Mohd Dilshad of TNN reported, "Dalit thrashed, forced to hail Ram".
Muzaffarnagar: A Dalit man was beaten up by a group of “unidentified” men and forced to say ‘Jai Shri Ram’ for allegedly tearing posters of Hindu gods outside the houses of his own community members in Muzaffarnagar’s Purqazi area and sticking B R Ambedkar’s pictures instead.
The brutality, which was caught on camera and became a viral video on Tuesday, shows the Dalit man wearing a helmet being beaten up with lathis as he begs for mercy. The men are seen forcing him to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Bholenath ki jai’. The victim is in hospital. Police have filed a case under IPC Section 307 (attempt to murder) and sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The beating itself took place on Monday when the man, identified as Vipin Kumar, a shopkeeper in Kelanpur village here, was returning home on his motorcycle. Vipin’s family said he was “ambushed” by four men from a neighbouring village and beaten up with lathis.
SP Omveer Singh said: “A case has been registered against all the accused. Police are raiding several places to arrest the culprits.”
According to police, Vipin was arrested along with three others a month ago when a video surfaced showing him tearing posters of Hindu gods outside Dalit houses and replacing them with photos of B R Ambedkar. Acting on a complaint by members of a right-wing outfit, police had arrested Vipin and the others but they were released on bail.
Politics of Convenience reminds the Times reporter Mohd Dilshad that it was a good omen that the poster torn and the disgrace shown to was of some tolerant Hindu Gods. If the same thing was done to the religion of Dilshad then it would have been much difficult on his part to save his skin and make this tasty recipe of the disgraceful incident.
People have a disagreement on many things including the liking of religion and their Gods, but to show visible insult is always in bad taste as bad is to punish anyone for one's disliking. Moreover, the media must watch that those who are tasked with reporting are wise and neutral and do not humiliate a community by twisting the news to his whims.