Rezaul, a final-year M.Tech student at Aliah University, was returning from the BishwaIjtema in Bangladesh on February 4 when he was assaulted on a local train running from Gede to Sealdah. At Payradanga station, a group of men attempted to forcibly remove him from his seat. When he resisted, they hurled abuses at him, calling him a “Bangladeshi” and accusing him of “invading India.”
One of the attackers, identified as Ajay, taunted him, saying, “Why did you come from Bangladesh? Are you here to capture India?”
The situation escalated as the group physically assaulted Rezaul, punching him, pulling his beard, and snatching away his cap. According to Rezaul, they even shouted, “Kill him now, throw him off the train!”
Rezaul’s friend, Sajid Mirza, tried to record the assault but had his phone snatched away. Recounting the ordeal, Sajid said, “They prevented us from helping him and threatened to throw me off the train if I recorded the incident. They kept saying, ‘You Bangladeshis are destroying the country. You have no education, and you are all militants.’”
After returning to his home in Meshera village, Hooghly, Rezaul received medical treatment and attempted to file a complaint at Haripal Police Station. However, the officer in-charge refused to register an FIR. His father, Rafiqul Islam Mondal, a former madrasa teacher, condemned the attack, demanding strict punishment for the culprits.
“He was beaten just because he wore a cap and had a beard….”
[Read more on Radiancenews.com]