By Syed Affan
On 29 April, Qari Mohammad Riyaz (22), a religious teacher in a madrasa in Motijharan locality of Sambalpur, a district in western Odisha, was beaten by a group of Hindu men.
Qari Mohammad Riyaz, a resident of Samastipur in Bihar, was on his way back from Barbil, a town in Odisha’s Kendujhar district. After arriving at the bus station in Sambalpur, he boarded an auto-rickshaw headed for Madarsa Faizan-e-Ali in the Motijharan area, where he was set to resume duties following a brief transfer to Barbil.
Speaking to The Observer Post, Riyaz recounted that around 10 p.m., shortly after getting off the bus, he was waiting in an auto-rickshaw while the driver stepped away to deliver something near Laxmi Talkies Street. It was then, he said, that four men approached him—one of them called out and began questioning him without explanation.
“He asked me where I was coming from and where I was going,” Riyaz recalled. “I told him I was returning from Rourkela and heading back to Motijhira madrasa.”
The men then demanded to see his Aadhaar card and searched his belongings. “He said my Aadhaar card isn’t from here. I told him I’m from Bihar and work here.”
What followed, Riyaz said, was a sudden act of violence. “He suddenly started beating me. Two people joined in. I pleaded with them to listen to me.”
Riyaz told The Observer Post that the assaulters called him a Bangladeshi, since he couldn’t speak Oriya clearly.
Riyaz was further hit with a piece of wood in his eyes, until some people from the Muslim community nearby intervened. As a result of the assault, he sustained injuries in different parts of his body.
This story was originally published in theobserverpost.com. Read the full story here.