In an extremely shocking case of religious fundamentalism, a minor girl was allegedly killed for not offering Namaz during Friday prayers. This monstrous incident took place in Antop Hill area of Mumbai. According to the police, the relatives used to coerce the deceased to compulsorily offer Namaz on every Friday. But she didn’t oblige to this forceful imposition of religious practice. Last Friday, when she again disobeyed their orders, her aunt in anger strangled her with a duppata.
In order to cover up the crime, the relatives tried to mislead the doctors by saying that the girl died after she slipped in the bathroom. However, the doctors at Sion Hospital did not believe them and immediately informed the local police. The doctors found some marks on the neck of the victim.
After the police interrogation, the girl’s aunt confessed her gruesome crime. The Police have now arrested three women including a minor.
Senior Police Inspector, Sudarshan Paithankar told NDTV, “On Friday when she did not offer namaz, her relatives got angry and committed the crime. Three have been arrested and all are her relatives”.
The girl’s father is in a complete shock. After the death of the girl’s mother, she started living with her relatives. Now a helpless father is regretting over his decision.
It’s a terrible thing to see that religious fundamentalism has increased to such an extent that people are not safe in their homes with family members and relatives. A similar kind of incident took place a couple of years back. In UP, near Bareilly, a father killed his daughter for not wearing a hijab.
In Pakistan, Qandeel Baloch was killed for having her own opinion, lifestyle and defying fatwas by Islamic clerics. Many Islamic fundamentalists supported her murder as she didn’t followed Islamic way of life. Mashal Khan, a Pakistani student was mob lynched by fellow college mates, in a university premise for alleged irreligious post. However, in Police Investigation, no evidence of Mashal Khan committing blasphemy was found.
In a popular imagination, religious tolerance is presented as a solution for religious fundamentalism. As pointed out by Rajiv Malhotra, “We tolerate those we consider inferior. In religious circles, tolerance, at best, is what the pious extend toward people they regard as heathens, idol worshippers or infidels. It is time we did away with tolerance and replaced it with mutual respect”. Rajiv Malhotra further says, “Religious tolerance was advocated in Europe after centuries of wars between opposing denominations of Christianity, each claiming to be “the one true church” and persecuting followers of “false religions”. Tolerance was a political “deal” arranged between enemies to quell the violence (a kind of cease-fire) without yielding any ground. Since it was not based on genuine respect for difference, it inevitably broke down”. He argues that the word “tolerance” should be replaced with “mutual respect”.
This incident is basically a sad commentary for how religious extremism is giving rise to fundamentalism. A child doesn’t even have the right to reject a notion; they are forced by their zealot parents and relatives and hence become the collateral damage of this dangerous trend. Unless followers of a self declared peaceful religion start respecting and stop tolerating someone else’s religious views and beliefs, this kind of incidents will keep taking place.