A dargah in Madhya Pradesh’s Neemuch district was vandalised and three people, including the caretaker, were beaten, tied up and looted, by unidentified men on Saturday. The caretaker, Noor Shah said that 20-25 men had attacked in the middle of the night, tied his hands and legs up and thrashed him, along with a couple from Udaipur who were visiting the dargah.
Police have registered a complaint against unidentified people under IPC Sections 295 (injuring or defiling a place of worship with intent to insult religion), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 147 (rioting),148 (rioting armed with deadly weapons) and 149 (unlawful assembly with criminal intent).
The police are yet to ascertain how the dargah was vandalised. However, Shah, the caretaker of the Hazrat Bheda Peer Dargah, said the attackers had used explosives to damage it.
Speaking to The Cognate, Neemuch SP Suraj Kumar Verma said, “We cannot ascertain if explosives were used. We have sent a sample for forensics and are awaiting the results.”
Shah shared a note that he says was handed to him by the attackers. The note reads, “In the past couple of years, it has come to light that Muslim activities in Bhedabhan area have increased, although the majority population is Hindu. It has been observed that simple-minded Hindus visit the dargah, who are then made to convert their religion.”
“Unlike the claims made in the note, we have received no complaints of religious conversion in the district in the past one year,” SP Verma told the Indian Express.
In the note, the attackers identify themselves as belonging to a ‘PFI’ of the Malwa region. However, The Popular Front of India (PFI) district in-charge Imran Tawar said that “The PFI is a public organisation and it has nothing to do with the incident. The note is misleading and the language used in the note can never be put forth by the PFI. I urge all to maintain peace… police should take action and punish those responsible.”
A rally was held in Neemuch by the Sarva Muslim Samajh Committee, which gave a memorandum to police demanding an “impartial” probe. Wahim Khan, president of the committee, said, “This is a deliberate attempt to destroy communal harmony of the area as an attack on a religious place, irrespective of the religion, hurts the community. We want police to take appropriate action against those responsible.”
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Rushda Fathima Khan is the Staff Reporter for The Cognate.
