The country’s capital, Delhi, is now a battlefield. Already 42 people have died in three days of religious violence. Many houses in north-east Delhi have been set on fire. The mosque was not spared from this fire of religious destruction. One such was Farooqi Masjiid, located in the Brijpuri area of Mustafabad. I visited the area to report for The Companion. I talked to the people over there, and got to know horrifying spate of violence during those three days.
According to locals, the police themselves allegedly set the mosque on fire. The incident took place on the 24th of February, at 6:30 pm. For some days, anti- CAA-NRC protest was happening beside the mosque . But suddenly the police reached the area during the Maghrib (dawn) prayers and threw out the pandals at the site. Women protesters were attacked. Then, inside the mosque, the police started brutally sticking to those who were praying. Many men and women, including Imam and Muazzin, were injured in the attack. On the spot, a man named Zakir was shot dead by police. Local people told me that four bullets were shot at Zakir.
Stains of blood can still be seen on the floor of the mosque. According to locals, the police set fire on mosque. The mosque was completely destroyed, the copies of Qur’an were burned.
The brutality of the police did not stop at this. The Jamiatul Huda Madrasa is located in the vicinity of the Farooqi Mosque. The following day the police arrived at the madrassa around 8:30 am. During the conversation, a person who offered prayers on 24th February inside the mosque said that the CCTV camera was inside the madrassa. The CCTV had recorded everything that the police did on the previous day. At the madrassa, the police again set everything on fire. The whole madrassa was set ablaze. The arson burnt the Quran, the books of the students, everything including the CCTV system, which had the 24th February footage.
Farooqi Mosque and madrasa president, Mohammad Fakiruddin said two people died in the incident, and five more are missing. Fakiruddin Saheb said, “I want severe punishment for those who have made such cruel events.” Not with violence, we go to live in peace. There is no hatred for any religion among us. We all want to be together”.
The Delhi violence has brought back to memory the mayhem of the Gujarat pogrom.
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This story first appeared in https://thecompanion.in on February 29, 2020, more
