Muslim man dons burqa on Indian train to 'escape lynching'

Fear of being killed continues to haunt Muslim community of India

INDIA: Mob-violence and lynching still haunts the Muslim community in India as they fear being killed.

On Sunday, a 42-year-old assistant engineer in Aligarh was caught wearing a burqa on the train by police. When quizzed by authorities, Nazmul Hassan said he was scared of being lynched for being a Muslim.



He further said he was threatened a week back by a fellow traveler when he was going to Delhi to meet an ailing family member. "I had read about Junaid's killing in a train in Ballabhgarh a few days ago. I was scared for my life after the threat, but couldn't avoid travelling. So I thought of wearing a burqa," Times of India quoted him as saying. Junaid Khan, a 15-year-old Muslim teenager was killed in cold blood last month on the Delhi-Mathura passenger train.

According to investigating officers, there was nothing suspicious found in Hassan's statement and confirmed that he donned the burqa out of fear. Though he was released by police after questioning, his act left  police officials wondering about the extent of insecurity among minorities.



The fear troubles Muslims in India as they share their worries saying, "When I leave home, I wear shirt-pant, not kurta-pyjama, because that way no one can tell I am Muslim, and I can avoid being called a Pakistani," a man from Junaid's village told The Indian Express.