Retired Muslim Army officer faces ire of ‘Hindutva’ forces

Retired Muslim Army officer faces ire of ‘Hindutva’ forces

S.M.A.KAZMI

Dehradun, Dec 12

It has been a classic case of targeting of a Muslim in the state of Uttarakhand without any distinction by the ‘Hindutva’ forces unleashed by the ruling BJP/RSS combine. Any nationalist credentials even serving in the Indian Army could not save a retired Muslim army officer from being unfairly targeted by the so-called ‘Hindutva’ forces. Interestingly, his even being a ruling BJP leader could not save him.

He was not only accused of having Pakistani connection, providing education to the ‘Talibanis’ and but also being anti-Hindu. While, the local police refused to help the beleaguered retired Army officer by filing a case against such elements, he had to fight a case in the local court for past two years to get a First Information Report (FIR) lodged against four alleged accused who had created a nasty vilification campaign against the retired Muslim Army officer on social media, tried to inflame communal passions, gathered a mob against him with an alleged attempt to harm him and even blackmailed him to part with money.

The former Army officer had to fight a long legal battle in the Judicial Magistrate, Vikasnagar in Dehradun district for two years to get an order asking the police to lodge a case against four persons namely Rakesh Tomar alias Rakesh Tomar Uttarakhadi, Girish Chander Dalakot, Bhupendra Dogra and Solanki. The Vikasnagar police lodged a section 386, 505 and 506 of the IPC against these persons on December 7, 2024 but till date no action has been taken against them. Rakesh Tomar Uttarkhandi, president of the Rudra Sena was also allegedly involved in the infamous Purola ‘Love Jehad’ case and resultant targeting of Muslims in Uttarkashi district in the summer of 2023. The Purola case proved to be false and motivated in a court of law.

This is a story of Lt. Col. Abdul Qadir (retd) who has been running Bright Angels School, a prestigious senior secondary CBSE school at Vikasnagar town of Dehradun district, which is popular amongst all the sections of the society in that area of Dehradun district. The former army officer is a popular figure who had contested the Vikasnagar assembly polls on a Bahujan samaj party (BSP) ticket in 2007 assembly polls and polled more than 8000 votes. He later joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and being an educationist was given a position of vice-chairman of Muslim Education Mission, a state government body under the Chief Ministership of Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.  But that was long back.

In his complaint to the police, Lt.Col. Abdul Qadir (retd) said that he has been running the school for the past many years. But trouble started on July 21, 2022 when school management decided to call off the school at 12.30 on a Friday. The decision of the school management was criticised by some people and the school decided to take back the decision with stating that if anyone was hurt by such a decision, they sought an apology. The school management clarified that the decision was taken for the convenience of the staff and not for Friday ‘Juma’ prayers as alleged. The complainant further alleged that Rakesh Tomar Uttarakhandi along with his accomplices continued with his communal tirade against the school with an intention to cause a communal riot by inciting people to gather at the school and to vilify the school through social media campaign.

The retired army officer stated that as a result of such social media campaign against him even comments like “ Is Harami ko Goli Mar do” were posted. On July 24, 2022, Rakesh Tomar Uttarkhandi with an alleged intention to cause harm to the owner and his school gathered a mob but due to presence of police burnt an effigy of the school owner. As police looked the other way, Lt.Col Abdul Qadir (retd) further alleged that Rakesh Tomar Uttarakhandi send a message seeking a ransom of Rs. Ten lakh from him.

In his complaint in the court, former army officer said that he had no idea that the alleged accused already had criminal cases registered against them. The accused threatened that they know their reach on social media and if he dared to complain against him, he would emerge as a hero in the backdrop of Hindu-Muslim politics being unleashed in the state. The former Army officer and his family are targeted on one false pretext or another in the past two years.

The retired army officer had sought action under sections 419, 420, 467, 468. 471, 384, 120 B of IPC to be read with section 67 of the TI Act. The application in the local court was moved under section 156 (3) of the Cr.P.c. He also sought protection for him and his family under the given circumstances.

The police despite filing a FIR on December 7, 2024 has yet to take any action against the accused. Interestingly, Rakesh Tomar Uttarakhandi addressed media persons on Thursday evening and continued his tirade against the retired army officer and his school charging him of being “anti-Hindu” and “anti-national” seeking instead action against him.