According to a statement on Saturday, India’s largest socio-religious Muslim organization Jamiat Ulama-i Hind will repair affected mosques and rehabilitate houses of Muslims targeted by Hindutva rioters in the northeastern state of Tripura last week.
General Secretary Moulana Hakimuddin Qasmi led a fact-finding team from the group that visited the affected areas of the state to assess the damage caused by the communal riots.
The Association for Protection of Civil Rights had previously said that there have been at least 27 confirmed incidents of Hindutva right-wing mobs attacking mosques, houses, and individuals in Muslim areas of the state.
The Muslim rights group said almost all attacks were carried out by different Hindutva right-wing groups, especially the right-wing Vishva Hindu Parishad, which ostensibly gathered to protest anti-Hindu violence in Bangladesh.
“It is to be noted that in SepahiJala district, a place located at a distance of only 30 kilometres from Agartala, the capital of Tripura, rioters ransacked the mosques and prevented Muslims for the last several days to offer prayers there,” Jamiat said in a statement. It also added that the delegation also visited riot-affected areas and targeted mosques.
The group has sought permission from the police to visit the most affected parts of the region. “The Jamiat has decided to repair the affected mosques and rehabilitate houses that were ransacked,” said the Muslim rights group.
Speaking on the situation in SepahiJala district, the district police chief Krishnendu Chakravertty told the media that in the district, two incidents of mosques vandalizing by “unknown miscreants” were reported the previous week. “Two unsuccessful attempts were made on two mosques … the situation is under control now, and prayers were held normally on Friday,” he said.
In a statement, Maulana Mahmood Madani Jamiat’s President on Saturday said that the government has taken no action against those who “committed the sacrilege of (the Muslim) Prophet Muhammad.”
Many Muslim groups have said that mosques have been attacked but the state police deny that any “mosque was burnt down.”
Tripura police said on Saturday that the law and order situation is under control.
The Deputy Inspector General of Police (Northern Range), Lalhminga Darlong, told the media that “very minor” incidents “have been exaggerated.”
On Friday, Tripura’s high court also sought a report from the state government by Nov. 10 on communal incidents reported in the state.