By Shuriah Niazi
NEW DELHI (AA) : Police in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan have arrested two people on Saturday for allegedly beating a Muslim rickshaw driver, and forcing him to chant “Modi zindabad” — long live Modi — in reference to the country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and “Jai Shree Ram” (Glory to Lord Rama).
According to the police, 52-year-old Gaffar Ahmed Kachawa had lodged a police complaint against two individuals at the Sadar Police Station in the Sikar city for beating and forcing him to chant slogans on Friday.
In a police complaint, Kachawa said two unknown people stopped him after he dropped his passengers in a nearby village and that they asked him to chant “Modi zindabad”.
“When I refused to chant, they pulled my beard, punched my tooth out, and even asked me to go to Pakistan,” said Kachawa in his complaint to the police.
The police station arrested Shambhudaya Jat and Rajendra Jat on Kachawa’s complaint.
According to Pushpendra Singh, the police station in charge, “the two accused involved in assaulting Kachawa were consuming alcohol at the time of the incident.”
Kachawa has been admitted in a city hospital after sustaining multiple injuries – broken teeth, a swollen eye and bruises on his cheek.
“Two men stopped Kacchawa on the pretext of tobacco. However, after he shared tobacco with them they refused to take it and instead forced him to say ‘Jai Shree Ram’ and ‘Modi Zindabad’. When Kacchawa refused to say any of these slogans, the duo slapped and hit him on his face”, reads the FIR lodged by the Sikar police. In the FIR, Kacchawa also claimed that the duo stole money from his wallet along with his wristwatch.
“They chased me and forced me to come out of the auto and hit me badly with a stick due to which my teeth broke and my eye was left swollen. The attackers also said that they will send me to Pakistan”, Kacchawa, who is hospitalised in the government hospital in Sikar, said in his complaint, reports Outlook India.
Recently, there have been many cases of attacks on Muslims in India.
[Photo: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi performs Bhoomi Pujan at ‘Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir’ (Ram Temple) in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh on August 05, 2020. Photograph by Indian Government / Handout/AA]