Muslim families in Ghaziabad slum labelled ‘Bangladeshi’, assaulted, homes set ablaze

Amid reports of violence against Hindu minorities in Bangladesh, volunteers of the Hindu Raksha Dal purportedly assaulted Muslim families and set their huts ablaze at a slum in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad on August 9. The attackers labelled the Muslim residents as “Bangladeshi”.      

In the wake of the alleged attack at Guldhar slum in Bapudham, the right-wing outfit’s president Pinky Chaudhary alias Bhupendra Sharma released a video on social media, saying that “if the attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh do not stop within 24 hours, he will not spare Bangladeshis living across the country”.

Locals told Newslaundry that a group of men led by Chaudhary allegedly assaulted the Muslim families with sticks and set the huts on fire. They said that most of the Muslims living in the slum belong to Shahjahanpur in Uttar Pradesh. They have now set up tents at Dasna in Guldhar.

Mohammad Sabir, 65,  who was allegedly brutally beaten by the mob, sustained severe injuries on his hands, legs, waist and ear. Speaking to Newslaundry, his son Jikandar showed the x-ray of Sabir’s broken arm and said, “We had never imagined what has happened to him at this age”.

The police have registered an FIR and arrested Pinky Chaudhary and his associate Badal Chaudhary, while it is on the lookout for the other accused.

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