Muslims in MP wear black bands to Eid prayers protesting recent lynchings

Muslims wore black arm bands in some parts of Madhya Pradesh’s Bundelkhand on Monday while offering Eid prayers at local mosques to protest against recent attacks on their community members.

Nazir Khan, a teacher who came for prayers at the Eidgah in Bundelkhand, said mobs were targeting Muslim youth and murdering them without reason. “If they are guilty then action must be taken according to law which is a democratic thing. But not the way it is being done these days. We are protesting against this brutality in a peaceful and democratic manner”, he said.

In Chhatarpur’s district Nowgawh town, young Muslim men also worn black arm bands while they offered Eid prayers.

Abid Suleiman, president of Muslim Mahasabha Nowgawh, said frequent attacks on “our innocent Muslim youth without any proof of their involvement in any wrongdoing is bothering our community. Without police complaint, one sided action is being taken against them. Today we are wearing black bands to protest against government’s failure to check such incidents”.

On Thursday, a 16-year-old Muslim boy was stabbed to death and his three brothers were injured on a Mathura-bound train.

The prime suspect Ramesh was part of a mob that attacked the four brothers who were on their way back home to Haryana’s Ballabhgarh after Eid shopping at Sadar Bazar. In April, a Muslim dairy farmer was lynched in Rajasthan by alleged cow vigilantes.