Hindu Extremists Vandalize Mosque, Kill Deputy Imam near India’s Capital
Gurgaon’s Sector 57 mosque was vandalized, set on fire and its deputy imam murdered by a mob amidst reports of tension prevailing in Haryana’s Mewat after a Hindutva procession caused a communal flare up.
Sources said the mosque was attacked at 12:30 am last night by a large armed mob which fired on the mosque and then set it on fire. The chief imam of the mosque was away to his village last night. But the naib-imam or deputy imam, who would lead prayers in his absence, was assaulted, stabbed 13 times with swords, etc. and his throat slit before he was killed. Another person present in the premises was also badly beaten up and shot in the knee. He is presently in the ICU.
Sources at the hospital the two were taken to – W Pratiksha Hospital – confirmed to The Wire that one of the victims was brought dead, with multiple stab wounds in his chest.
The Sector 57 mosque is the only mosque on a government-allocated land in the planned urban developed area in Gurugram and, as The Hindu reported in 2021, it “caters to almost half of the city’s municipal area spread across south and east zones and a large section of the floating population commuting to the Millennium City daily for work”.
Though it is the only mosque in the area, despite having been allotted the land earmarked for a mosque on August 11, 2006 and having secured a clearance for its building plans earlier, further construction has not recommenced pending revalidation of the plans from the government.
It is learnt that a few weeks before this attack, the mosque had been attacked by miscreants from a neighboring village.
The police had acted promptly on information being shared with them and detained several attackers. However, due to intervention of residents and elders, in order to restore peace in the area, the matter was ultimately resolved by negotiation.
Source: thewire.in
