Tensions increase in Indian village after BJP’s attempt to hoist flag on mosque

Tensions have exacerbated in a village in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh after a group of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) men attempted to hoist the party flag on a local mosque’s top in celebration of their election victory.

According to the Times of India, the incident took place in the Chachrai village in Bulandshahr. The village has a roughly equal population of Hindus and Muslims.

An eyewitness said the scuffle happened when BJP men were passing through the area beating on drums celebrating the party’s win in the state elections. They then proceeded to hoist the flag on the mosque’s roof, which was met with objection by Muslims.

Although security personnel were deployed in the area to avert any untoward incident, Muslims fear the men might act upon their threats of “coming back with swords”.

Earlier, a similar situation was seen in Jianagla – a town 70 kilometres from Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh (UP) – after posters ordering the local Muslim population to leave by the year-end cropped up at various public places.

The posters – which have been placed in more than 24 locations around the town, Times of India reports – are penned in Hindi, and threaten Muslims of “dire consequences” if they do not oblige to the notification.

Inspired from US President Donald Trump’s recent Muslim ban, a portion of the poster reads as follows, “What Trump is doing in America, we will do in this village because BJP is now in power” stated TOI, adding that they’re signed by “Hindus of the village.”

Image of a half-torn poster

Loosely translated, the notification reads as follows:

Praise the Lord!

All Muslims are hereby informed to leave this village by December 30, 2017; if they do not adhere to this notice, they will be responsible for whatever transpires as a consequence. We will do in this village exactly what America (Trump) is doing with Muslims at present because BJP will soon be in power in Uttar Pradesh. Decide fast, since you're not welcome in this village now.

Hindus of the Village (Jianagla)
Guardian - Yogi Adityanath
Gorakhpur

Jianagla is a peaceful locale that houses 200 Muslims alongside 2,000 Hindu people. Townsfolk remember celebrating Holi till past Sunday midnight, which further stresses on the mystery of who put up these posters.

According to TOI, a local named Rewa Ram narrated, “We slept a little past midnight, and it was only in the morning that we noticed all these posters around the village. We informed police after some residents objected to it.”

Security authorities have taken five young men into custody, and the posters have since been removed, as per Indian media outlets. A case has also been filed, although no one has come forward to claim responsibility.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to which Prime Minister Narendra Modi belongs as well, recently won in a significant victory in the 2017 Assembly elections, although power is yet to be handed over to it. The posters in question have the name of a party representative mentioned as the “guardian.”

On a related note, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria during the weekly briefing on Thursday called on the international community to take notice of the treatment of Muslims in Bareilly, especially how they are being forced to leave.

Zakaria stressed that the United Nations had already issued a report over the mistreatment of minorities in India.