‘Jihadi mentality’: Muslim law student alleges assault at Bhopal garba event
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The Madhya Pradesh Police have allegedly appeared to favour the right-wing Bajrang Dal over a Muslim law student who claims he was assaulted by the organisation’s members at a garba event in Bhopal, as an FIR was registered against him and two others on a complaint by a Bajrang Dal functionary, while the student’s counter-complaint remained unregistered.
The incident occurred at SAM College on the night of 16 October, during a Navratri garba event, when a confrontation reportedly erupted over the presence of Muslim students and the songs being played at the venue, The Wire reported.
According to the FIR, Pushpraj Yadav, 29, the Bajrang Dal’s district student head, visited the college with two other office-bearers after learning that people were dancing “obscenely” to film songs. Yadav alleged that when they objected to the songs, two students assaulted and abused them, while threatening to kill them. He also accused faculty member Neeraj Gupta of siding with the students and threatening to have the visitors removed by bouncers.
The FIR, registered at Bilkhiriya police station on 17 October, invokes five provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including those relating to obscene songs in public, causing hurt, and criminal intimidation involving death threats.
However, the account offered by the students differs considerably. Sameer Alam, a 23-year-old final-year law student from Uttar Pradesh, alleged that Bajrang Dal members entered the campus, took over the stage and demanded that people of a “jihadi mentality” leave within five minutes, while raising “Jai Shri Ram” slogans.
Alam stated in his counter-complaint, submitted online on 18 October, that he was stopped near the gate and questioned about his identity. After learning that he was Muslim, a man allegedly grabbed him by the neck, following which 15 to 20 people assaulted him, hurling communal slurs and threatening to kill him.
He named six men, including Yadav and another Bajrang Dal functionary, Yash Dwivedi, whom he accused of participating in the assault. Alam also alleged that the attackers recorded the incident and circulated the footage on social media, while he lost a wallet containing approximately Rs 7,600.
Alam said fear arising from the alleged death threats delayed his approach to the police, and that he eventually complained after his family persuaded him. A video circulating online appears to show Bajrang Dal workers slapping him.
When contacted, police reportedly said that Alam’s complaint had not resulted in an FIR because he had not personally visited the station, although he maintained that the university had recorded his statement and assured him that a case would be registered.