A 17-year-old Hindu youth, Ankit Jatav, was stabbed & critically wounded by attackers late on Thursday night while he was asleep along side his father, Hindi daily Amar Ujala reports. The boy’s father was also attacked when he tried to defend his son.

The incident occurred in Maukhas village, Mundali police station area, Meerut district of UP. The victim’s father has named Shabir, Sarfaraz and Rashid (sons of Sukke Khan) and Shabir’s wife in his complaint to police.

Satish Jatav said that he along with his son, Ankit, were asleep on the roof of a house which also has a DJ godown. Around 1.30 AM at night, the accused slashed his son on the neck with a knife and also wounded him on his stomach and hands. When Satish woke up hearing his son scream, he too was attacked and threatened with death before the accused fled.

Police say that that the two sides had an argument over playing DJ (music). Prime accused Shabir has been arrested and police has recovered the knives used in the attack. Locals of the area believe that the attack could be linked to a love affair.

Attacks on scheduled caste Hindu communities by fundamentalist Muslims occur with alarming regularity in West UP, West Bengal and other parts of Bharat.

Incidentally, Jatavs are an SC Hindu community considered traditional BSP voters. It remains to be seen whether BSP chief Mayawati and other ‘secular’ parties like Congress will break the studied silence they have maintained after each such attack in the past, and whether they will protest this pattern of Islamist intimidation of Hindu Dalits with the same vigor as the Una flogging case.

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