Ghaziabad Police in Uttar Pradesh has registered a case against Twitter, Congress leaders Dr Shama Mohammed, Salman Nizami, and Maskoor Usmani, journalists Mohammed Zubair, Rana Ayyub and media outlet The Wire and writer Saba Naqvi over tweets in connection with the assault of an elderly Muslin man.
The case registered under the charges IPC sections 153 (provocation for rioting), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups), 295A (acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 505 (mischief), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) against them.
“The tweets by the accused had been broadcast on a large scale. The tweets by the accused hint at a criminal conspiracy. The accused and other people tried to create animosity between Hindus and Muslims. The statements made in social media were an attempt to destroy communal harmony. These false tweets had been retweeted by thousands of users. The accused include journalists and political persons who did not make an attempt to establish the truth in the case and spread false news,” read the FIR.
After a video of the Hindu youths’ horrific assault on a 72-year-old elderly Muslim Abdul Samad in Ghaziabad went viral on social media, many including politicians, activists and celebrities took to Twitter to register their protest against ongoing anti-Muslim violence in Uttar Pradesh.
In the video of the incident, a group of men can be seen brutally thrashing the 72-year-old Abdul Samad. It also showed them forcefully cut his beard using a scissor. Samad told Maktoob that the Hindu men offered him an auto ride, took him to an isolated spot and beat him up, forcing him to chant Jai Shri Ram and sing Vande Mataram.
Following a large scale outrage in social media against the latest Islamophobia attack in Uttar Pradesh, the Ghaziabad police have ruled out any anti-Muslim angle in the incident.
Three people have so far been arrested for allegedly assaulting the elderly man, Abdul Samad.
The arrested accused have been identified as Parvesh Gujjar, Kallu and Aadil.
However in a bizarre incident, Ghaziabad police have arrested a Muslim youth Aadil who “rushed to the scene to rescue Abdul Samad” from assailants.
Two other Muslim men Aarif and Mushahid were also named in the FIR.
Aadil’s brother Mohammad Sajid told Maktoob that Aadil was innocent of the charges against him.
“Aadil and his friends received a call informing them that Samad was being assaulted by Pravesh Gujjar and others. They rushed to the scene to rescue him” Sajid told Maktoob, while on his way to the court to challenge the false allegations against Aadil.
