The Uttar Pradesh police has initiated draconian National Security Act (NSA) proceedings against Samajwadi Party leader Ummed Pehelwan Idris in connection with the video of an elderly Muslim man named Abdul Samad assaulted allegedly by Hindu youth after forcing him to chant Jai Sree Ram in Ghaziabad.
Ghaziabad Police claimed that Idris had been arrested for allegedly spreading communal hatred after he appeared in an FB live with Abdul Samad after the brutal attack against Samad.
The police had claimed there was no communal angle to the assault.
The procedural report to invoke the NSA against Idris has been given due approval by the Home Department. The police have invoked section 3 (power to detain persons) of the National Security Act, 1980 against the local politician.
In the FB live video, Abdul Samad had claimed that the accused offered him an autorickshaw ride, took him to an isolated spot and beat him up, forcing him to chant Jai Shri Ram. However, the police have said the accused beat him up because he had sold them a ‘tabeez’ (amulet)” they believed did not work. Family denied police version and spoke to media that Samad was nothing to do with ‘tabeez’.
The FIR against the SP leader had been filed under IPC sections 153a (promoting enmity), 295a (act intended to outrage religious feelings), 504 (intentional insult), 505 (mischief) and 120b (conspiracy), and section 67 of the IT act.
Apart from Idrisi, the Uttar Pradesh police have filed a case against Twitter India, The Wire, journalists Rana Ayyub, Saba Naqvi and Mohammad Zubair, and Congress leaders Salman Nizami, Masqoor Usmani and Sama Mohammad in connection with their social media posts about the assault.
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.
 proceedings against Samajwadi Party leader Ummed Pehelwan Idris in connection with the video of an elderly Muslim man named Abdul Samad assaulted allegedly by Hindu youth after forcing him to chant Jai Sree Ram in Ghaziabad.){kind=link}