Assaulted by Kanwariyas in Haridwar, man says he is RSS-BJP member, mistaken for Muslim because of black cap

Apart from Singh, there was also a woman in the car, who he said was a member of the BJP’s local minority wing. “They let the woman go, but tried to manhandle me,” he told The Indian Express.

The BJP’s state media in-charge Manveer Chauhan, and the party’s Haridwar district president Sandeep Goyal said they did not know of any incident involving an altercation between Kanwariyas and any member of the BJP.

After some news outlets and social media users claimed that Kanwariyas had assaulted a “Muslim couple”, the Haridwar police claimed there was no communal angle to the incident. An FIR was registered in connection with the incident under sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), and 427 (mischief causing damage) of the IPC at Manglaur police station, and two people were arrested.

Another FIR was registered under IPC section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc, and doing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony) against those allegedly trying to spread fake information and causing communal tension.

Singh said he was helping the woman drop her son at a madrasa and was returning when the incident took place. “On the way, we decided to have lunch and parked my car on the side of the road. When I parked, there was nothing there, but by the time I came back, someone had placed a kanwar right in front of the car,” Singh said.

“When I started the car, it accidentally hit the kanwar, after which a mob gathered and tried to pull me out, calling me a Muslim and asking others to beat me up,” he alleged.

He and the local shopkeepers tried to tell the attackers that he is a Hindu and a member of the BJP and RSS, he said, adding, “We even offered to bring fresh Gangajal for them. But they did not listen and vandalised the car. They let the woman go, but tried to manhandle me.”

“I had a black cap on, I was travelling with a burqa-clad woman and I also have a beard. This all made them think I am a Muslim,” he said.

He said he later went to the local police station and submitted a complaint, after which they arrested two people. He said the police dropped him home, but he had lost his phone which was in his car.

He claimed he has been an RSS member since 1974, and was a member of the BJP between 1991 and 2002, and again since 2017. No one from the RSS or the BJP had called him to enquire about the incident, he said.

In a video statement regarding the incident, Haridwar SSP Ajai Singh said, “A few days ago, local resident Pratap Singh was in his car in Manglaur town, and he accidentally hit a kanwar placed (on the road), causing it to be damaged. Following an altercation, some agitated Kanwariyas vandalised his car and overturned it.”

He also issued a warning against making online posts “trying to disrupt peace”. He said “the small incident” was being presented as something else.

“Some people are making communal comments and highlighting the incident using different religions. But there is nothing like that… There are also comments made (on social media) that cause agitation and hatred. For that, we are registering an FIR… I also appeal to people to know the whole truth and delete posts trying to disrupt peace. If not, legal action will be taken against them,” he said.