Only God will do justice, says father of Bihar youth jailed for abusing PM during Rahul Gandhi’s Voter Adhikar Yatra

Two months after a video of Mohammed Rizvi alias Raja using abusive language against Prime Minister Narendra Modi went viral, leading to his arrest, his father Mohammed Anish is grappling with the repercussions.

“I don’t want to say much, but the police had beaten my son so much that he looked like a dead person. What was his crime? Only that he comes from a poor family,” says Mr. Anish, sitting at his small two-wheeler repair shop in Bharwara, a village in Darbhanga district in north Bihar. Customers have dried up since the news of his son spread.

The shop is just 8 km away from Bithauli Mor on National Highway-27, where a stage was erected by local Congressman Mohammed Naushad on August 27 to welcome party leader Rahul Gandhi during his Voter Adhikar Yatra, which was being held condemning the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar. After Mr. Gandhi, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav and the other leaders moved on from the spot, Mr. Rizvi was allegedly caught on camera making derogatory remarks against the Prime Minister from the stage. After the video went viral, sparking widespread outrage, a police complaint was lodged by the BJP’s Darbhanga district president and a first information report was registered at the Simri police station against Mr. Naushad and others on August 28. Late that night, Mr. Rizvi was arrested at his home by the police from the Simri and Singhwara stations.

“Next day, when I visited the Simri police station to know why my son was arrested, I found him severely beaten up and pleading his innocence. The police refused to say anything. I took it as a poor man’s fate and returned. Since then, neither me nor his mother have seen him but other members of the family have visited him in Darbhanga jail as he is very weak,” says Mr. Anish.

Clad in a white vest and blue lungi with a black amulet tied tightly around his neck, he turns emotional when recounting his son’s ordeal. “He is innocent and someone must have had coaxed him into doing this but those behind this will also have to face the same kind of problem I am facing now,” he says, adding that he has not been given a copy of the FIR, nor has he been able to hire a lawyer to get his son released from the jail. All he had been able to do for his son was to rub some fragrant oil into his hair to “ward off permanent headache and weakness”.

Asked how and when his son would be released if he does not contest the case in court, he immediately shot back: “Do you think I have money to hire a lawyer? He will be released jab uperwalla chahenge (when God wills).”

“I do not want to talk any more about the issues concerning my innocent son. I have sworn in the name of Allah for this,” he says, adding that he got fed up talking to mediapersons. “None came to my help but got me irritated and exhausted so I took a vow not to speak any further on the issue with anyone. If I speak, Allah will never forgive me… breaking a vow is considered a serious offence in our religion,” he explains.

While Mr. Anish is in his late fifties, his wife Chand Bibi is a “heart patient”. Mr. Rizvi is the third of his eight children. He used to find casual work as a car driver, helping his father financially. Now, Mr. Anish’s sole source of income is the small thatched-roof repair shop with its tin door. “I have a liver problem and have to look after other family members too with this small shop, which I have shifted thrice in the last five years. I have been running the shop at this place only for the past 10 months and have to pay ₹15,000 as monthly rent, which I have not been able to pay for a long time,” he says, sitting down on a wooden bench. “Occasionally, I sleep on this as my regular customers have stopped coming to my shop after the incident, leaving me and my family to survive hand to mouth. These days, I really dread going home with only a few rupees in my pocket, and on some days an empty pocket,” he says, as his eyes get moist.

“I have been a workaholic, never ever an alcoholic. You can ask anyone here in the area about me and my children. I am the lone Muslim in the area and everyone knows me well here... Bus apne kaam se matlab rekhte hain (I only do my work),” he says.

“I am a poor man and have left everything to uperwalla (God),” he says, helplessness writ large on his face.