One moment he was being rushed to a hospital in Mangalore after being attacked. The next, everything is quiet as if nothing ever happened. That is the conundrum plaguing Hassan Kaifuddin, a Class 12 student — who got back from the hospital to his family in Karnataka's Puttur only four days ago — after he was allegedly attacked with a trishul (trident) on November 24. "There were injuries on my leg, my stomach and my back. The injuries were bad and my back is still hurting," Kaifuddin tells us. There are images on social media of another student who was also attacked with a trident along with Kaifuddin, he is seen lying head-down in an ambulance, grievously injured on his back. What is even more worrisome is that the perpetrators of this gruesome attack are believed to be minors themselves.
All the victims (at least three) and their attackers study at the Government Pre-University College in Puttur's Kombettu area. Immediately after the violence two weeks ago, police arrested the attackers and took action. "The accused students were produced before the Juvenile Justice Board. The Board has taken a bond from their parents after which they were released into their custody. As of now the investigation is on and once we submit our report, the concerned Board will take further action," an official from Puttur Town Police Station said.
Where it all started
The roots of this attack, Kaifuddin says, go down to a meeting that was recently held with the students of the college by some senior officials, reportedly affiliated with the ABVP. "They were telling everyone in the meeting to beat up Muslim boys who talk to Hindu girls," he claims. It is noteworthy that this was the third such incident at the college soon after the meeting. What happened to the organisers of that meeting? The official word is that a separate FIR has been registered "regarding what led to all this" and the investigation is on clubbing all the incidents.
The worst day of his life
Reliving the day is traumatic. "The day I was attacked, I went to the college like any other day. When I reached the college, I saw some of them (ABVP members) protesting so I minded my own business and went ahead to my class," Kaifuddin says. The group that attacked him was protesting the suspension of students from the college, who were involved in an attack on another student — he was beaten up a day earlier to Kaifuddin for speaking to his female classmate, supposedly a Hindu.
Describing the circumstances when he was attacked, Kaifuddin says, "I stepped out during a free period and went to a juice shop right outside the college. This is when we both (he and his friend) were attacked." His friend also faced the trident along with Kaifuddin but is recovering now. Kaifuddin said that they were beaten up merely because "they were Muslims" and "there was no argument or a fight", at least on the day of the attack.
Speaking to Edexlive hours after Kaifuddin was rushed to a hospital, the National Secretary of ABVP, Harsha Narayan, denied the involvement of the students' outfit in the matter.
