Barabanki(Uttar Pradesh): A group of men barged into Raza Masjid and attacked the Imam and a shopkeeper of Banki town of Nagar Kotwali in Uttar Pradesh.
According to the locals, the incident took place on Tuesday night after the Imam, Hafiz Wasik Khan of Lakhimpur district was returning from the mosque. He was attacked by a group of miscreants. The reason behind this alleged attack is the Imam participating in the cremation of a non-Muslim. Angered by this incident, unidentified men attacked him on Tuesday night and stabbed him. A shopkeeper who witnessed the incident and rushed to save the Imam was also thrashed by the attackers. Both the injured have been referred to Lucknow Trauma Center.
The Imam has been leading prayers in the Banki mosque for the last 6 to 7 years. During this period, he had befriended many non-Muslim friends. The brother of one of his non-Muslim friends had died recently. The imam attended his cremation. Talking to the ETV Bharat Hafiz Wasik Khan said, "Qari Abul Kalam, a resident of the town, issued a 'fatwa' against me. Those men started saying to me that Namaz cannot be held behind me after I attended a non-Muslim cremation. The men dragged me out of the mosque. It is upon the instigation of Qari Kalam that many people are angry with me and want to remove me from the mosque. Due to this enmity, some people had attacked me also with the intention of killing me."
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The victim Imam alleges that on Tuesday night he had left the mosque after offering Isha prayers and was going to the station to drink tea on a bike. During this, he found Hafiz Nadeem near a grocery shop in the town run by one Latif. "Hafiz Nadeem was staring at me. I questioned him after which he called many people along with his associates Hafiz Junaid and Hafiz Nafees. They all attacked me," he said. Junaid allegedly stabbed the Imam. As the shopkeeper Latif ran to save him, the attackers also beat him up and ran away threatening him with consequences.
The locals rushed the two to the district hospital, from there they were referred to Lucknow. According to Talib, son of the victim shopkeeper, he has filed a complaint in Banki Chowki police station. At present, the police officials are investigating the matter.
