AMN /
NEW DELHI: Three madrassa students have been beaten up by a group of men in outer Delhi’s Ramesh Enclave for allegedly refusing to chant ‘Bharat Mata ki jai’ forcibly.
One of the victims, Mohammad Dilkash, 18, said his arm was broken in the attack as five men, who had been drinking in a public park, beat them with sticks on Saturday evening after demanding that the students chant the slogan. The victims study at a local madrassa and had gone to the park during a break.
According to Dilkash, he and his friends, Ajmal and Naeem, were walking through a park when they were assaulted last week on March 26.
Mohammad Dilkash said, “We had gone to a park nearby. Some men came and slapped one of my friends, asked him to say ‘Jai Mata Ki’ and they said they would kill us if we don’t say it. But we didn’t say.”
Meanwhile, police said that the victims were giving inconsistent statements. According to them, while the victims told police that they was targeted for not chanting ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’, they told media that it was for not chanting ‘Jai Mata Di’ that they got beaten up.
Four people have been detained while the investigation is underway. They have been booked on charges of assault and wrongful restraint.
Police registered an FIR in the case on Tuesday night. They had earlier recorded the victims’ statements and said they were verifying certain details. Cops said the victims had initially told them that they were asked to chant ‘Jai Mata ki’.
The students have identified two of the attackers as Pintu and Sahil, who live in the neighbourhood.
Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, “Chanting Vande Mataram or Bharat Mata Ki Jai is not fashion, it is passion…it is a worrisome to debate about nationalism.”
The accused were playing cricket on Saturday during which the ball hit the victims, following which the Fight started.