A year after the lynching of Mohamad Akhlaq, aftershocks of the brutal murder caught up with senior leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Dadri's Bisara village on Friday. Angry villagers resisted cremation of the body of Ravi Sisodia, an accused in the Dadri lynching case, who died in judicial custody this week.

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

The village remained tense throughout the day with nearly 30 local leaders and political activists making hate speeches, even as BJP MP Mahesh Sharma and party leader Sangeet Som tried their best to defuse the situation.

Villagers wrapped Ravi's coffin in tri-colour and displayed it to more than 1,000 people who had turned up to join the protest to pressurise the Uttar Pradesh government to meet their five demands. The demands include Rs 1 crore compensation for Ravi's family, a job and a flat for his wife Pooja, a CBI inquiry into the case, suspension of jail officials and arrest of Jan Mohamad, Akhlaq's brother whom the villagers accused of slaughtering a calf as well. 

Late in the evening, after nearly three days of negotiations, the body was cremated. The situation in the village, according to local police, remained calm. A senior police official, on condition of anonymity, said that action will be taken against those spreading hate. However, an official present at the spot said the administration's priority was maintaining peace in the village.

Several people engaged in communal speeches and attacked the late Mohamad Akhlaq accusing him of slaughtering a cow. While some referred to him as a terrorist, others hailed Ravi as a martyr, a warrior, who had laid down his life for a noble cause. "Hindus never ate meat. It was Babur who spread this. Meat damages the human brain and warriors like Ravi are fighting for a cause," said a speaker.

Most of the residents of the village believe that Ravi was killed after suffering injuries he received in a fight with Muslim prisoners and because of the alleged police beating.

The priestess of the local temple, Harisadhi Giri, spoke right before Mahesh Sharma and claimed that she had received a threatening call from Saudi Arabia to stop their fast which she and other women of the village started after Ravi's death.

"This is a country of saints and mahatmas. Saudi Arabia or any one else will not be able to do anything to this country,” said Mahesh Sharma to a roaring crowd. Sharma said Ravi died due to prevailing health conditions but his "killing" was due to negligence of UP government. "If authorities had taken care he would have been alive. Ravi has left us but 14 other kids are still living and suffering in jail daily," Sharma said referring to the other 14 accused currently lodged in Kasna jail for allegedly murdering Akhlaq last year.

After his speech, the MP met with village elders and Ravi's family while other speakers continued to address the crowd. Among them was Bhupinder of the Hindu Raksha Dal, who called on uniting the Hindu community to fight growing influence of Muslims. "In jails, there are Muslim gangs and they offer Namaz in group. Even in jails our boys are not safe," Bhupinder was heard saying.

When Sangeet Som arrived, he went to the house where in Mahesh Sharma was holding his meeting and the duo arrived an hour later along with the SSP, district magistrate and sub-district magistrate of the area to discuss the demands. “UP administration has agreed to pay Rs 20 lakh. Rs five lakh will be paid by me and Mahesh Sharma ji. We are working on the other demands,” Som said.