• Hindu right-wing extremists trespassed into an Indian high school to confront young Muslim girls praying Salah.
• Police are yet to investigate the incident despite claims that the girls had been abused.
A video has appeared online where some unidentified men claiming to be members of the Bajrang Dal, a Hindu right-wing group, filmed themselves trespassing onto the premises of a high school in the Indian state of Telangana, to stop Muslim girls from praying in their own school.
The men brashly walked into the Chanakya High School, of the Wanaparthy District and proceeded to the room the young girls were thought to be praying, where they then knocked on the door without saying a word.
A Muslim pupil opens the door and is suddenly interrogated by one of the males about whether they were ‘praying namaz’ while proceeding to walk into the room where many Muslim girls were congregating having just prayed.
Before the video recording is shut off the men are seen attempting to confront the children for praying despite having no right to be on the school site, let alone having no authority to question anyone.
The extremists then reportedly threatened the students, despite the girls having permission from the school to pray. The situation had escalated in a previous confrontation when the group warned the school authorities about such practices.
Despite the severity of the allegations, no complaint has been lodged with the police in connection with the incident.
Sharing the video via social media, the spokesman of the MBT partyAmjed Ullah Khan said:
"Some anti-social elements …threatened and thrashed some Muslim girls who were offering Namaz with permission from school authorities … there has been "No FIR and No Arrest" in this case…incident has not only hurt Muslim sentiments but has created fear among parents and students."
This is not the only Islamophobic incident that has occurred in the state of Telangana.
Houses belonging to some 20 Muslim families were demolished recently in Bharat Rani Colony, Nagaram in Nizamabad Town recently without any prior notice.
Some of the houses demolished were erected under an approved government housing scheme fifteen years back, as well as land belonging to the families.
The Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT) party has since intervened in both incidents, requesting Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and the Superintendent of Police in Wanaparthy District to act urgently and swiftly arrest those involved.
