India: Muslims wear black armbands to protest lynchings

By Shuriah Niazi

NEW DELHI

Muslims in India on Monday wore black armbands to protest against recent lynchings of Muslims, allegedly perpetrated by those belonging to rightwing Hindu groups.

Several leading Muslim organizations and individuals had asked Muslims to wear the black bands during special Eid prayers as a message to the government.

Incidents of mob atrocities, in which Muslims were targeted, were reported in the last few days.

On Thursday, a Muslim teenager, Junaid Khan, was killed on a train in Haryana after he was returning from shopping for Eid al-Fitr in Delhi.

Monday's initiative has been coined Black Eid, and has also been supported by Hindus as well.

Jamiat-e-Ulema, a Muslim political organization, has also decided to cancel its annual Eid celebration program.

In a statement, general secretary, Mehmood Madani said: "To protest against the continued mob attacks on minorities, we have taken the decision to call off the Eid celebration event with a heavy heart.

"We are sure that the governments at the helm, which so far have failed in protecting the Muslims [...] will initiate action against the perpetrators and assure security to those who are being targeted.”