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Muslim bodies in Nagaland have called for restraint after widespread protests in wake of the lynching of a rape accused on March 5.
Thirty-five-year-old car trader Farid Khan had been arrested on charge of raping a woman on February 24, and was sent to the Dimapur Central Jail on judicial remand.
On March 5, a mob broke into the jail, dragged him out, stripped and beat him up, tied him to a motorcycle and dragged him for 7 km towards the centre of Dimapur town. He died of his injuries along the way. The mob then hung his body at a roadside roundabout.
Nagaland Chief Minister T R Zeliang has already stated that the government is taking all possible steps to protect Muslims living and working in Nagaland areas.
“There is no problem here at all after what happened in Dimapur on March 5. I appeal to all Muslims living outside Nagaland to treat the December 5 incident as an isolated one,” said Fakhruddin, president of Muslim Welfare Society in Kohima.
The Muslim Council Dimapur has maintained that the rape accused Farid Khan was not an illegal Bangladeshi immigrant but an Indian citizen. A Rehman, working president of Muslim Council Dimapur said that Khan was an Indian, which can be proved from his driving license which is in the possession of the police. It is clearly mentioned in the driving license that he was a native of Bosla village under Karimganj district in Assam. Rehman, while stating that the crowd got agitated after hearing that he was an immigrant, said that people should understand the concept of illegal immigration. He also suggested the social organisations in Nagaland should address the issue so that such incidents are not repeated.
The MCD and Dimapur Muslim People Forum have appealed to Muslims of the state and entire country to maintain peace and not to believe in rumours. “Barring a few stray incidents, the situation is returning to normal,” said A Rehman. “No Masjid was destroyed and nobody was beaten up. Do not believe in rumours,” he said while adding that Nagas and Muslims have been living together in harmony for more than 100 years.
“Dimapur has the largest Muslim population in Nagaland and taking advantage of it a large number of illegal Bangladeshi migrants had also sneaked in over the years from neighbouring Assam. This section of illegal migrants who are despised by the local population, have now become a burden,” said a Muslim businessman who have been staying in Dimapur for over a decade, on condition of anonymity.