Indian police flog Muslim men for allegedly pelting stones at Hindu event

By Shuriah Niazi

NEW DELHI (AA) – Nine Muslims were publicly flogged by policemen in the western Indian state of Gujarat after being accused of throwing stones at a Hindu religious event.

A video of the police flogging quickly went viral on social media, drawing criticism from politicians and civil rights activists alike.

Stone pelting was reported on Monday at the Garba event during Navratri celebrations in Undhela village in Gujarat's Kheda district. The event was held in a location near a mosque.

Garba is a type of dance performed during Navratri, a Hindu festival honoring Goddess Durga.

According to police, at least six people were injured in the stone pelting. The police arrested nine people for allegedly throwing stones and brought them to the village on Tuesday.

The arrested accused then were tied to a pole and publicly flogged by the police amidst cheering by the locals.

“A group of Muslim youth tried to disrupt the celebration at the village. The Muslim youth had an objection to organizing this celebration near a mosque,” Deputy Superintendent of Police V R Bajpai told reporters.

According to the police, a case was filed against 43 people at Matar Police Station, and 13 were arrested.

Meanwhile, a member of Gujarat's Legislative Assembly from the opposition Congress party, Gyasudding Sheikh, has demanded action against the policemen.

“The government must immediately take action against those policemen involved in flogging. The police have no right to do this against the accused publicly,” he told reporters in Ahmadabad.

Another Congress leader, Karti P Chidambaram, took to Twitter to criticize the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for turning India into a Hindutva (Hindu fundamentalist) state, citing several Islamic countries where public flogging is used to punish criminals.

“What next public beheadings? And the chants?” he asked.

In a statement, the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) also criticized the police action.

“Police in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party-ruled Gujarat state publicly flogged 9 Muslim men in front of a cheering crowd chanting ‘Hail Mother India’ slogans. This is cruel, inhuman & prohibited under the international human rights Law,” the statement said.

- Houses of Muslims erased

In the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, the police demolished the houses of three Muslims accused of throwing stones at a Garba event and attacking organizers.

A case was registered against 19 people in Surjani village in the Mandsaur district for disrupting a Garba celebration.

The police claimed that the houses were illegally constructed, so they were demolished.

According to the local English daily Hindustan Times, at least 14 Muslim men were arrested in Madhya Pradesh's Indore city over the last week after "vigilantes" from the Hindu nationalist organization Bajrang Dal handed them over to the police for allegedly entering Garba venues.

According to the report, the arrested men "were clicking pictures and disturbing the peace."

The men arrested were charged with violating Section 151 of the Indian Penal Code, which prohibits knowingly joining or continuing in an assembly of five or more people with the intent to disturb the public peace.