Staff at a biryani shop in north Delhi’s Burari were abused and threatened by a man on Deepavali for opening the shop on a “Hindu festival” on Thursday. The police have registered a case into the matter and begun a probe.
The biryani shop owner, who identified himself as Magroob Ali, said that he was away at the time of the incident but his three staffers were present at the shop in Sant Nagar market. Mr. Ali said that around 7.30 p.m., his staff were sitting at the shop when a visibly drunk man arrived and started abusing them for keeping the shop open on Deepavali as it’s a Hindu festival. The man was also heard asking Hindus how they could allow the opening of the shop. He told them to “wake up”. The man insisted that the shop should be “shut immediately because they can’t open a shop serving non-vegetarian food on a Hindu festival in a Hindu-dominated area”.
In a video, the man was is heard making derogatory statements about Muslims and abusing the minority community. One of the staff, apparently overwhelmed, said that they were about to shut the shop.
Mr. Ali said that the staff then shut the shop but other shopkeepers gathered in their support, after which the man fled. “I have been running this shop for the last eight years. The shopkeepers around stood with us when the incident took place. That’s when the man fled,” Mr. Ali said.
He said that both the police and the people were with them. “We are not scared by this incident because everyone stands with us. We have never faced anything like this before. I opened the shop on Friday and Saturday both,” he said.
A senior police officer said that they were made aware of the incident when the video on it went viral on Friday. “After the video came to our notice, we verified the facts and took suo motu cognizance. A case under section Section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered. The man in the video is yet to be identified,” the officer said.
In the video, the man identifies himself and is said to be from a Right-wing outfit but the police said that the facts were being ascertained.
