In an incident that highlights the growing insecurity of minorities in this country, a 42-year-old Muslim man from Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, donned a burqa to avoid being “targeted” while travelling on a train, a report in The Tmes of India says.
Nazmul Hassan was caught at Aligarh railway station by the police (GRP) on Sunday afternoon, when his “suspicious” movement at the ticket counter invited attention of the cops towards him.
According to the TOI report, Hassan was paranoid over the recent killing of 15-year-old Junaid Khan, who was stabbed to death during a train journey from Delhi to Haryana. He also told police that he was recently targeted and “abused” with communal slurs by a co-passenger while returning from Bihar last week.
“I read newspapers every day and these incidents of killings on the issue of us being beef-eaters have scared me to death. I have started believing that such things can happen to me also and I could also end up being a victim of this violence.”
On Sunday, Hassan intended to travel to Delhi to visit a relative. To avoid any “untoward” incident on train, he donned a burqa to conceal his male identity.
“I presumed that no one would target a woman and I would be safe”, he said.
While Hassan was arrested by police, he was released after police verified his statements. According to the TOI report, even the police officials were left baffled due to the incident.
The incident also evoked a lot of commentary on Social Media.
Feature image source: ScoopWhoop/PTI