A Muslim street vendor was assaulted, beaten up, and abused by a Hindutva mob in Jassur town of Himachal Pradesh’s Nurpur district on 17 August, Thursday. The incident ensued after a Facebook post surfaced on social media written by Rajput Aryaveer Thakur on 9 August, calling to boycott the Muslim-owned businesses.
The social media post mentioned AK Fast Food at Jassur railway junction owned by Alamgeer and called Hindus to boycott buying from his shop and invest their money in a nearby food vendor, Himachali Fast Food, run by one Raghu, who is a Hindu.
30-year-old Alamgeer and his brother ran the Momos stall AK Fast Food for the last 10 years.
On the eve of August 17, a Hindutva mob surrounded Alamgeer’s stall and asked him to remove his stall which was near a stall owned by a Hindu.
He was called Mulla, a derogatory term used by right-wing and Hindu extremists to demonize Muslims.
Explaining his ordeal to Maktoob, Alamgeer said, “It is the first instance in the last 10 years, I never came across any such incident. People from all faiths come to my stall to eat momos, neither have I discriminated against anyone based on their beliefs, identity, or religion.”
He said, “I was simply working as usual, and they came and started threatening me and asked me to remove my shop, when I asked them the reason, they started beating me and called me a Mulla and accuse me of spitting on the food I sell.”
“They told me that I can’t put up my stall beside a Hindu stall and when I asked them the reason, he took out the iron bangle he was wearing in his hand and started attacking me with that.”
“They also attempted to throw the oil, which was boiling in the wok; it could have come on me but I was saved by an inch”, he alleged.
The assaulters also threatened the customers at Alamgeer’s shop for having snacks and told them, “Do you have any shame; you are eating from a mullah’s shop being a Hindu.”
The customers chose not to intervene and made their way to some other shop. The bystanders also didn’t speak or helped Alamgeer.
Alamgeer who not only participated but also celebrated ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’, recently on August 15th and proudly hoisted a flag at his home claims that he was attacked for his religious identity.
He asked, “This is done only because I am a Muslim. They mentioned it in a Facebook post and I came to know about it after I was attacked.”
The Facebook post written in Hindi further reads, “Swatantra Bharat main kisi ko bhi rozgar prapt karne ka adhikar hai, lekin hum hinduon ko kya karna hai shayad ye batane ki zarurat nahi hai, aarthik bahishkar hi in jihadiyon ki kamar tod sakta hai (Everyone has a right to employment in an independent India, but I do not need to tell Hindus that only economic boycott can break the will of JIHADIS).”
Thakur is a self-proclaimed digital creator and his Facebook profile substantiates his anti-Muslim and Islamophobic sentiments as can be seen in his other Facebook posts.
The residents say that the area has never witnessed a communal clash since 1947, and these incidents have recently started taking place.
A local asking for anonymity said, “People co-existed here very peacefully, the calls to boycott Muslim businesses in Uttarakhand have got influence here too.”
On the other hand, Alamgeer suspects that the attack has a connection with Raghu and he had instigated it as his business was not going so well. Moreover, both vendors don’t have any relations at all. Despite having stalls beside each other, they barely talk with each other.
Maktoob tried to approach Raghu, the owner of the Himachali Fast Food but couldn’t get his reaction as he refused to talk about the incident.
Alamgeer decided to file a police complaint but his complaint has not been registered yet as the police have asked him to get the medical checkups done.
Medical reports suggest multiple severe physical and internal injuries, after the incident he was taken to the civil hospital in Jassur.
The medical reports reviewed by Maktoob also state soft tissue swelling in the frontal area of his head. The CT scan report suggests trauma with swelling in the frontal region.
Vivek Singh, Investigating officer of Nurpur Police Station said, “We got to know that there was a scuffle between two groups and we are still investigating the matter.”
When asked about the viral Facebook post, Singh denied to respond and said, “We don’t have any information about it.”
