20-Mar-2023

Maharashtra: 2 Muslim boys arrested for putting a status on Aurangzeb

Location: Maharashtra

This incident, reported from Savarde, Kholapur, had started with a status on social media. A Muslim teenager named Mohammad Momin had put a status on Aurangzeb and the recent name change of the city of Aurangabad. In February, Aurangabad had been renamed as Sambhaji Nagar. The said status put up by Momin had caused a flurry of reactions from the Hindutva far-right groups, who took to violence. As reported by Lokmat, a local Marathi newspaper, the Hindutva groups has assembled at Momin’s house and caused havoc. The far-right extremists had also set fire to Sugar Sack Warehouse and a tempo owned by the family. They had also attacked and assaulted Momin’s father.

It has further been alleged that the extremist Hindu outfits had been pressuring the panchayat to throw Momin and his family out of the village. While the local Sarpanch, who along belongs from the majority community, had been resisting the demands, the police did not do the same. In a turn of events, instead of arresting the goons who set Mohammad Momin’s warehouse on fire, attacked his father and had been threatening the Sarpanch to throw Mohammad Momin’s family out of the village, Mohammad Momin himself has been arrested by the Kolhapur Police and charged with harming “religious harmony”. Momin has been booked under Section 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code.

Sources:

https://sabrangindia.in/article/rising-intolerance-maharashtra-2-muslim-boys-arrested-putting-status-aurangzeb