Madrasa Student Allegedly Thrashed Till Unconscious on Moving Train in Aligarh

New Delhi: Days after a youth, Tabrez Ansari, was brutally assaulted on suspicion of theft and forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ in Kharsawan district of Jharkhand, a somewhat similar incident has come to light in Aligarh, where a 17-year-old madrasa student was allegedly assaulted in moving train by a group of five men and was also forced to remove his 'skull cap'.

As per reports, Mohd Farman Niazi, a student of a madrasa in Bareilly, was travelling from his home in Aligarh by the train when a group of 10-15 people boarded the train at Rajghat Narora station. Niazi claimed that after seeing his beard and skull cap, they started passing remarks and then started beating him up.

"I study in a madrasa in Bareilly. I came to my home in Aligarh for holidays and was returning to Bareilly on June 18. I was travelling by the Aligarh-Bareilly passenger train. Around 10-15 people boarded at Rajghat Narora station and sat near my seat. Suddenly, they started taunting and passing remarks. Then they kicked me and threw my skull cap out of the train. They tore my kurta pajama and broke my spectacles. I kept silent out of fear as they were in group. Not a single passenger came to my rescue. A few of those men were making videos while they were beating me. They thrashed me till I lost consciousness," Farman told Newsclick , while sobbing over the phone.

When asked how he reached home after losing consciousness, the 17-year-old boy said: "When I came to my senses, I found myself lying on a field near Khair area. A woman with the help of my Aadhaar card and some local people who had gathered on the spot sent me home to Aligarh by bus,” he said.   

Meanwhile, a FIR was lodged in the Jawan police station against unknown people. The police have started the investigation with the help of Government Railway Police. 

Read Also: Jharkhand’s 14th Lynching in Four Years, Country’s 266th

The issue came into the limelight after former president of Aligarh Muslim University Students Union, Faizul Hasan, posted a video of Niazi explaining his ordeal.

"Recently, we held protest against the killing of Tabrez Ansari in AMU campus, demanding a law against mob lynching. Such incidents will not stop in near future until the government makes a law,” he said, adding that Muslims across the country were being targeted on the basis of their attire, beard, skull caps etc. “Now the option left for us is that we stop wearing kurta pajama," he added.

PROTEST AGAINST MOB LYNCHING 

Meanwhile, a protest was held in Deoband on June 28 after Jumma Namaz. Thousands of people including ulemas (Muslim intellectuals) along with politicians gathered and raised their voice against increasing mob violence against Muslims and dalits. 

Mahmood, one of the organisers of the protest told Newsclick, "More than 6,000 gathered after Friday prayer. The protest was held in the presence of many political leaders, including Imran Masood and Masood Ahmad. Our demands from the government are to stop lynching incidents and give justice to those who have been lynched in the past. If our demands not met, we will gherao Parliament till the Centre does not bring a law to stop lynching.” 

According to data collated from media reports by Factchecker.in, Tabrez Ansari's  lynching was the 14th case of hate crimes in Jharkhand in the past four years. With Ansari’s death, 11 such cases have been recorded in 2019 itself while the total number of such incidents since Modi-led BJP came to power first in 2014 has increased to a staggering 266.