Bharat is a ‘secular’ nation, at least on paper, where everyone has the freedom to observe and follow their religious beliefs. However, in many parts of our increasingly lawless country, the ‘majority’ community i.e. Hindus are not allowed to celebrate their festivals, offer prayers to their deities, or even not allowed to listen to their religious songs.
What could be more ironic than this – playing Hanuman Chalisa in his godown became a life threat for a young Hindu businessman in the Banda district of Uttar Pradesh. Hearing the sound of Hanuman Chalisa, about 20 Muslim fanatics reached Siddhant Tiwari’s godown. They hurled abuses and ransacked the godown, all because he was playing Hanuman Chalisa.
Siddhant has filed a formal complaint with the police, which has registered an FIR against Taufiq and 12 other Muslim youth. Police have launched a manhunt to nab the culprits. On the other hand, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad took out a protest march, where it demanded that the culprits should be brought to book.
Siddhant resides with his family at Hathikhana in the Aliganj Chowki area of Banda. In his complaint, he stated that on Friday evening he was playing Hanuman Chalisa on his music system after worshipping in his godown.
All of a sudden, a group of 15 to 20 Muslims arrived at his home, began vandalizing the house and smashed his sound system. He added that as the attackers were leaving, they threatened to kill him if he dared to play Hanuman Chalisa again.
“If you play Hanuman Chalisa again, we will cut you into pieces, people will not find you,” they threatened him.
According to Siddhant Tiwari, the perpetrators also hurled meat pieces in front of his residence. Siddhant said that he has been playing such religious songs for years, and this is the first time that a Muslim mob attacked him like this. This incident yet again indicates the rapid radicalization of Indian Muslim youth across the country, due to advent of social media and the timidity of the Indian State in tackling the roots of the problem.
