Jammu

Another Gujjar family attacked in Jammu: Assault part of polarization, says Advocate Talib Hussain

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Attack comes as Hindu Ekta Manch seeks donations for rape accused saying ‘contribute or face Muslim Invasion’.

On May 15, a video posted on YouTube showed a couple of women and a man, identified as Abdul Kareem in a hospital with fractured legs. The victims are the members of the Gujjar Community who belong to the Shahpur village of Jammu.

They were allegedly ‘punished’ as their cattle had crossed over to the property of the perpetrator, who has been identified as Biloo Sharma. The incident, according to the video, has taken place a week ago.

Confirming that the incident actually took place, Advocate turned Tribal Activist Talib Hussain told Free Press Kashmir that the incident is a part of the same polarization campaign that has been ignited in the region to drive out Muslim nomads.

“It is just that their cattle had crossed over to Biloo’s land. They may have caused some damage but there is a proper way to deal with it. You cannot just hit the women. This is a part of that polarisation. By one way or the other, they want to worsen the situation,” said Advocate Hussain.

The video has been uploaded by one Zahid Parwaz Choudhary on YouTube.

Chowdhary has stated, “The unending spree of violent attacks continues on the Gujjars of Jammu region. This time again it’s a poor Gujjar family which has been attacked by the ‘privileged of the society’.”

The video shows Abdul Karim’s injury as he was allegedly thrashed by Biloo and his sons. His daughters can be seen lying in the hospital with fractured legs.

Choudhary further writes that the incident didn’t come to light because the police didn’t file an FIR and no action was taken.

“The crime was that they were returning from a pasture with their cattle. It’s been almost a week since they were ambushed in Shahpur village of Tehsil Bishnah, district Jammu. Nobody knows about it yet because Abdul Kareem’s attempt to file an FIR was met with police apathy and nothing was done.”

“Gujjars are not just being threatened, raped and killed but it is also ensured that there’s no voice that condemns it when it happens. The banality of crimes against Gujjars is getting reflected from the silence of everyone around.”

The Hindu Ekta Manch, which has been gathering support in favour of the accused in the Kathua rape and murder case, has sought donations from public to engage counsels on behalf of the accused in seeking CBI inquiry into the case.

Vijay Sharma, the Manch President, said that the decision was taken at one of the meetings of the Manch.

However, it has not evoked much response so far, he said, adding that they would have to personally contact their friends and well wishers to raise funds.

“We have to mobilise enough resources so that the best legal team is mobilised to successfully plead the case before the Supreme Court. We appeal to everybody to come forward and donate generously so that a corpus of fund is created to meet the legal expenses,’’ according to a message posted by the outfit on social media.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of India on Wednesday said no to a CBI probe into the matter. The Apex court also rejected providing security to the witnesses in the case.

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