"Saare Jahan Se Accha Hindustan Hamara": Son of Murdered Dadri Resident Appeals For Peace
Sartaj, son of Mohammad Akhlaq who was killed by a mob in
Uttar Pradesh's Dadri, appeals for peace on We The People. He asks everyone to
pray for the life of his brother Danish who was critically injured in the
brutal incident. Watch video
NEW DELHI: His father
was lynched by a murderous mob and his brother is battling for his life but the
son of Mohammed Akhlaq, the Dadri resident who was
killed over beef rumours, did not
show a trace of bitterness or cynicism. Instead, Mohammed Sartaj, a Corporal
with the Indian Air Force, delivered a powerful and poignant message using
words from a song that every Indian has grown up with.
"Saare Jahaan se Accha, Hindustan Hamara, Mazhab Nahin Sikhaata, Aapas Mein Bair Rakhna," said Sartaj on NDTV's "We the People" show. He had been asked what he would like to say to politicians who have been trooping into the Bisada village in Uttar Pradesh's Dadri since his father's horrific death. Applauded repeatedly by the audience, Sartaj was a picture of strength and grace as he said: "I can't blame everyone...Most people are good...only a handful are bad."
Sartaj was at an airbase in Chennai, where he is posted, when his father Mohammad Akhlaq was beaten to death by a large crowd that included neighbours that the family had known for decades. Admitting that he found it hard to accept what happened, he said: "I am in the Air Force and serve the country knowing that my family is looked after by our friends and neighbours in the village. As someone who has always been a nationalist, it is deeply painful to me that something like this happened. I never imagined that it ever could."
Many in the mob who stormed into their home in Dadri with bricks and lathis were neighbours - even friends - who suddenly transformed into killers on the rampage. "We always had a warm relationship with our neighbours...On Eid, we shared food and invited each other over. And suddenly something like this happens...I never thought it was possible.."
For their safety, the Akhlaqs have been moved from the village to a guest house of the Uttar Pradesh government in Delhi. Asked whether he and his family were being threatened, Sartaj said: "Because of some people, the atmosphere is being vitiated. I appeal to them for peace and communal harmony. It is not time for politics but for empathy."
Sartaj, who has been keeping a constant vigil by his brother Danish's bedside since the attack, also appealed to political parties not to indulge in petty politics over the murder of his father. "I am not asking them not to come and visit us. I am only saying if you do, please don't do 'siyasat'- leave your politics behind." Asked about his reaction to inflammatory comments made by BJP lawmaker Sangeet Som who referred to his family as "cow killers", or the bizarre decision of the Uttar Pradesh government to send meat from his father's fridge for forensic testing, Sartaj maintained his composure. "I say again, I am appealing to all for harmony. This is not the time for politics. They (politicians) can come and share our grief, but they should not do politics. That's all I ask," said the 24-year-old.
He said he would leave it to his seniors in the Air Force to decide whether his family should stay on in the village or move out. Finally, with folded hands, he said he had one request for every Indian watching the show - "Please pray for my brother Danish, pray that he gets well."
"Saare Jahaan se Accha, Hindustan Hamara, Mazhab Nahin Sikhaata, Aapas Mein Bair Rakhna," said Sartaj on NDTV's "We the People" show. He had been asked what he would like to say to politicians who have been trooping into the Bisada village in Uttar Pradesh's Dadri since his father's horrific death. Applauded repeatedly by the audience, Sartaj was a picture of strength and grace as he said: "I can't blame everyone...Most people are good...only a handful are bad."
Sartaj was at an airbase in Chennai, where he is posted, when his father Mohammad Akhlaq was beaten to death by a large crowd that included neighbours that the family had known for decades. Admitting that he found it hard to accept what happened, he said: "I am in the Air Force and serve the country knowing that my family is looked after by our friends and neighbours in the village. As someone who has always been a nationalist, it is deeply painful to me that something like this happened. I never imagined that it ever could."
Many in the mob who stormed into their home in Dadri with bricks and lathis were neighbours - even friends - who suddenly transformed into killers on the rampage. "We always had a warm relationship with our neighbours...On Eid, we shared food and invited each other over. And suddenly something like this happens...I never thought it was possible.."
For their safety, the Akhlaqs have been moved from the village to a guest house of the Uttar Pradesh government in Delhi. Asked whether he and his family were being threatened, Sartaj said: "Because of some people, the atmosphere is being vitiated. I appeal to them for peace and communal harmony. It is not time for politics but for empathy."
Sartaj, who has been keeping a constant vigil by his brother Danish's bedside since the attack, also appealed to political parties not to indulge in petty politics over the murder of his father. "I am not asking them not to come and visit us. I am only saying if you do, please don't do 'siyasat'- leave your politics behind." Asked about his reaction to inflammatory comments made by BJP lawmaker Sangeet Som who referred to his family as "cow killers", or the bizarre decision of the Uttar Pradesh government to send meat from his father's fridge for forensic testing, Sartaj maintained his composure. "I say again, I am appealing to all for harmony. This is not the time for politics. They (politicians) can come and share our grief, but they should not do politics. That's all I ask," said the 24-year-old.
He said he would leave it to his seniors in the Air Force to decide whether his family should stay on in the village or move out. Finally, with folded hands, he said he had one request for every Indian watching the show - "Please pray for my brother Danish, pray that he gets well."
see also
NAUJAWAN BHARAT SABHA reports on systematic attempts of 'Sangh Parivar' to foment communal tension in Delhi // Beef murder bid to stir hatred ahead of polls? // SIDDHARTH VARADARAJAN: The fight is now over your right to not be killed for what you eat
It is plain as daylight that the front organisations of the RSS/BJP are stirring up communal violence to polarise the Indian population and secure a political constituency based upon hatred. Communal voting is only possible in an atmosphere of hatred, and that is what this 'Parivar' is determined to do. Their cadre consider the 2014 elections as a mandate for totalitarian rule and free rein to their hooliganism. Contrary to all norms of journalism, a prominent section of the Hindi press is aiding and abetting this programme, just as they did during the campaign to destroy the Babri Masjid in 1990-92. This a recipe for permanent social conflict. It is shameful that senior elected representatives, who took their oath of office upon the Constitution are presiding over an open subversion of the rule of law. If this is their definition of nationalism, India is headed for unending strife.The emperor's masks: 'apolitical' RSS calls the shots in Modi sarkar
It is plain as daylight that the front organisations of the RSS/BJP are stirring up communal violence to polarise the Indian population and secure a political constituency based upon hatred. Communal voting is only possible in an atmosphere of hatred, and that is what this 'Parivar' is determined to do. Their cadre consider the 2014 elections as a mandate for totalitarian rule and free rein to their hooliganism. Contrary to all norms of journalism, a prominent section of the Hindi press is aiding and abetting this programme, just as they did during the campaign to destroy the Babri Masjid in 1990-92. This a recipe for permanent social conflict. It is shameful that senior elected representatives, who took their oath of office upon the Constitution are presiding over an open subversion of the rule of law. If this is their definition of nationalism, India is headed for unending strife.The emperor's masks: 'apolitical' RSS calls the shots in Modi sarkar
RSS Declared Unlawful: Text of GOI communique February 4, 1948
Smruti Koppikar - Maharashtra CM has no will to pursue my father’s murder
Petition in Supreme Court Accuses NIA of Soft-Pedaling Hindutva Terror Cases
After Malegaon, Ajmer Blast Case Faces Allegations of Sabotage // Witnesses turn hostile in Samjhauta case
The law of killing: a brief history of Indian fascism
Smruti Koppikar - Maharashtra CM has no will to pursue my father’s murder
Petition in Supreme Court Accuses NIA of Soft-Pedaling Hindutva Terror Cases
After Malegaon, Ajmer Blast Case Faces Allegations of Sabotage // Witnesses turn hostile in Samjhauta case
The law of killing: a brief history of Indian fascism
The Broken Middle - my essay on the 30th anniversary of 1984
The Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi: Inquiry Commission Report (1969)
The Abolition of truth
RSS tradition of manufacturing facts to suit their ideology
The Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi: Inquiry Commission Report (1969)
The Abolition of truth
RSS tradition of manufacturing facts to suit their ideology
