KOLKATA: Twenty-year-old youngster said that he was allegedly assaulted and bullied by a group of unidentified persons for sporting skull cap and beard.
According to reports, the incident took place on a moving local when Mohammad Shahrukh Haldar was travelling to Hoogly on Thursday afternoon. Shahrukh, a madrasa teacher is a resident of Canning, a town in south 24 Parganas of Kolkata. He also alleged that the men also forced him to chant religious slogans of “Jai Shree Ram.”
Speaking to eNewsroom over the phone Shahrukh alleged:
“I had boarded the local train from Canning, to reach my Madarsa in Hoogly, like I usually do. However, on Thursday, when the train reached Dhakuria, a lot of people boarded chanting religious slogans. From their attire, it seemed like they were going to attend some rally and seemed to be members of Hindu Samhiti. We were seated and kept quiet. Soon we heard some ruckus, it seemed like there was some quarrelling on in the compartment, just next to ours. However, we little realised that it would reach our compartment soon.”
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He went on to narrate the incident saying, “As the train reached Ballygunge, these people then began harassing men sporting skull caps and beard. They then asked me as to why I was sporting a skull cap and beard. They also asked me chant Jai Shree Ram. When I didn’t reply to their questioning, they began assaulting me. By this time the train entered Park Circus. Here they pulled me along with others towards the train and pushed us off. Some locals came to our rescue. By the time I narrated my ordeal the train chugged away.”
Shahrukh went to the Topsia Police station and lodged a police complaint, following which the case against an unidentified person has been taken up by the GRP but no arrests were made as the police yet to traced the assailants and booked them.
The worrying attacks on Muslim minority community across the country become more frequent after PM Modi once again propelled to power following his party’s spectacular win. It was also not surprising that tide of violence making the minorities feel the heat.