A videograb of the flogging in Kheda district of Gujarat.The Trinamool Congress on Friday lodged a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in connection with the alleged public flogging of Muslim men by “Gujarat Police personnel”.
TMC spokesperson Saket Gokhale said it was “a matter of shame” that the NHRC had not yet taken suo motu cognizance of the matter. “It is a matter of shame to see that the NHRC hasn’t yet taken suo moto cognisance of the matter of Gujarat Police personnel publicly flogging Muslim youth. But they shouldn’t have the excuse of ‘no one complained’. We, All India Trinamool Congress, filed a complaint with the NHRC today,” Gokhale said in a tweet.
The TMC spokesperson also shared a copy of the police complaint wherein he stated that several viral videos on social media were showing a group of Muslim men being “tied” to a pole in Undhela village in Kheda.
“Police claimed that this was ‘punishment’ to the Muslim men who were accused of pelting stones. The police basically decided to act as jury and executioner and unleashed inhuman brutality on a group of young men purely because they were Muslim. This is a case of police brutality and atrocities against religious minorities ahead of Gujarat Assembly polls…,” the complaint stated.
The incident took place in Undhela village of Kheda district of Gujarat, allegedly after stone-pelting at a garba event on Monday night. Village sarpanch Indravadan Patel had organised the garba outside a temple, which faces a mosque and also shares a wall with a madrasa.