By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter,
New Delhi: A member of the National Commission for Minorities has termed the lyching of 50 year old man, Mohammad Akhlaq by a mob in Dadri, 50 kilometres from Delhi as “communalism in its ugliest manifestation,” adding that this “cannot, and must not, go unpunished in a secular nation.”
A 50-year-old man, Mohammad Akhlaq, was beaten to death and his 22-year-old son severely injured on Monday night in UP’s Dadri, allegedly by residents of Bisara village, after rumours spread in the area about the family storing and consuming beef.
The attack on Akhlaq and his family took place around 10 pm in Bisara after an announcement from the local temple for mobilisation on the pretext that beef was consumed in the locality. The house of Akhlaq, which is surrounded by houses of dominant Rajput castes, was attacked allegedly for consuming beef. The aggrieved family denies there was any beef in the house, adding that on the occasion of Bakreid, they had got few kilos of mutton if the freeze, which they had got from relatives.
National Commission for Minorities has taken note of a petition filed by social activist Shahzad Poonawala. In his petition Poonawala had urged the NCM or intervention, for what he termed as “an extremely reprehensible and offensive set of actions”.
In Email response to Poonawala, NCM member Capt. Praveen Davar wrote, “NCM strongly condemns this cowardly and reprehensible attack on an innocent Muslim which also resulted in severe injury to his 23 year old son.”
He also informed that the Chairman NCM has already spoken to DM, Dadri and asked him to send a report on the incident to the NCM at the earliest. “After receipt of the report we will be taking the matter with both the Union Home Minister and Chief Minister Uttar Pradesh. It will also be discussed in the next weekly meeting of NCM,” Davar added.
He further added, “Meanwhile, we are also trying to ensure that the son of Mohd Akhlaq gets the best possible medical treatment. The NCM will also monitor the steps being taken by the District Administration to bring the perpetrators of the ghastly crime to justice. This is communalism in its ugliest manifestation and cannot, and must not, go unpunished in a secular nation.”