Justice for Asifa3 min read

Asifa Bano.

This was the name of an eight-year-old girl who had been gang-raped and killed more than three months ago in Udhampur, Kashmir and is only getting recognition now.

Over the weekend, the whole of India went into uproar after a short term police investigation revealed the gruesome details of a minor being sexually assaulted and killed on the basis of religious belief.

The culprits of this case include Sanji Ram – a retired minister, his juvenile nephew, a member of law enforcement named Deepak Khajuria and another man named Tilak Raj.

Asifa was a member of a Muslim nomadic tribe in Kashmir (the Barkawals) who migrate between the mountains and forests throughout the year, herding sheep and grazing horses.

In January, the eight-year-old was walking on a trail she usually took; when she was abducted by the group of men.

These ‘men’ held Asifa hostage at a temple in their town of Kathua, where they performed a ritual on the child.

She was held in a sedated state, beaten and eventually raped by the culprits before enduring severe blows to the head to confirm her demise.

Before killing Asifa, special police officer Khajuria proposed to molest the eight-year-old and the other culprits followed.

Upon discovery of her body, Asifa’s mother described her corpse having been beaten to a pulp with cut marks covering her face.

The reason behind this horrific case has been uncovered and it’s a problem that has been in existence since India gained independence.

Political and religious extremism.

Having been in governance by a far-right Hindu party for almost four years now, the amount of hate crime against minorities have increased, especially Muslims.

Though India’s Islamic population is the third largest in the world, Muslims only make up 14% of the country.

This has led to religious conflict on both sides that include cases of rioting, arson, damage of property and sexual violence.

It has been confirmed that these monsters killed little Asifa due to the fear of a rising Muslim population in their region.

My questions to the Islamophobes are this: How are a tribe of herders going to harm you?

And more importantly; what does killing an innocent do to better your cause?

Absolutely nothing.

Even after the discovery, some have threatened to kill the Barkawal community should the assailants be proven guilty.

Many took to the streets around the country and on social media to promote the hashtag #justiceforasifa.

From women’s rights groups to Muslim communities to Bollywood celebrities, every one expressed their outrage for the injustice.

In contrast, members of far-right Hindu groups took to the streets in support of Sanji Ram and the others involved.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) politicians have also stirred things up by saying the investigators have a bias because they are Muslim.

In closing, I’d like to paraphrase an old Indian proverb – before being a Hindu or a Muslim, let’s learn to be human first.

A loss in humanity was the reason for the loss of an innocent’s life.

We must eliminate corruption of all kinds stemmed from religious and political factors.

Source of Image – The Siasat Daily