By Huneza Khan / India Tomorrow
LUCKNOW—A mosque was vandalized and many Muslim houses were set on fire during the Durga idol immersion procession in Ibrahimpur village in the Sultanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, where the government is headed by a Hindu monk Yogi Adityanath aka Arvind Kumar Bisht.
A Hindu mob carrying swords and other weapons attacked the Muslims and set their homes on fire. However, Muslims alleged that instead of controlling the miscreants assaulting Muslims, the police attacked the Muslim houses and looted valuables and cash.
Local Muslims allege the Inspector of the local police station allegedly delivered a hate speech against Muslims and incited the mob to take to violence.
While Muslims are victims, police named 50 Muslims and one Hindu in the FIR. As many as 32 Muslims were arrested till the writing of this report.
One of the victims identifying herself as Ishrat Jahan, told India Tomorrow that Hindu vandals set her home afire.
A widow and mother of three children, Ishrat alleged that her house was set on fire in police presence.
“They looted everything. We have been hungry for three days. They cleared all the evidence of arson. The police are raiding homes in search of Muslim men. The attackers are our neighbours. I can recognize all of them by their names,” narrated Ishrat.
She accused the police of tearing women’s clothes for not telling the whereabouts of their men.
Narrating her tale of woe, the widow said that she lost everything except the clothes on her body and that of her children.
How did the violence break?
After the evening or Maghrib prayers, the Durga idol immersion procession was taken on October 10.
She alleged that the men in the immersion were armed with iron rods, lathis, and swords. In addition, they had a truck loaded with rubble.
ना सिर्फ़ मस्जिद में तोड़फोड़ की गई बल्कि आसपास के घरों में लूटपाट कर वाहनों में आग भी लगाई गई और पुलिस जले हुए वाहनों को अपने साथ लेकर चली गई, जिन घरो में लूटपाट हुई उनमें ताले भी लगा दिए गये है,उल्टा मुस्लिम समाज के 52 लोगों के ख़िलाफ़ 17 संगीन धाराओं में केस दर्ज किया गया है! pic.twitter.com/BEXVHwIZfV
— Zakir Ali Tyagi (@ZakirAliTyagi) October 12, 2022
“This indicates that the violence was pre-planned. They blocked the Masjid gate with the Durga idol. The Muslim worshippers requested them to give way, but the other side started violence instead. First, they beat Muslims, then Muslims defended themselves and ran to save their lives,” said Ishrat.
Hindus removed the flags set to celebrate the Eid Milad-un-Nabi a day before the violence. But Muslims did not react.
This story was originally published in indiatomorrow.net . Read the full story here