SRINAGAR: Bakerwal Lawyer and social activist Talib Hussain who has been leading from the front for justice in the Kathua gangrape and murder case was attacked by some people in Udhampur, where he had gone to participate in a TV show called Baiya Ji Kahin, by News 18.
Earlier, Hussain was detained when he sought investigations into the kidnapping of Asifa, an issue that rocked the assembly, paving way for his release.
“Udhampur Police have taken cognizance of the matter and is investigating his complaint,” Jammu and Kashmir police wrote on the official Twitter handle.
“Alhamdulillah I am fine and save now, will meet you all at Ambedkar Jayanti at Panama Chowk Jammu tomorrow inshallah, can’t talk now..” Talib Hussain wrote on facebook timeline.
Talib had gone to attend the show focussed on the theme: whether the rapists of Asifa should be hanged or not. He was accompanying the sister and brother of the slain girl. After the relatives of Asifa insisted the investigation is all right and there was no requirement for a CBI probe, the anchor asked Talib for his comments. As he started, the crowd shouted and hooted at him. They were reacting to his line” “Bharat Mata Ki Ji Naray Laganay Walo Aap Suno“. They said it was a taunt.
The show was disrupted and resumed alter in absence of Talib and Asifa’s two relatives. The anchor, however, spoke to Asifa’s sister separately.
“They pushed me out of the show and dragged me towards the police station,” Talib told Kashmir Life. “I know three persons and I have given the names to police. I have reached Jammu and I have certain internal injuries.”
Police said they are investigating the case.
Asifa’s sister told the anchor that her family was actually fleeing to Kashmir. “We are used to living and passing through forests and we seldom fear,” she said. “But we were scared while living with human beings. We did not get even our meals.”
Talib’s role in exposing the Asifa case is next to none. He has been following the case from day one.
On January 17, the body of a minor girl was found in the forests near Rasana, Hiranagar. The girl had been missing for a week. According to police, she had been abducted and raped by an SPO Deepak Khajuria, who was a part of the team sent out to find her when she was missing.
Nine accused, including the alleged mastermind Sanji Ram – an ex-bureaucrat – and his son Vishal Kumar, a police head constable, two SPOs and a sub-inspector of police, have been arrested in the case.
Later, the two Jammu and Kashmir BJP ministers — forest minister Chaudhary Lal Singh and industries and commerce minister Chander Prakash Ganga who attended an event organised by the Hindu Ekta Manch in support of the Kathua rape case accused — submitted their resignations on Friday.
The rape and murder of the eight-year-old girl, who belonged to the nomadic Bakerwal Muslim community, has sparked national outrage. The resignations came almost around the same time Prime Minister Modi broke his silence on the crime and promised that justice would be done in the Kathua and Unnao rape case.
