A new twist has emerged in the alleged beating case of Kashmiri residents at Sunlight Colony of Southeast Delhi. On Friday, a video of the incident also surfaced on the Internet.
In the video, it is unclear what exactly is happening. Jumping on the conclusion by watching this 45 seconds video clip would be wrong and that too without knowing the other side of the story. But the mainstream media houses were in a hurry to jump to conclusions. They were quick to conclude that the residents were attacked because they are Kashmiri Muslims. It was instantly marked as a hate crime. This is not the first time media is communalizing the issue. In the past as well, the media has indulged in spreading communalism by mentioning caste and religion in any given conflict. The alleged beating case of Kashmiri Muslims has been given more coverage than the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits.
However, the truth of the incident was out soon. According to, Amulya Patnaik, Delhi Police Commissioner, the dispute erupted because of feeding stray dogs and had nothing to do with woman’s Kashmiri origin. While this incident was because of feeding of stray dogs, the entire media cabal made it a religious and ethnic issue. This case is all about a local neighborhood fight which started on feeding stray dogs. These types of fights are common in local colonies. A resident of the Sunlight Colony said, “The problem is over stray dogs. Because these people keep feeding the dogs, the animal population has grown and many people have been bitten.” A journalist of Kashmiri Origin also claimed the same.
Sunlight Colony case in Delhi where a video has gone viral on social media is NOT a case of people being beaten because they are ‘Kashmiris’. It’s a case of argument over dog menace in the colony for last many months which became nightmare for residents. Cops have registered FIR.
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) May 11, 2018
A resident of Sunlight Colony exposed the blatant lie perpetuated by the so-called victims.
Truth of Sunlight Colony incident in Delhi where some people claimed they were targeted because of being ‘Kashmiri’. Absolutely false. See what Advocate Rameez Abbas Ahmed has to say about those fake and concocted claims. In reality it was a dog menace. Nightmare for residents. pic.twitter.com/VcaZLG55xE
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) May 12, 2018
The claims that she was beaten with sticks are also dubious. Sangeeta Tripathi, another resident of Sunlight colony, said, “The woman beat herself up to inflict self-injuries. They claimed we thrashed her…it is all lies. I snatched the stick from her to stop her. No one thrashed her.”
As the story is becoming clearer, the initial media claims are being exposed. Media exaggeration of the incident would only further harm the Kashmiris as it would become more difficult for them to get rented accommodations in RWAs.
This incident has brought an important issue which needs to be addressed which is growing menace of the monstrous epidemic like rabies. According to a BBC report, In Mumbai Dog Bites had claimed more lives in 20 years than the two devastating terror attacks – 1993 Serial Bombings and the 26/11 terrorist of 2008. More than 434 people died because of rabies between 1994 and 2015 as compared to 422 killed in two deadly terrorist attacks. During the same period, 1.3 million people had been bitten by dogs in Mumbai. The report further says that there are 30 million stray mutts in India and because of rabies more than 20,000 people die every year. According to Global Alliance for Rabies Control report, India accounts for 35% of human rabies deaths, more than any other country. The recent article of The Columbian reported that in Sitapur village of UP, stray dogs have killed six children between 5 and 12 years old, injuring more than two dozen people.
https://twitter.com/ippatel/status/995191825857052672
In Sunlight Colony of Delhi where this beating incident happened, stray dogs have bitten 35 people . People carry sticks because of Dog Menace. Government should come up with proper mechanism to curb the menace of growing number of attacks by stray dogs. Government should come up with scientific and humane way to solve the problem.
