, some of the medical expenses were covered by the state government. Sudhakar was brought home on 20th October, still covered in bandages. Due to his jaw injury, he struggled to speak.
A religious household thrown into chaos
Prabhakar explained that his entire family is religious and observes fasts throughout the Durga Navratri. When the family learned that Sudhakar had been attacked on the day of the immersion, chaos erupted in the household. The women were crying, while the men set out to search for Sudhakar. His life was saved after much effort. Prabhakar suspects that the Islamists may have targeted his brother after noticing the red cloth (gamcha) on his head.
‘Should we leave the state or country if it becomes Muslim-dominated in the future?’
Speaking to OpIndia, Prabhakar raised a serious question. He challenged the logic of referring to the route of the Maa Durga Murti Visarjan procession as a “Muslim-dominated area” following the Islamist mob attack on Hindu men during Durga Visarjan. He questioned those calling the path a Muslim area.
“The immersion procession passes through this route every year. Now, giving the excuse of it being a Muslim-dominated area is nonsense. Should we leave the state or country in the future if it becomes Muslim-dominated?,” Prabhakar asked those making such statements to speak more thoughtfully.
This report was first published on OpIndia Hindi which can be checked here.