Mob of 200 ransack a mosque and assault people praying inside in India

A mob of hundreds of people ransacked a mosque, assaulted Muslims praying inside and threatened to force them out of their village, just a few kilometres away from India’s national capital Delhi.

The incident, which occurred in Bhorakalan village in Bilaspur, just 53km away from Delhi’s international airport, has become the latest example of a series of anti-Muslim attacks that have occured in India in recent times.

According to the police complaint filed on Wednesday, and reported widely by the Indian media, a mob of 200 people barged into the mosque at around 8pm when Muslims were offering prayers.

The men, believed to be a group of Hindus from the same village, allegedly threatened the Muslims that they will be forced out of the village. The incident left several people injured, including the Imaam of the mosque.

News agency Press Trust of India, citing the complaint, reported that Bhora Kalan village has only four houses of Muslim families.

“In the night again, when we were praying inside the prayer hall in the mosque, the mob came and assaulted the namazis and even locked the prayer hall. They also threatened to kill us,” said the complaint, filed by 66-year-old retired army veteran Najar Mohammad, according to Indian media outlets.

Videos and photos emerging on social media show a ruckus inside the mosque with some saffron-clad men seen inside the premises. Some people can be heard asking who sent them.

According to a Hindustan Times report citing the complaint, the village has a predominant Hindu population of about 20,000, while there are six Muslim families – including extended relatives, numbering about 500 – who offer prayers at the small 35-year-old mosque.

“The miscreants didn’t even show any mercy to the elders. They injured them and fled after forcing us out and locking the mosque from outside,” Mr Mohammad told the newspaper.

“We have been living peacefully. We have always listened to what other villagers said but still we face such problems,” he said.

While the police say they arrived at the scene within 30 minutes, the men reportedly fled the scene and no arrests were reported till Thursday evening.

As per the complaint, an FIR [First Information Report, a document equal to a first police complaint] has been registered and we are verifying the facts. Action will be taken as per the law,” senior police officer Gajender Singh, the investigating officer told reporters.

This is one of the latest incidents of violence and threats against Muslims in India in the years since the Hindu nationalist government of Narendra Modi came to power.

Earlier, a controversy erupted in the neighbouring Gurugram city, a satellite city of Delhi, over Muslims offering namaz in open spaces.

Rights organisations have repeatedly raised the alarm over a surge in hate crimes against minorities in India, with Muslims routinely targeted by supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party.