By Arshad Ahmed
Two Muslim cousins from Patharkandi in southern Assam’s Sribhumi district, formerly known as Karimganj, were attacked by a Hindu mob of Bishnupriya Hindu Manipuris at night on June 1 over allegations of cattle theft.
The two Sylheti-speaking Muslim cousins, 17-year-old Madrasa student Amir Uddin, and 18-year-old daily wager Islam Uddin, were searching for their cattle the same day in a Hindu neighbourhood of Nalugaon, across the Karimganj-Agartala highway from their village in Mambari under the Patharkandi police station, when they were attacked by the mob, according to their uncle, Nazim Uddin.
Speaking to Maktoob, Nazim said the cousins have always taken their cattle for grazing around the Patharkandi by-pass area, a few hundred meters from Nalugaon, as Mambari is a flood-prone area and not suitable for grazing.
But the four cattle they owned had strayed into the Nalugaon area that day.
“The two cousins went looking for the cattle in Nalugaon in the early evening. On asking around, a Bishnupriya Manipuri informed them about the cattle in their village, and followed them with a mob of 18-19 people, including women,” he said, over the phone.
“What followed later was the mob beating them with sticks and firing at them with an air gun for at least two hours over allegations that they were cattle thieves.”
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.