In a repeat of the Tabrez Ansari episode, the death of a criminal who had gone to commit theft as part of a 6-member gang in Bihar is being spun as a story of Muslim victimhood.

The villagers of Diha village in Gaya district saw some armed men moving suspiciously on Wednesday night. When confronted, the men started running away and even shot at the villagers. The doughty villagers didn’t stop pursuing and managed to catch 3 thieves, while 3 others managed to flee. The Scorpio vehicle in which they had come was abandoned by the fleeing criminals.

The village had seen a spate of burglaries in the last month – Rs 5 lakh worth property had been stolen from a locked house one night, and 6 houses were robbed in just 1 night prior to that. On Wednesday, a bridal party had left the village, so there was relative silence. Sensing an opportunity, this gang had decided to target the village.

After catching the 3 thieves following a physical struggle- Mohammed Babar (28), Md. Rukmuddin Alam (32) and Mohammad Sajid (28) – villagers handed them over to the police. However, during treatment, Md. Babar succumbed to his injuries on February 23, while the other two have since been shifted to Patna.

Police arrived at the site and their investigation revealed that these men had indeed come to Diha village with an intent to commit a criminal act. Police recovered 3 bullets, a bomb, a chopper (gadasa loha) and a dagger from their Scorpio vehicle. The two injured men both have a criminal history dating back to 2016 with cases for theft, rioting, house trespass, attempt to murder, sexual assault etc.

Gaya Police has issued a statement, clearly identifying the 3 men as criminals who were apprehended by villagers –

But true to type, Islamists latched on to this news and gave it a communal spin, painting it as ‘mob lynching’ on ‘charges of theft’. The fact-checking handle @dintentdata has shared these screenshots of Meer Faisal (a ‘journalists’ who has worked with anti-Hindu outlets like Al Jazeera, The Wire, The Quint, Maktoob Media), and Ahmed Khabeer (a Jamia Millia Islamia graduate who is the Editor of The Jamia Times and has worked with other Islamist/anti-Hindu portals like @TCNlive, @youthkiawaaz, @IslamiAasar) giving the Islamist spin –

The English-language media was not far behind. A Hindustan Times report starts with the headline “Gaya murder: Protests over suspected lynching; police forms SIT to probe case” which gives no hint that these were thieves who opened fire on villagers, in a village which had seen several burglaries in the recent past.

It is only in the fourth paragraph that the villagers’ side of the story (which police corroborated) is given, but there too no mention is made that the Muslim gang had come with an intent to steal, or that the village had witnessed a spate of recent burglaries.

The report quotes father of one accused, who gives a ridiculous theory that his son worked in a Kolkata factory and had gone to Diha village to “recruit labourers”. Recruiting laborers in the middle of the night, armed with weapons? Not just that, the gang of 6 armed men that went to ‘recruit laborers’ at night decided to answer nature’s call and chew tobacco!

Sabir Ali, father of Md. Sajid said, “They had not entered the village but were attending nature’s call and chewing tobacco when some people from Diha village caught and beat them mercilessly.”

“It is a targeted attack and killing. Bomb, knife and live rounds had been put in the SUV to make a fake story of theft and to escape the case for brutal attack and killing,” said Mohammed Junaid, father of another injured Mohammed Ruknuddin, who is also quoted by Hindustan Times.

The Hindustan Times reporter Prasun K Mishra does not care to present the quote of any of the affected Hindu villagers from Diha.

On social media, the Islamist handles were out in full force as well, fanning the narrative that villagers have beaten ‘innocent Muslims’.

‘Secular’ Politicians add fuel to fire, police caves in

As expected, religious extremists and local politicians from CPI (ML) have also painted this incident as ‘targeted lynching’ and are giving it a communal spin. CPI (ML) district secretary Niranjan Kumar said that the stringent action must be taken against the members of the “mob”.

On Thursday, several Islamists and family members of the thieves blocked the Gaya-Patna road at Belaganj for hours to demand arrest of the villagers who merely defended themselves. The protesters were also demanding ₹25 lakh in compensation and a government job for the family of Md. Babar.

As always happens in the secular Republic of India, the police and administration caved in to these demands and announced an SIT! Police lodged two separate FIRs, one against the deceased and injured for theft and under sections of the arms act, and the second against 17 named and 25 unidentified villagers based on the complaint of Sabir Ali.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP), Ashish Bharti said the SIT is being led by an ASP rank officer. “We are probing all angles,” he said.

Conclusion – no country for Hindus

So there you have it – a village faces a string of burglaries that police is neither able to solve or prevent. A quick internet search shows how this region is plagued with professional robbers –

April 2022 – 4 houses in 3 villages robbed in 1 night in Belaganj, Gaya

Dec 2022 – Thieves strike 3 times in 1 night in Belaganj

One night, villagers see thieves prowling and challenge them. The thieves open fire, and the villagers still bravely chase and catch them. They hand over the criminals to police. Later, one of the thieves dies in hospital. Police confirm that the accused had come with an intent to carry a criminal act, and that 2 of them had a lengthy criminal history.

Yet, these 42 villagers now face an FIR and financial ruin due to incarceration and the dreaded legal rigmarole. Is self defense a crime? How would Supreme Court judges and top netas, lawyers and generals living in Lutyens’ zone react if a criminal were to barge into their homes in the middle of the night?

From Mewat to Gaya, the pattern remains the same. Islamists embroiled in various criminal activities from dacoity to cattle smuggling continuously target Hindu villagers. The police and administration is woefully incompetent – either due to capacity/training issues, or pressure from ‘secular’ politicians, or plain old corruption – and unable to establish law & order. Cattle smuggler Junaid who died in Bhiwani recently had 5 FIRs against his name, but had never been arrested even once. Even if a criminal is caught, our broken judicial system ensures he is soon out on bail/parole and back to his old ways.

When desperate villagers self-organize and try to tackle the criminal menace on their own, while cooperating with police to the fullest extent possible, they are the one branded as ‘lynchers’ and ‘communal bigots’ by intelligentsia and elites.

What should an ordinary Hindu do? Follow Gandhi’s advice “Let us die if the people kill us, but we should die bravely”, or follow their Dharma to fight Adharma and evil as Sri Krishna advised Arjuna?

The Indian state and all its much-vaunted ideals rests on one thing and one thing alone – the trust the common Hindu has in the system. That faith is fast crumbling as the hypocrisy and the sheer anti-Hindu antipathy of almost all institutions is no longer hidden from the masses. The Indian Republic must undertake immediate course correction, before the trust dissipates and patience of Hindus runs out.