Pehlu Khan to Afrazul: Series of hate crimes shadowed 2017

The year 2017 is year of hate crimes in India. The public lynching on suspicion of beef traders or eaters has only risen throughout the year and there is no impunity for those responsible for such hate crimes against Muslims. Have a chronological look at the hate crimes incidents reported in several states of India in 2017 in which Muslims were targeted. Rajasthan: Pehlu Khan On 1 April, 2017 at 6 pm, Pehlu Khan and others were brutally beaten up by Gau Rakshaks in Alwar while they were on their way to Haryana after purchasing two milch cows for Rs 75,000 in Rajasthan. Seriously injured Khan was rushed to a hospital but succumbed to injuries two days later. The mercilessly thrashing video footage of the incident went viral on social media platforms which triggered triggered a massive furore. In a dying declaration, the 55-year-old dairy farmer named six accused in his FIR. Later in September, all the six accused named by Khan given a clean chit on the basis of statements of those present at the scene of the crime, photographs and mobile phone location records. Khan was among the five Muslims beaten up on suspicion of transporting cows for slaughter on April 1 this year. Malegaon: Meat traders On May 26, 2017, Two Muslim meat traders were beaten up by a group of goons in Malegaon, Maharashtra on suspicion of possessing beef. A video of the incident which went viral on social media platform shows the assailants attacking the meat traders. In the video, an apparent ‘Gau Rakshaks’ is seen repeatedly slapping a man, demanding him to say “jai Sri Ram”. Delhi: Hafiz Junaid Khan On 22 June 2017, 17-year-old Hafiz Junaid Khan and his brothers Hashim and Sakir were returning home after Eid shopping in Delhi when a group of co-passengers hurled communal slurs on-board the Delhi-Mathura passenger train and stabbed Junaid to death while his brothers were also injured. The attackers repeatedly called us “anti-nationals” and “beef eaters”, threw our skull caps on the floor. They caught our beards and taunted us with terms such as “mulla”, the four injured to Hindustan Times. The accused dumped the bleeding Junaid at Asaoti village in Faridabad district where he breathe his last on his brother’s lap. The killing of Junaid Khan on the pretext of being meat eaters three days before Eid had triggered a nationwide outrage. Protests were held in several cities across India under the banner of “#NotInMyName” to protest lynching. West Bengal: Anwar Hussain (19) and Hafizul Sheikh (19) On 27 August 2017 at around 3:30 am, two youths in their 19’s lynched by a mob over the suspicion of cow thieves at Barhoria village in Jalpaiguri district in West Bengal. Anwar Hussain and Hafizul Sheikh, both 19 years old, were beaten to death by the mob, which intercepted their vehicle and dragged them out of it. “The men had purchased seven cattle from the market and had lost their way to Tufanganj in the middle of the night,” the police officer told IndiaSpend on 1 September, 2017. While Nazrul Islam (25), the driver of the vehicle escaped the mob accosted Hussain and Sheikh and demanded Rs 50,000 to let them pass the area. When refuse to oblige to their demands the mob attacked and lynched them. They were declared brought dead when taken to the Dhupguri hospital for treatment. West Bengal: Three Muslim youths On 22 June 2017, barely two days before Eid, three Muslim youth identified as Nasirul Haque (30), a resident of Kutipara, Mohammad Samiruddin (32), a resident of Kandarpara, and Mohammed Nasir (33) from Dhalugunj were lynched in Durgapur village, West Bengal, by a mob of gau rakshaks over suspicion of cow theft. According to the IndiaSpend hate crime database, Bengal’s cow-related lynching death count to five persons, making it the deadliest state for bovine-related violence in 2017. Rajasthan: Mohammad Afrazul (45) On December 6, 2017 Fifty-year-old Mohammed Afrazul was hacked and burnt alive to death in Rajasthan’s Rajsamand by Shambulal Regar (37). Afrazul, the family’s sole earning member had migrated from West Bengal for work and had been living and working in Rajasthan for several years. The accused called him on the pretext of giving him work to a deserted spot and beaten Afrazul black and blue. Later kerosene was poured on him and he torched to death by Shambulal. Shambulal had roped in his 14-year-old nephew to film the killing. After the barbaric act, the accused posted the blood curdling video of the brutal murder on social media platforms with inflammatory and communal comments to defend the act. In a pair of white trousers, a red shirt and white muffler, Shambulal is seen ranting against “love jihad”.