MP: Muslim man forced to chant ”Jai Shri Ram”, cops arrest two men; Cong says govt ”mute spectator”

PTI, Aug 29, 2021, 4:39 PM IST

Bhopal/Ujjain: A Muslim scrap dealer was allegedly threatened and forced to chant ”Jai Shri Ram” by two men at a village in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain district, following which the police have arrested the accused duo, an official said on Sunday.

The incident occurred on Saturday and two purported videos of it have gone viral on social media.

Talking to reporters, R K Rai, Sub Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP), Mahidpur, said, “The incident happened on Saturday when scrap dealer Abdul Rasheed, a resident of Mahidpur town who has been doing this business here for a long time, went to Sikli village under Jharda police station area to collect some scrap in his mini truck.”

However, Rasheed was forced to leave the village and also threatened against doing his scrap business in the area. When he left the village, two men intercepted him at Pipliya Dhuma, manhandled him and forced him to chant ”Jai Shri Ram”. The man somehow got out from there after giving in to their demand, he said.

Jharda police station in-charge Vikram Singh Ivne said that an offence was registered against the two accused, identified as Kamal Singh (22) and Ishwar Singh (27), for disturbing communal harmony, and they were arrested.

The duo was booked under IPC sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), 505 (2) (public mischief), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), among others.

Meanwhile, two videos of this incident went viral on social media, which drew the ire of several netizens.

In one purported video, the two men were seen throwing scrap from the victim’s four-wheeler and asking him not to enter the village again, while another video shows them threatening and forcing him to chant ”Jai Shri Ram”. It shows them asking him how he dared to enter their village and the victim chanting the slogan as told by the accused.

Reacting to the incident, Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath said that similar incidents had earlier occurred in Indore and Dewas in the state.

“Has it been happening under a specific agenda? The government is watching everything as a mute spectator. An atmosphere of anarchy is being created in the entire state and the law is being mocked,” he said while demanding a strict action against the accused who are “disturbing peace” in the state.

Minister for Medical Education Vishvas Sarang said the state government was taking strict action in all such incidents.

“We are committed to taking action and preventing such incidents. But the questions remain as to why such videos are being made viral from the social media department of Congress. Whether the Congress is behind making such videos and spreading them?” he said.

It is a matter of investigation whether these incidents are planned, the minister added.