Two men, Qasim and Samayuddin, were assaulted in a gruesome manner by a mob in Hapur. Qasim who was seen dragged along with policemen died later in a hospital. Samayuddin, who had gone to intervene, was also beaten seriously and is in critical condition in a local hospital.
Mehruddin, the brother of Samayuddin, who was critically injured in the incident, told reporters at the Press Club of India on June 22 that their families were living in an atmosphere of fear. He also claimed that their families were being kept in dark about the investigations into the case. Mehruddin also claimed they had met Samayuddin at the hospital, and noticed that his thumb had an ink mark. “When I asked about it, he (Samayuddin) said he was not aware of it. We don’t know what would happen to us next and we are scared,” added Mehruddin.
Colin Gonsalves, Advocate of the Supreme Court of India and the founder of Human Rights Law Network while elaborating on the legal perspective, said, “In view of the way we have seen how Uttar Pradesh police have played their part till now, it is necessary to get the case transferred to a Supreme Court Bench so that the case can be heard without any pressure and due process is followed at the very steps so that the family and the near ones of the victims can get justice.” He also asked the client to file a PIL in the Supreme Court and prepare a team of lawyers in Delhi as well as in Hapur in order to take this case to its logical end because evidence-wise it can be a good case to fight on.
Qasim’s brother Nadeem said they have to seek justice as it was not a road-rage case but they killed Qasim because of his religion. We are afraid and really don’t know the complexity of the case and how to move on. Even the FIR was not lodged as per our choice how can we expect of justice then.
Prof. Apoorvanand, social activist and professor at Delhi University, while reminding the audience of the lynching of Junaid exactly a year ago, said at that point of time it was claimed to be a case of fight for seat just like they are claiming that Hapur was a case of road rage. These lynching cases are not only aimed at 2019 general elections but also go beyond. Through these lynchings they want to give a message to Muslims that look we will not only kill you but also claim pride for it through social media and you cannot do anything. Youth are being constantly poisoned against Muslims with the help of various mediums and thereby it is important for us to decide whether we are going to protect and preserve the fundamentals of our country or allow them to do what they want.
Dr. Mohammad Salim Engineer, Secretary General of Jamaat–e-Islami Hind, after informing the audience at the press conference in the national capital about his visit to Hapur along with a Fact-Finding Team led by United Against Hate, said civil society groups should raise their voice in solidarity with the victims and their family members to give them confidence and to put pressure on the local administration and the state government against such lynchings. He also argued how one can think of justice when we can see that people at the helm of affairs are not even hesitating to be on the side of the perpetrators. It is we the concerned citizens who can and should put required amount of pressure upon the powers-that-be to provide justice.
Arfa Khanam, a renowned journalist, claimed that these lynchings are well-thought-out conspiracy to keep Muslims from economic activity so that they become helpless and are reduced to work like marginalised labourers like manual scavengers and other small workers. These conspiracies are aimed at making Muslims socially, politically and economically inactive while keeping them in constant state of fear and anxiety. If people at the helm of affairs in democratic institutions are taking side with the perpetrators then which pillar of democracy should we believe in and trust upon.
Earlier, a team of United Against Hate comprising Nadeem Khan (activist), Shariq Hussain (activist) and Adv. Mushfiq and Shibli from the Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR) visited the village of the victims and met the family members.
According to Nadeem Khan of United Against Hate, the police are trying to divert this incident from a case of hate crime to that of road rage. They say that some motorbikers pelted stones on Qasim who entered into a brawl with them which resulted in his killing, and injury of Samiyuddin. He further said that ironically police officers who were supposed to protect him were too worried about a photo which had gone viral on the internet wherein Qasim was dragged like a dead animal to the police jeep by the locals, led by men in uniform. Police officers seem to be more worried about this photo being taken rather than the merit of the case.