Madrassa principal prevented riot after `gau rakshak' attack

NEW DELHI: A madrassa principal's refusal to be swayed by emotion prevented a communal riot in west Delhi's Prem Nagar on Wednesday night.
Ali Rukman, the 52-yearold principal, was worried and angry after learning that his son-in-law Hafiz Abdul Khalid and another man, Ali Hasan, had been ruthlessly beaten up by cow vigilantes while carting out buffalo remains from the previous day's Eid-ul-Zuha sacrifice.But when a mob started gathering to avenge the attack, Rukman told them clearly it was a matter for him and his family to sort it out and the others should keep out of it.
“Before I settled here 25 years ago, I had seen enough clashes in my native Gorakhpur to know how riots start and how they end with losses on both sides. I did not want any more people to get hurt,“ Rukman told TOI on Friday .
Two days after the attack, Rukman said it seemed premeditated and might have been part of a plot to start a riot.“Whatever happened was the handiwork of miscreants who are now hiding behind a religious group,“ said Rukman.“We were anticipating something of this kind,“ said Mohammad Ikram, a teacher at the Prem Nagar madrassa. Tension built up quickly when 14-year-old Ab dus Salam, who was travelling with Khalid and Hasan, ran panting to the colony and broke the news around 7.30pm.
Others alleged three youths from the locality had been trying to disturb the peace in the area for some time.
Rukman said they had always performed the Eid sacrifice behind closed doors at the madrassa to not offend other communities. “We even try to muffle the cries of the animals and use up most body parts.“
Ikram said they were taking out the animal remains covered with gunny bags late in the evening as a precaution against troublemakers.
Rumours were being spread about cows being sacrificed behind closed doors, but police deployment in the area on Eid did not give the miscreants a chance to cause trouble. On Wednesday , however, they ambushed Khalid and Hasan a few kilometres outside the colony .
The family members of the youths accused of assault say they were misled into believing that Khalid and Hasan were carrying human remains. The youths, Naveen, Raju, Abhishek and Devesh, told police they had received calls from an unknown number to join a group of vigilantes. Some others claimed to have received calls about a brawl between two groups.
Nobody bothered to check the facts. “The rumours multiplied within groups of friends and acquaintances and became a call to target members of the other community ,“ said Jasbir Dabas, uncle of two of the accused.
A couple of calls and WhatsApp messages brought together the crowd of 25-30 men who thrashed Khalid and Hasan. But timely police action saved the duo's lives. By Friday morning the situation in Prem Nagar had been brought under control.