Madrasa students beaten up and forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’

A group of children studying at a madrasa in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh were allegedly forced to say ‘Jai Shree Ram’ on July 11. However, when the children refused to chant the slogan, they were allegedly beaten up badly with their clothes being torn off and their cycles being vandalised. According to the Imam of Unnao’s Jama Masjid, a group of men from Bajrang Dal were involved in the incident. Police have registered a case in connection with the incident and have identified three accused tracing their Facebook accounts. The accused have purportedly identified themselves as members of Bajrang Dal in their social media accounts.

According to reports, the children went to a ground to play cricket after concluding their namaaz at around 2 pm. It was then that a group of four men arrived at the ground and after a debate over playing cricket they alleged started beating the children and even forced them to chant ‘Jai Shree Ram’. After the incident, the children came back to madrasa and narrated the incident. Police arrived at the madrasa and took cognisance of the matter.

Unnao Circle Officer Umesh Kumar Tyagi informed that the children from the madrasa usually go to the GIC Inter-College ground to play cricket on Thursdays and the ground is also filled with others, who come there to play. The imam of Jama Masjid has demanded quick probe into the matter and arrest of the accused at the earliest possible.

This is not for the first time that an incident like this has came to light in UP. In a similar incident which took place on July 4, a group of men locked up an auto driver in a washroom and pelted stones at him. Reportedly, the auto drive, Mohammad Aatib, accused that he was attacked by the men for refusing to chant ‘Jai Shree Ram’.

A Muslim youth who was wearing a skull cap was allegedly thrashed and insulted in Kanpur by some unidentified persons after he refused to chant ‘Jai Sri Ram’, the police said on June 29. The attack happened in the evening when the youth, identified as Taj Mohammad, was returning to his home in the Barra area from the madrasa after offering prayers.