Man assaulted in Uttarakhand for refusing to chant religious slogans, 3 arrested: police

“I went to have tea at Rakesh Lal’s tea shop. Inside the shop, there were already three people under the influence of liquor. One of them, named Mukesh Bhatt, asked me to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’,” said the complaint. When he refused, Ahmad alleged that he was assaulted, abused, and threatened by Bhatt and his two companions.

“They caught hold of my beard, pulled it violently, and shouted: ‘Cut this man’s beard!’ They made a video of this assault. I was forced to chant ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and ‘Jai Shri Ram’. Somehow, I escaped through the back of the shop and ran towards my vehicle,” he said.

In the same complaint, Ahmad alleged that the accused had threatened another man from Saharanpur, Muhtiyar Puttan Islam, on the same day and tried to force him to chant “Jai Shri Ram”.

A video of the incident showed the man bleeding after being beaten up by the three accused. While another man filmed the incident, the tea shop owner watched on. The video showed Ahmad being abused throughout and being subjected to communal slurs by the accused. One of the men is seen asking him why he could not chant “Bharat Mata ki Jai” on Independence Day, while another says, “If you want to live in Hindustan, you must chant Jai Shri Ram.” The men say that the government is that of Hindus until Ahmad feebly mumbles the chant. “We will cut you by halal, we will cut you by jhatka,” one of the accused is heard saying.

The accused have been identified as Mukesh Bhatt, Naveen Bhandari, and Manish Bisht. The FIR was registered on Saturday under BNS sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 196 (oromoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion…), 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings), 351(2) (criminal intimidation), and 352 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) at Srinagar police station in Pauri.

“All three youths have been arrested for assaulting and misbehaving with the victim. They were produced before the court and legal proceedings are underway,” said an official.

Bhatt is from Rishikesh, Bisht is from Srinagar, and Bhandari is from Chinyalisaur in Uttarkashi.

Aiswarya Raj is a correspondent with The Indian Express who covers South Haryana. An alumna of Asian College of Journalism and the University of Kerala, she started her career at The Indian Express as a sub-editor in the Delhi city team. In her current position, she reports from Gurgaon and covers the neighbouring districts. She likes to tell stories of people and hopes to find moorings in narrative journalism. ... Read More

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