Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh): Ghaziabad Police on Tuesday filed FIR against nine entities, including Twitter India, in connection with the Loni incident, in which a man was thrashed and his beard was chopped off. In the FIR, the police said, "There is no communal angle to the incident in Loni where a man was thrashed and his beard was chopped off. The following entities -- The Wire, Rana Ayyub, Mohammad Zubair, Dr Shama Mohammed, Saba Naqvi, Maskoor Usmani, Salman Nizami -- without checking the fact, started giving communal colour to the incident on Twitter and suddenly they started spreading messages to disrupt the peace and bring differences between the religious communities."
Police further said that Twitter has done nothing to prevent the video from getting viral, and named "Twitter, Twitter Communications India Pvt, The Wire, Rana Ayyub, Mohammad Zubair, Dr Shama Mohamed, Saba Naqvi, Maskoor Usmani, Salman Nizami" as accused in the FIR. Police in the FIR noted that there is no communal angle in the incident. "The victim Abdul Samad Sufi and the accused have known each other for a long time. The victim sold a tabeez (amulet) to the key accused with the promise that it will bring him prosperity but he [Parvesh] complained that it had an adverse effect on his family. When the tabeez did not work, the accused got angry and had beaten the victim," the FIR said.
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It further informed that a case in the matter has been filed and Ghaziabad police have arrested the three accused who had trashed the elderly victim. Recently, a video went viral on social media where six people could be seen trashing an elderly man. The assailants also chopped off the victims' beard and it was reported that the victim was made to chant slogans like "Jai Shree Ram" and "Vande Mataram".
'Dangerous conspiracy to tear apart communal harmony': Naqvi
Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi expressed his disappointment over the incident and stated that an 'unfortunate criminal incident' was communalised to tear apart the harmony in the country.
Speaking to media, Naqvi said, "A syndicate has again become active to defame India. The syndicate is also trying to tear apart the communal harmony in the country. The incident was an unfortunate criminal incident, but the matter was communalised." The Union Minister also mentioned that action will be taken against the criminals and their masters.
"The conspiracy to defame India will not succeed. This is not the first time the syndicate has done things like this. Sometimes they start returning the awards, then they claim that the democracy has ended in the country," he added. "Their attempt to tear apart the communal harmony in the country will not be accepted by the people and the system," he added.
Rahul Gandhi says such cruelty shameful for society, UP CM hits back
Tagging a report on the incident, Rahul Gandhi said, "I am not willing to accept that true devotee of Lord Ram can do such a thing." "Such cruelty is far removed from humanity and is shameful for both society and religion," the former Congress chief tweeted in Hindi.
The Ghaziabad Police have ruled out any communal angle in the incident, saying Sufi Abdul Samad was attacked by six men -- Hindus and Muslims -- who were unhappy over the amulets he had sold to them. Citing the police's statement, Adityanath tagged Gandhi's tweet and said, "The first lesson Lord Ram taught was to 'speak the truth' which you have not done in your life."
Attacking Gandhi, he further said in his tweet in Hindi, "You should be ashamed that even after the police has put forth the truth, you are spreading poison in the society." "In the greed of power, you are shaming humanity. Stop humiliating and defaming the people of Uttar Pradesh," Adityanath said.
Hitting out, BJP leader and Union minister Smriti Irani said that Gandhi, whose party "denied" the existence of Lord Ram in an affidavit and who himself has called Hindus terrorists, is "defaming" the name of Lord Ram and it comes as no surprise to anyone. "But if you would have read the names written in the copy of the FIR, you would not have dared to tweet this because of the temptation of vote bank," she tweeted in Hindi, tagging Gandhi's tweet.
Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala hit back at Adityanath for his attack on Gandhi and raised the issue of alleged corruption in the handling of donations for the construction of the Ram temple.
'Muslims' right to dignity being snatched since BJP came to power': Owaisi
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi also condemned the incident. Speaking to the media on Tuesday, AIMIM Chief alleged that such incidents against Muslims are happening because these attackers know they will receive political support from the ruling party.
"A 72-year-old man was brutally beaten up and his beard was forcefully cut off. The persons who attacked him are of the same kind who are inducing hatred in Muslims of this country. While beating the old man brutally, these attackers have recorded the video and have posted it on social media," he said.
"Since 2014 when BJP government came into power, the right to dignity of Muslims in the country is being snatched from them. Such incidents have been frequently happening since the Modi Government has come to power," Owaisi added.
Strongly condemning the incident, he said, "Such brutal incidents against Muslims are happening because these attackers know that after such acts Mahapanchayats will be called and they will get political power and support from BJP and RSS."
Read: Ghaziabad police arrest four accused for beating elderly man
(agency inputs)
