WPI Delegation meets relatives of the deceased, assuring full support
– Anwarulhaq Baig
New Delhi, 30 Sep. 23: A delegation from the Welfare Party of India (WPI), led by its National President Dr. SQR Ilyas, visited the home of a mentally challenged Muslim youth, who was recently lynched in Sundar Nagar area here on the allegation of stealing prasad from Ganesh idols.
According to media reports, Mohammad Israr was tied to an electric pole and brutally beaten to death for allegedly consuming some food items such as Prasad, from a Ganesh Pandal in North-East Delhi district. According to his Aadhaar card, he was 22 years old.
Offering condolences with Israr’s 60-year-old father, Abdul Wahid, and four sisters, the WPI President described it as a heinous act and great injustice with them. Assuring the deceased’s family of providing all possible help, including legal support, and making every effort to ensure swift justice for them, Dr. Ilyas vowed that it would be the party’s top priority to bring all the culprits behind this cruel act to the court of law for severe punishment. On this occasion, the party also provided some financial assistance to the affected family for their basic needs.
Dr. Ilyas pointed out that the police were labelling it as a reaction to the theft allegation, whereas it was, in fact, the result of the increasing influence of communal poison being spread by Hindutva elements among the youth in society. WPI State General Secretary Arif Akhlaq, WPI South East District Secretary Kaif Ahmad, and other party cadre from Seemapuri were part of the delegation.
According to reports, police have arrested seven people including 17-year boy in the case. Deputy Commissioner of police (North East Delhi) Joy Tirkey has denied any communal angle in the incident.
Meanwhile, the CPI (M) has written a letter to the commissioner of police, demanding immediate strong action against all those involved in this hate crime . The CPI(M) Delhi state committee, in its letter called on the police to look into the role of certain extremist groups in spreading religious hatred in the area, also cautioning the Delhi Police about the VHP-RSS designs to escalate the communal violence in Nuh, Haryana to parts of Delhi then. The CPI(M) also asked the Delhi Police for stringent action against such elements promoting communal disharmony.
Condemning the incident, National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) general secretary Muralidharan laments, “incidents of abuse, physical attacks and killings of disabled people are being reported at regular intervals. However, this has acquired a much more dangerous dimension with disabled people being targeted for their religious identity.”
Sharing the purported video, in which some goons are mercilessly beating the youth on its X account, Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) expressed shock over the incident and wrote, “This is India’s capital city where a 26-year-old disabled Muslim man named Mohammed Israr was tied to a pole and lynched by a Hindu mob for allegedly consuming prasad (sweets) at a temple.”
As mob lynching incidents, mainly targeting Muslims, continue to escalate in the country, there is a growing demand for the enactment of a law against mob lynching. Several Muslims have been lynched or attacked by Hindu mobs over minor issues or suspicions.
