Rising Tensions: Young Muslim beaten to death amid backlash over cricket success In Chikhodara, Anand district, Gujarat, a young Muslim man named Salman Hanifbhai Whora was beaten to death during a cricket match.
01, Jul 2024 | CJP Team
The incident occurred on Saturday when Salman had gone to help his friend Shoaib who was being assaulted by a group of men during the final match of a cricket tournament.
Shoaib was reportedly attacked by a man named Gheto Parmar and Holo Parmar. When Salman tried to help, he too was brutally beaten by 15-20 men using bats, sticks, and paddles.
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Salman Hanifbhai whora, a youth who had gone to watch final match of cricket tournament was beaten to death by a group of 15-20 Hindu men at #Chikhodara, #Anand, #Gujarat on Saturday.
Gheto Parmar and Holo Parmar were beating Shoeb, Salman’s friend. When Salman jumped in to… pic.twitter.com/fRItidE8OC
— Hate Detector 🔍 (@HateDetectors) June 25, 2024
The police have arrested several people in connection with the incident. Among those detained are Mehul alias Gheto Dineshbhai Parmar, Kiran alias Holo Mafatbhai Parmar, and Mahendra alias Fulio Rameshbhai Vaghela. Others arrested include Akshay alias Ako Narsinghbhai Parmar, Ratilal Raisingbhai Parmar, Vijay alias Pakorani Mangalbhai Parmar from Chikhodara, and Ketan Mahendrabhai Patel from Vaghasi. The police have also seized various weapons, including paddles and bamboo sticks that were used in the attack.
All the accused have been produced in court, which has granted their remand until July 1st, 2024.
According to The Quint, the mob had been heckling Muslim players with Hindutva slogans like ‘Jai Shri Ram’ as the Muslim players performed well in the tournament.
Locals told The Quint that tensions had started even before the match, as locals did not react well to the good performance of Muslim players in the tournament. Many of the players who had done well in the quarterfinals and semi-finals were Muslims, according to the report. In the final match as well, one team was mostly made up of Muslims, while the other team also had 2-3 Muslim players.
The incident that led to the fatal beating had reportedly started with a parking dispute. A group of men arrived on motorcycles and got into a fight with Salman, demanding that he move his bike from the stand and this further turned into an assault. The crowd also reportedly cheered the attackers.
After the death, a few Congress leaders have reportedly visited the house of the deceased and demanded stringent punishment for the accused.
The family of the dead has filed a case against the accused on June 23rd at the Anand police station. Charges in the FIR include 143 (punishment for unlawful assembly), 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (armed with a deadly weapon), 302 (murder), and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapon) as well as the Gujarat Police Act.
Recently the CPI-M has called for nationwide protest against the rising violence and lynching’s of Muslims and religious minorities in the month of June.
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